It’s Day 10 of the Paris-Beijing 2006 tour and we are follwing the Volga River from Nizhny Novgorod to Kazan. We’ve covered just under 5000 of the 13,600 km between paris and Beijing. Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatrstan and the adventure continues.

Sunday morning, 29 October and the 36 Mercedes-Benz e320 diesels, the drivers and the support staff are all lined up for a team picture in Red Square. The second stage of the Paris-Beijing adventure is just two days old, but this has to be a highlight. 9 days down, 17 more to go as we head to Beijing.

According to Automotive News the new Ford Expedition may be getting a diesel under the hood within a few more years. Most likely this will be the same diesel offered to the F-150 crowd since they both will share the same front clip. John Viera, chief engineer of the Expedition, confirmed the Expedition should be burning oil by the end of the decade.

Most likely engine candidate will be the 3.6L V8 that is currently moving Land Rovers in Europe. However the Ford version may be of a larger displacement.

A diesel Expedition should sell well considering you get the fuel economy of a diesel and it doesn’t require you drive a tiny car with no amenities.

Though it’s purely rumor right now Quattroruote magazine, an Italian magazine, talked with Wolfgang Hatz about the possibility of a diesel version of their R8 supercar. Wolfgang Hatz is the head of engine development at Audi AG so the source is good.

Audi would like to develop a quieter more road-worthy version of V12 that has been sweeping all the races such as LeMans before making definite plans, however.

I’m going to cross my fingers in the hopes of seeing an R8, like the one pictured, with a large TDI decal on the side.

Rolls-Royce Group PLC is considering setting up two plants here for making diesel engines and fuel cells, the Straits Times reported at the weekend.

“We are in discussions about locating elements of manufacturing here.”, said Rolls-Royce chief executive John Rose.

He added, “We hope to come to a conclusion on that within the next few months.”

Rose gave no financial details.

The newspaper said Rolls-Royce’s expansion might double its work force here to 1,750 over the next five years.