LPG CARS, DOES EVERYONE REALLY THINK THEY ARE AMAZING.
Discussion
Everyone I talk to keeps telling me how amazing LPG are and how cheap they are to run and how much better their emissions are. They keep saying how it's like having a diesel but why can't I keep a can of it at home, just in case?
Personally, LPG is not for me. I like having space for a spare tyre and an overnight bag. I don't want to be worrying about whether I should be on LPG or petrol, and when it'll explode in a crash. There must be a reason no one sells one brand new.
Has anyone bought an LPG car and realised it's not for them?
Personally, LPG is not for me. I like having space for a spare tyre and an overnight bag. I don't want to be worrying about whether I should be on LPG or petrol, and when it'll explode in a crash. There must be a reason no one sells one brand new.
Has anyone bought an LPG car and realised it's not for them?
They're not 'amazing', but definitely have their place. You tend to get slightly fewer MPG on LPG than petrol, and usually have to do more miles to actually find a filling station, so savings only really ever reach about 30% compared with petrol. And some engines are definitely better suited to LPG conversions than others. For example, on L322 Range Rovers, (quite a common conversion for obvious reasons), the 4.4 BMW V8 is an excellent candidate, whereas the 4.2 Supercharged Jaguar engine that was also used, is known to give poor MPG on LPG and to suffer mechanically.
If you live near to an LPG station or commute past one, they can provide genuine savings with the right vehicle.
As for them exploding, I think this is a bit of a myth. LPG tanks are extremely thick and strong compared with a petrol tank, so will withstand pretty catastrophic impacts without rupturing. Additionally, they're fitted with a pressure release/safety valve which vents gas in a controlled manner if the pressure rises too much (for example if the vehicle was on fire.)
However, I would be concerned about finding LPG in the future. I have noticed LPG stations gradually starting to disappear in my area - as you rightly said, there aren't any new vehicles being supplied 'dual fuel' any more, and as big gas gulping V8s are also steadily going the way of the dinosaur, I'd bet there are less conversions being undertaken these days too.
If you live near to an LPG station or commute past one, they can provide genuine savings with the right vehicle.
As for them exploding, I think this is a bit of a myth. LPG tanks are extremely thick and strong compared with a petrol tank, so will withstand pretty catastrophic impacts without rupturing. Additionally, they're fitted with a pressure release/safety valve which vents gas in a controlled manner if the pressure rises too much (for example if the vehicle was on fire.)
However, I would be concerned about finding LPG in the future. I have noticed LPG stations gradually starting to disappear in my area - as you rightly said, there aren't any new vehicles being supplied 'dual fuel' any more, and as big gas gulping V8s are also steadily going the way of the dinosaur, I'd bet there are less conversions being undertaken these days too.
It's not for everybody, but if done right on the right car and used in the right circumstances it's brilliant. What is your point?
You don't need a spare can of gas, just a petrol can. Car still runs on petrol.
Only downside for me is the last few petrol cars I have considered have been direct injection so not really suitable as the direct injection kits are expensive, and my sheds have been too cheap to bother converting.
I'm absolutely craving a cayenne turbo on liquid phase lpg though.
You don't need a spare can of gas, just a petrol can. Car still runs on petrol.
Only downside for me is the last few petrol cars I have considered have been direct injection so not really suitable as the direct injection kits are expensive, and my sheds have been too cheap to bother converting.
I'm absolutely craving a cayenne turbo on liquid phase lpg though.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Saturday 9th September 22:52
Bit of an odd rant there OP. As the others have said it is about the right tool for the job. Maybe the folks that are waxing lyrical just have that. Our LPG 3 litre X350 Jag XJ was perfect for a hideous motorway/A road commute that went past an LPG station. Lovely comfy cruiser that did enough miles to save us quite a bit of cash but we could switch to petrol and have a laugh hoofing it when we felt like it (and could!). Though I recommend buying one already done as the finance/money bit makes moire sense.
(B)Horses(P) for courses.
(B)Horses(P) for courses.
Didn't like mine at all, it was gutless on gas, range was rubbish, took ages to fill and it needed filling often, worked out no cheaper than the equivalent diesel engined version to run, and suffered head gasket failure, which appears to be more likely in LPG powered engines than petrol or diesel engines. Haven't mentioned the spare wheel in the boot space yet...
Never again.
Never again.
there's no point in LPG car if you drive a city 1.0 engine car and only do 3-4k miles a year...
I live under 1minute from cheap LPG station and have a 3.2 car which does 15k miles a year.. in that case it's the best decision ever.
Most of the people here drive leased economy s
tboxes so there's no point for them to even have LPG as their fuel costs are already very low.
I live under 1minute from cheap LPG station and have a 3.2 car which does 15k miles a year.. in that case it's the best decision ever.
Most of the people here drive leased economy s
tboxes so there's no point for them to even have LPG as their fuel costs are already very low.
Apart from not being easy to use on some of the modern cars, I have never understood peoples reluctance to convert cars to LPG.
Having run a mark 4 golf with the kit I had no problems whatsoever and enjoyed the fact I was getting 55mpg in financial terms. A friend has converted his Jaguar XJS as he does a high yearly miles and his wife a 320 CLK Merc with LPG. He is able to buy big engined cars cheaply in the present market and bring the overall costs down. There seems to be no noticable loss of power with either.
He was also able to choose the size of tank for the gas.
LPG seems to remain a bit of a secret. Make sure you have a decent installation and ignore the doubters.
Having run a mark 4 golf with the kit I had no problems whatsoever and enjoyed the fact I was getting 55mpg in financial terms. A friend has converted his Jaguar XJS as he does a high yearly miles and his wife a 320 CLK Merc with LPG. He is able to buy big engined cars cheaply in the present market and bring the overall costs down. There seems to be no noticable loss of power with either.
He was also able to choose the size of tank for the gas.
LPG seems to remain a bit of a secret. Make sure you have a decent installation and ignore the doubters.
Evanivitch said:
Personally, LPG is not for me. I like having space for a spare tyre and an overnight bag. I
don't want to be worrying about whether I should be on LPG or petrol, and when it'll explode in a crash.
There must be a reason no one sells one brand new.
Has anyone bought an LPG car and realised it's not for them?
I have space for a tyre and many bags as well as my LPG tankdon't want to be worrying about whether I should be on LPG or petrol, and when it'll explode in a crash.
There must be a reason no one sells one brand new.
Has anyone bought an LPG car and realised it's not for them?
I don't worry whether I should be on petrol or LPG - the answer is you should be on LPG as it's half the price !
It costs more to install and most people are morons
Only morons or people who live and travel, no where near LPG stations
Plenty will have regrets, if the conversion is poorly done or the vehicle isn't suitable in the first place it can be a pain in the arse. For me its been worthwhile. I could never have done 20k a year in a bmw 740 when I was 22 and on crap money without it. At the time when petrol was over £1 a litre i was getting lpg from a bunker site on a fuel card at 35ppl, or on a forecourt at 50ppl. It wasalso a double benefit as the petrol tank leaked if you went over half a tank in that car so i only ever kept it just above empty on petrol, with a 100l lpg tank the boot was still bigger than a 3 series and i still had a spare tyre.
One down side to LPG versus diesel is that your converted petrol engine still gets taxed at the full CO2 rated value. If you go through the whole rigmarole of applying for the reduction, you get a whole £10 back!
I have a local LPG station, and if I were doing 10k+ miles a year I wouldn't hesitate to go LPG. It has to be worth it to lose the diesel stink and incessant clatterclatterclatter. I hear the effective octane boost and charge cooling effect that LPG has works especially well with some turbo engines. My dad had an LPG Cortina as a company car in the early 80s (105k miles in 5 years, hardened valve seats, usual cam belt failure at 100k miles) so I've sort of had a passing interest ever since, and can't remember ever seeing a news story that concerned one blowing up.
I have a local LPG station, and if I were doing 10k+ miles a year I wouldn't hesitate to go LPG. It has to be worth it to lose the diesel stink and incessant clatterclatterclatter. I hear the effective octane boost and charge cooling effect that LPG has works especially well with some turbo engines. My dad had an LPG Cortina as a company car in the early 80s (105k miles in 5 years, hardened valve seats, usual cam belt failure at 100k miles) so I've sort of had a passing interest ever since, and can't remember ever seeing a news story that concerned one blowing up.
Have I woken up in 1999?
Other than travelling folk, who buys LPG vehicles?
What is there out there worth throwing the money at for an LPG conversion which will just end up not working properly and nowhere to get put right.
That's before you consider that you're stuck with a nasty gutless petrol engine at best when there are so many diesels to choose from.
There are very few petrol cars to convert anyway.
Can someone give some practical examples of practical propositions
Other than travelling folk, who buys LPG vehicles?
What is there out there worth throwing the money at for an LPG conversion which will just end up not working properly and nowhere to get put right.
That's before you consider that you're stuck with a nasty gutless petrol engine at best when there are so many diesels to choose from.
There are very few petrol cars to convert anyway.
Can someone give some practical examples of practical propositions
I while back I had a P38 4.6 Range Rover running LPG. Saved a load of money when I did fill up with LPG.
But it also highlighted the two issues with LPG quite well. Firstly, the LPG conversion that was done before I got it was rubbish and borderline lethal. It cost me about £400 with a local LPG specialist to sort it out. Secondly, I had to make more detours to fill up with LPG, and in my local town it was only available 8am to 5pm from the local Calor Gas place. So being lazy I often didn't refill with LPG.
I don't understand why everyone is so bothered about the lack of a spare wheel. In the 20 years I have been driving I have yet to need a spare other than one time on a motorway and I let the AA change it. As I have decent breakdown cover, I don't really care whether I have a spare or not. Many new cars don't even come with spares anyway.
I'd happily get a big V8 LPG barge.
But it also highlighted the two issues with LPG quite well. Firstly, the LPG conversion that was done before I got it was rubbish and borderline lethal. It cost me about £400 with a local LPG specialist to sort it out. Secondly, I had to make more detours to fill up with LPG, and in my local town it was only available 8am to 5pm from the local Calor Gas place. So being lazy I often didn't refill with LPG.
I don't understand why everyone is so bothered about the lack of a spare wheel. In the 20 years I have been driving I have yet to need a spare other than one time on a motorway and I let the AA change it. As I have decent breakdown cover, I don't really care whether I have a spare or not. Many new cars don't even come with spares anyway.
I'd happily get a big V8 LPG barge.
Pistom said:
Have I woken up in 1999?
Other than travelling folk, who buys LPG vehicles?
What is there out there worth throwing the money at for an LPG conversion which will just end up not working properly and nowhere to get put right.
That's before you consider that you're stuck with a nasty gutless petrol engine at best when there are so many diesels to choose from.
There are very few petrol cars to convert anyway.
Can someone give some practical examples of practical propositions
In 2013 I bought a 2.4i Accord Tourer. I was utterly sick of dpf, egr and turbo issues on diesels. I do 25k miles a year up and down the country for work. Not to mention the Honda petrol engines being totally bombproof but the diesels having a rep for issues. Other than travelling folk, who buys LPG vehicles?
What is there out there worth throwing the money at for an LPG conversion which will just end up not working properly and nowhere to get put right.
That's before you consider that you're stuck with a nasty gutless petrol engine at best when there are so many diesels to choose from.
There are very few petrol cars to convert anyway.
Can someone give some practical examples of practical propositions
The accord was on 45k miles, it's now on 145k and has not put a foot wrong engine/ lpg system wise. I had a good quality system fitted by an engineer rather than a fitter. Servicing is nothing to speak of, just a filter every other oil change. I had a faulty injector once, but as I live in Leicester there's a million Polska garages with loads of knowledge of lpg.
The system has saved me a small fortune and more than paid for itself. Plus I didn't have to live with the cost/ trouble/ awfulness of yet another modern over-stressed diesel.
There you go, practical example, just as you asked.
My daily is an MY00 S6 with the 4.2 V8 and an LPG conversion and I have to say it works rather well. Yes it loses a bit of grunt when running on gas but it's still more than enough for general driving about and it gives me about £10 a day back in savings on my commute which is not insignificant. And any time I want to let the V8's inner hooligan out to play it's right there at the flick of a switch. The lpg tank gives ~200 miles range which isn't awful and if I have both that and the petrol tank full that can be upwards of 500 miles range, not bad for such a big petrol engine!
Losing the wheel well isn't ideal but I just leave the spare in the boot most of the time, and I still have enough space for a moderate amount of luggage. The fuel gauge for gas being just four LEDs that is mostly hidden by the steering wheel is a bit crap but that's down to the kit and the installer rather than an inherent LPG problem. It was a bit disconcerting the first time it caught me out and I ran out while driving as it cuts about 80% of the power when it does but since it takes all of a second or two to flip the switch over to petrol it's really not a big deal.
Losing the wheel well isn't ideal but I just leave the spare in the boot most of the time, and I still have enough space for a moderate amount of luggage. The fuel gauge for gas being just four LEDs that is mostly hidden by the steering wheel is a bit crap but that's down to the kit and the installer rather than an inherent LPG problem. It was a bit disconcerting the first time it caught me out and I ran out while driving as it cuts about 80% of the power when it does but since it takes all of a second or two to flip the switch over to petrol it's really not a big deal.
eltax91 said:
There you go, practical example, just as you asked.
Well, alright then. Other than that "what have the Romans ever done for us".In that same period, Ive had diesels doing similar miles and have had no issues, needed no specialists to service it and enjoyed the benefit of loads of torque.
And I have LPG stations all around me so would love to have take advantage of them.
swerni said:
Why would you want to drive a diesel ?
I have a friend who had a C63 converted a couple of years ago.
Is still running it and still loves it.
Lots of low end torque. I have a friend who had a C63 converted a couple of years ago.
Is still running it and still loves it.
Cheap RFL.
Any grease monkey can fix them without needing an LPG specialist. Not that in over 500K miles of diesel motoring I've ever had anything go wrong.
If something does go wrong, you don't get your local garage saying it's the LPG and the LPG man saying it's something else.
Pistom said:
Other than travelling folk, who buys LPG vehicles?
What is there out there worth throwing the money at for an LPG conversion which will just end up not working properly and nowhere to get put right.
That's before you consider that you're stuck with a nasty gutless petrol engine at best when there are so many diesels to choose from.
There are very few petrol cars to convert anyway.
Can someone give some practical examples of practical propositions
I've owned the following:What is there out there worth throwing the money at for an LPG conversion which will just end up not working properly and nowhere to get put right.
That's before you consider that you're stuck with a nasty gutless petrol engine at best when there are so many diesels to choose from.
There are very few petrol cars to convert anyway.
Can someone give some practical examples of practical propositions
Leon 1.8T 180bhp shopping hack - did effectively 70mpg
F150 V8 & Dodge Ram V8 - effectively 30mpg, 6 seater plus a huge load bay, V8 noise circa 270bhp
Subaru Forester XT 275bhp - effectively 40mpg
Mazda 6 2.3 - this is the only one I paid to convert - it paid for the conversion within 18 months
Diesels are ok for towing heavy loads but why would I want to drive one otherwise ?
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