Is LPG conversion still worth it

[itfben]

Now lpg is what, 80p a litre is the conversion to LPG still worth it on a LCR

Saw im the papers today petrol. Is going to go up to £6.50 a gallon due to the further problems in the middle east

 

[LEE69]

Soon as LPG gets used more the price will go up.
IIRc it takes over 20000 miles before you start, rally saving, ie after the cost of it all.

 

[m0rk]

At £1200 for the conversion, and consumption at nearly double petrol, you'll only ever cost more money if lpg is £0.80

 

[DPJ]

Having read a few horror stories, I'd have big concerns about the LPG maps for performance cars.

 

[dfawbert]

At £1200 for the conversion, and consumption at nearly double petrol, you'll only ever cost more money if lpg is £0.80

really it uses more than petrol??, so if a range rover was doing 12mpg on petrol it would be 6mpg on lpg?

 

[LEE69]

Having read a few horror stories, I'd have big concerns about the LPG maps for performance cars.

Just to throw some figures about, i saw these a fair while back

peak bhp is 279.7 on Shell 99 petrol and 290.7 on lpg. No point in putting 99 octane in anymore

 

[Torred1771]

Worth considering anything to save money on petrol, the article I just read on yahoo news with all the chaos in Egypt and Libya, petrol could reach 1.40gbp OR MORE per liter! Insane!

 

[renton500]

lpg varies in price a lot, so you might not pay as much as 80p currently. I'm still paying 67p from my local filling point.

I have a Range Rover Classic running on LPG, and I know a lot of other people with LPG converted Range Rovers of various ages and they all do the same MPG on either petrol or LPG, it's all about having a decent type of conversion by someone who knows what they're doing and can set it up correctly, there are lots out there that run badly.

Re LPG on high performance cars, if they're set up correctly there's no reason to loose any power. I have a friend who used to work for ProDrive and they used to convert Imprezza rally cars for certain customers for track days and they used to run well.

Someone like JE Engineering in Coventry with experience in high performance conversions would be able to give good advice. There's also a calculator at drivelpg.co.uk that you can use to work out how long it would take to pay for the conversion and start saving money.

 

[hara]

Just to throw some figures about, i saw these a fair while back

That's probably becuase LPG has a higher octane rating - around 110 IIRC.

The problem is that petrol is injected as an air/liquid mixture which cools the pistons and cylinders, while LPG is injected as a air/gas mixture. Remeber the LCR engine is by default in a pretty high state of tune (higher compression, higher temperatures). And you'll have higher EGT with gas.

I've seen regular 1.8T's on LPG, been done a million times, as long as you don't push the car hard you might get away with it.

Pretty sure you'll have to remap the car too.

 

[Radeonuk]

Hi all

I have been using LPG in my LCR since 2008 with no issues. It took me about 18 months to break even from the initial outlay for the installation. So it’s only really worth it if you are planning on keeping the car for a few years. I would recommend getting it done by a professional company who specialise in LPG conversions.

Price wise LPG has gone up from ~54p in 2008 to ~69p now, whereas petrol has gone from ~86p to 130p in the same period. So you will still be saving nearly half the amount on every fill. Also parkers list that an LPG conversion should add £500 to the resale value of the car.

As for tuning I was told that LPG is a higher octane fuel and burns colder than petrol so in theory is more tuneable. I had the biggest injector jets I could fitted so the installation was future proof in terms of getting a remap done.

Jon

 

[JamJay]

How much does all the LPG equipment weigh?

 

[seatcupramad23]

having probabley the only cupra on here at the mo thats got lpg system on my car i would say its worth it, its been on the car from 50k miles now at 116k and had no major issue at all , only thing i had to change where coilpacks and two breather hoses, most reliable cupra i've had and i've had 4 now , been in the family for nearly 4 years now, and remap by revo now producing 222bhp on petrol and 228bhp on gas and slighly smoother on gas, and also the savings is really good,
£30 gives 230 miles round town and 250 on motorway compared to £65 v power gets 300 miles and drove my car couldn't tell really when its on gas or petrol , only difference is is does not pop and bang on gas

 

[seatcupramad23]

Hi all

I have been using LPG in my LCR since 2008 with no issues. It took me about 18 months to break even from the initial outlay for the installation. So it’s only really worth it if you are planning on keeping the car for a few years. I would recommend getting it done by a professional company who specialise in LPG conversions.

Price wise LPG has gone up from ~54p in 2008 to ~69p now, whereas petrol has gone from ~86p to 130p in the same period. So you will still be saving nearly half the amount on every fill. Also parkers list that an LPG conversion should add £500 to the resale value of the car.

As for tuning I was told that LPG is a higher octane fuel and burns colder than petrol so in theory is more tuneable. I had the biggest injector jets I could fitted so the installation was future proof in terms of getting a remap done.

Jon

sorry just seen that you ran on gas two

 

[seatcupramad23]

That's probably becuase LPG has a higher octane rating - around 110 IIRC.

The problem is that petrol is injected as an air/liquid mixture which cools the pistons and cylinders, while LPG is injected as a air/gas mixture. Remeber the LCR engine is by default in a pretty high state of tune (higher compression, higher temperatures). And you'll have higher EGT with gas.

I've seen regular 1.8T's on LPG, been done a million times, as long as you don't push the car hard you might get away with it.

Pretty sure you'll have to remap the car too.

this car has pushed hard at times and had no issues maybe i'm on of the lucky ones , touch wood

 

[seatcupramad23]

really it uses more than petrol??, so if a range rover was doing 12mpg on petrol it would be 6mpg on lpg?

sorry but thats simple false figures mate, mine does 23 mpg on gas and 26mpg on petrol when i maually work it out

 

[renton500]

How much does all the LPG equipment weigh?[/QUOTE

Most of it doesn't weigh a lot, but the tanks are usually heavy. My bro-in-law has just converted his range rover classic (with a v high performance 4.6 V8 in it) and he bought a tank the same diameter as the spare wheel it was replacing. It was bloody heavy, heavier than the wheel was.

 

[rs-tuner]

At £1200 for the conversion, and consumption at nearly double petrol, you'll only ever cost more money if lpg is £0.80

Consumption is no where near double it's about the same as petrol.

 

[hara]

this car has pushed hard at times and had no issues maybe i'm on of the lucky ones , touch wood

More like a question of getting it installed at a professional garage specializing in LPG and not cutting corners and penny pinching

 

[seatcupramad23]

More like a question of getting it installed at a professional garage specializing in LPG and not cutting corners and penny pinching

well it cost £1650 to be done 4 years ago but have to say guys at hardy's done a top job , service one a year runs smooths as silk only thing i've notice since geting the install that my oil stays clear even after not changing the oil after 12k miles but i change the oil every 5k now and also inside of my exhaust pipe is clean unlike my last cupra that was dirty and sooty

 

[wes c/fergus]

i have the conversion on my cupra aswell took roughly 16mths to make my money back after innitial outlay, im geeting roughly 309 miles to £35 on lpg compared to 320 miles on tank of unleaded at £65
no problems with mine and the lpg is still 67p in n.ireland. best thing i done no noticeable performance issues 140,000miles now