How popular is an LPG Conversion in the UK?
Discussion
ambuletz said:
the old man had his auto E200 converted into LPG. cost £1100 for parts + 1days conversion. Did some calculations, and after 16,000 he'd break even from the cost of the conversion. Does require a service/inspection every 2-3k miles or so. and sometimes has idling issues when you switch over from petorl to LPG. but when driving it, you'd never notice the difference.
you should not have idling issues and mine needs servicing "just" every 12,000 miles.matt21 said:
ambuletz said:
the old man had his auto E200 converted into LPG. cost £1100 for parts + 1days conversion. Did some calculations, and after 16,000 he'd break even from the cost of the conversion. Does require a service/inspection every 2-3k miles or so. and sometimes has idling issues when you switch over from petorl to LPG. but when driving it, you'd never notice the difference.
you should not have idling issues and mine needs servicing "just" every 12,000 miles.I used to fit LPG conversions to Cars, vans and taxi's during the mid 1980's.
Prices for supplying and installing the kits was around the £250 mark with a 60 litre tank.
Older Fords such a Granada's, Cortina's etc needed to have the head removed and hardened valve seats fitted.
I've had a total mind blank as to what the name was of the Italian LPG kits I used to fit!
Prices for supplying and installing the kits was around the £250 mark with a 60 litre tank.
Older Fords such a Granada's, Cortina's etc needed to have the head removed and hardened valve seats fitted.
I've had a total mind blank as to what the name was of the Italian LPG kits I used to fit!
Most people that talk down LPG on the internet seem to have no real experience of it and talk allot of BS about it.
I converted an e46 330i and was great. Major drawback was the small 45l tank I fitted and if I do it again I will get a bigger tank and sacrifice boot space or getter a bigger car like a 5 series.
In my opinion LPG is best done on powerful engines so you get to be smug about your fuels costs and enjoy a decent engine. My 330i was costing the same in fuels as 320d so I felt very smug indeed. The power drop on LPG was not noticeable on an engine like that unless you really looked for it. If you go nd convert a 1,1l with 50bhp then you may well notice the difference!!
As for reliability - most complaints seem to be on old cars or cheap kits. The quality of kit and standard of fitter is important.
LPG is widely available in the UK in built up areas and motorways. The further north you go the cheaper it gets too and seems to be more available on country roads there too.
Come resale time the car sold very quickly at a good price too. Admittedly it was the only 330i for sale with LPG kit and was the sport spec - the other 3 series with LPG for sale at the time were small engined and basic spec only.
I wonder what the future of lpg will be as already some engines (VW 's FSI) cannot be converted at all.
And why do manufacturers not offer LPG prepped cars with a half size petrol tank to free up space for a LPG tank?
I converted an e46 330i and was great. Major drawback was the small 45l tank I fitted and if I do it again I will get a bigger tank and sacrifice boot space or getter a bigger car like a 5 series.
In my opinion LPG is best done on powerful engines so you get to be smug about your fuels costs and enjoy a decent engine. My 330i was costing the same in fuels as 320d so I felt very smug indeed. The power drop on LPG was not noticeable on an engine like that unless you really looked for it. If you go nd convert a 1,1l with 50bhp then you may well notice the difference!!
As for reliability - most complaints seem to be on old cars or cheap kits. The quality of kit and standard of fitter is important.
LPG is widely available in the UK in built up areas and motorways. The further north you go the cheaper it gets too and seems to be more available on country roads there too.
Come resale time the car sold very quickly at a good price too. Admittedly it was the only 330i for sale with LPG kit and was the sport spec - the other 3 series with LPG for sale at the time were small engined and basic spec only.
I wonder what the future of lpg will be as already some engines (VW 's FSI) cannot be converted at all.
And why do manufacturers not offer LPG prepped cars with a half size petrol tank to free up space for a LPG tank?
Dino D said:
Most people that talk down LPG on the internet seem to have no real experience of it and talk allot of BS about it.
+1 What if any premium did you get for the LPG kit?
In the past heard that it can be half the cost of the conversion back say if less than a couple of years after the fact.
I also agree going for a bigger tank is a good idea, or as big as you can comfortably fit.
Bristol for eg use the space in the rear wings to fit two tanks
The future for LPG is probably still a niche thing, because if too many people switched I guess the price / supply logic would drive up the pump price... and possibly attract tax, that said we are told that the tax is fixed for three years, which means at worst you should expect to get pay-back with even average miles.
The other side is diesel tech marches forward so many looking for savings perhaps going down that more traditional route.
But if you have a larger thirsty petrol LPG still represents a good choice, and the cost of a top end conversion being £2-3k really on even an average new car price isn't a huge percentage of the total. On something like a Cayenne turbo - which I saw advertised on PH with LPG, it's small change.
It's been a while since I did a conversion, and what interests me more at the moment is what if any premium LPG cars are making over the same vehicle sans lpg.
Hedders said:
Biker's Nemesis said:
I used to fit LPG conversions to Cars, vans and taxi's during the mid 1980's.
Prices for supplying and installing the kits was around the £250 mark with a 60 litre tank.
With inflation that must be about £600 today. Wanna do my Car?Prices for supplying and installing the kits was around the £250 mark with a 60 litre tank.
"Full conversion kit for twin carburettor engines £445+VAT = £522.88" inc "a cylinder tank (up to 90 litres)"
So your £600 isn't completely crazy, although I'd hazard the hourly mechanic rate has gone up more than inflation
rudecherub said:
Dino D said:
Most people that talk down LPG on the internet seem to have no real experience of it and talk allot of BS about it.
+1 What if any premium did you get for the LPG kit?
So I was happy. I think if I had more time and was a better time of year I could have got back at least half the conversion cost.
Jem0911 said:
Rawhide said:
Jem0911 said:
Rawhide said:
I run my Porsche Cayenne on LPG. There is no dicernable loss of performance. I had it fitted about one month after purchase.
We liked it so much we converted my wifes Volvo V70 2 weeks after.
No problems on either cars. Just reduced bills.
Finding stations can be a bit of a pain but if you have an iphone 'there's an app for that'. Most motorway service stations have them too which covers most of my long distance driving.
Which model Cayenne do you have and what brand of LPG system?We liked it so much we converted my wifes Volvo V70 2 weeks after.
No problems on either cars. Just reduced bills.
Finding stations can be a bit of a pain but if you have an iphone 'there's an app for that'. Most motorway service stations have them too which covers most of my long distance driving.
If you would be so kind?
Is the flashlube required or your request?
I've been running a multi point system on a Peugeot 406 V6 for about 3 years now. I bought the car already converted and would definitely buy another converted car or have my next one converted.
Have been to Scotland, Northern Ireland, France, and Italy with it and have had no problems finding filling stations. Flogas depots are worth looking up and setting an account up with your local. I get a 4p discount on LPG with them as I pay by direct debit so only pay 52p a litre.
No noticeable performance difference and costs around the same to run as a 2litre diesel.
ETA As far as servicing goes my book suggests every 20k miles or every year from memory. A service normally involves a leak test and replacement of LPG filters. My last service cost £25.
Have been to Scotland, Northern Ireland, France, and Italy with it and have had no problems finding filling stations. Flogas depots are worth looking up and setting an account up with your local. I get a 4p discount on LPG with them as I pay by direct debit so only pay 52p a litre.
No noticeable performance difference and costs around the same to run as a 2litre diesel.
ETA As far as servicing goes my book suggests every 20k miles or every year from memory. A service normally involves a leak test and replacement of LPG filters. My last service cost £25.
Edited by andrewrob on Sunday 5th September 14:54
stephen300o said:
rudecherub said:
stephen300o said:
My dad had two Jeeps on gas, two pumps and a blown engine latter... he now has a diesel.
And water cooled 911's engines fail.FTR in the family we've had two Jeeps on gas, both the old and new shape Cherokee and both have been fine thanks.
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