Gas Conversion

ca9phoenix · 8 Dec 2006 at 00:32

I am having my car (2.3 v5 seat toledo) converted over to gas next week, i'm about to satr a 30k a year comute which is fixed for atleast 3 years so i know i will benefit from the fuel costs.

what i'm interested in is other peoples viewes and experiences regarding a gas car, any problems etc and in general anyones views on running on gas.

Andy100 · 8 Dec 2006 at 00:47

One of my friends had his Holden converted to gas (it's like a Vectra) and it's now the most gutless piece of **** I've ever driven.

I drove it home from the pub the other night and going up a hill I had to change down into 1st gear to get up the bloody thing. There's just no ooomph in it at all. Maybe it's just his car but it's the only experience I've had with one.

Great fuel economy though

ca9phoenix · 8 Dec 2006 at 00:54

i presume he has it on dual fuel so you can change back to petrol if needs be?

Scottland · 8 Dec 2006 at 00:56

Andy100 said:
Great fuel economy though

Technically it's probably the same or less, it's just the gas is less than half the price of petrol

I've only ever driven a 1.0 Micra with an LPG conversion, and that was a little lacklustre on the gas compared to petrol

Andy100 · 8 Dec 2006 at 01:04

ca9phoenix said:
i presume he has it on dual fuel so you can change back to petrol if needs be?

Nope, just gas but over here in Sydney pretty much every petrol station has a gas pump.

silversurfer · 8 Dec 2006 at 01:37

Andy100 said:
One of my friends had his Holden converted to gas (it's like a Vectra) and it's now the most gutless piece of **** I've ever driven.

If its done too cheaply or badly then thats about right, it contains 80% the energy of petrol, combine that with a carb setup and bad tuning and it'll only be good for cruising and sometimes not even that.
On the other hand if its done right you may not notice any difference switching between the two.

Mine has a flat spot from about 3k to 4.5k in the revs which does kinda ruin it but then I got it for pennies and I can switch to petrol easy so no big deal really.

whats the price in sydney then?

Andy100 · 8 Dec 2006 at 03:49

I think it's around 50 cents a litre for LPG and $1.18 for unleaded.

So that's... 20p and 47p in UK money.

What's it like over there now?

[TW]Fox · 8 Dec 2006 at 08:15

Fuel cost over 90,000 miles:

Petrol: £11850
LPG: £8008

It's only just worth it, but seems like it would be worth doing.

panthro · 8 Dec 2006 at 08:25

[TW]Fox said:
Fuel cost over 90,000 miles:

Petrol: £11850
LPG: £8008

It's only just worth it, but seems like it would be worth doing.

Depends how much the conversion costs. What figures did you use to work that out?

[TW]Fox · 8 Dec 2006 at 10:08

panthro said:
Depends how much the conversion costs. What figures did you use to work that out?

30mpg for the car on petrol, 25mpg with it on gas (Gas is less efficient), 87p a litre for petrol and 49p a litre for gas.

ca9phoenix · 8 Dec 2006 at 10:10

the conversion is with greenfuel and is costing a few pence over 2k.... it will be at least 3 years doing 30k a year so if i stay there anything over 3 years is a bonus.

Scottland · 8 Dec 2006 at 10:47

[TW]Fox said:
30mpg for the car on petrol, 25mpg with it on gas (Gas is less efficient), 87p a litre for petrol and 49p a litre for gas.

He'll have to be careful where he puts in gas then, it's still 39/40p here

lordrobs · 8 Dec 2006 at 10:54

Does anyone out there in the know what the deal is likely to be with Bio Ethanol? I know its already on a few forecourts but when I last looked it was 1 or 2p a litre cheaper than UL, not really worth the cost of the conversion box. Are there any plans for it to be given tax exemptions/reductions? Obviously as more places start to sell it the cost will come down.

Personally I wouldn't consider LPG but Bio Ethanol seems like a win win solution- £500 conversion box (will probably come down as it becomes more popular) uses the same tank and can be mixed with your regular UL so you can fill up with whatevers available plus no performance loss worth mentioning :cool:

[TW]Fox · 8 Dec 2006 at 12:07

Scottland said:
He'll have to be careful where he puts in gas then, it's still 39/40p here

Just went up ANOTHER 3p in this years budget, don't be suprised if it goes up even more in the near future.

OneWingedAngel · 8 Dec 2006 at 12:24

Wouldn't it be better just to sell your car and get the diesel equivilent?

Virtually all diesels have no problem running regular diesel, biodiesel or even veg oil, so theres always a selection of fuel choices.

Luke · 8 Dec 2006 at 15:04

Isn't the fuel duty relaxation on LPG a temporary thing? I thought it was due to end in the next couple of years.

hyster · 8 Dec 2006 at 16:10

Why is there fuel duty relaxation on LPG?

If there is a dirtier fuel, I've yet to see it. I'm a forklift mechanic and if you could see the inside of an LPG lockoff valve or vapouriser you would be shocked.

I never seen anything like it in diesel or petrol fuel systems.

Dogbreath · 8 Dec 2006 at 16:20

hyster said:
Why is there fuel duty relaxation on LPG?

If there is a dirtier fuel, I've yet to see it. I'm a forklift mechanic and if you could see the inside of an LPG lockoff valve or vapouriser you would be shocked.

I never seen anything like it in diesel or petrol fuel systems.

The emissions are still lower in most respects than petrol or diesel though. It has virtualy zero particulates as well.

silversurfer · 8 Dec 2006 at 17:23

LPG runs clean from what Ive seen. Some old v8 range rovers have been converted to be lpg only and they report the oil does not turn black even after thousands of miles.
Petrol is a solvent, maybe thats why it appears to leave parts cleaner. LPG doesnt lubricate in the same way

ca9phoenix · 8 Dec 2006 at 20:34

i did consider selling the car and geting a diesel however i only recently bought the car.... not expecting the change of job.... and i would loose out to the sum of about 2k, i'd rather keep the car cos i realy like it and run it into the ground.