LPG conversions - anyone done it?

[iaind]

In amongst the crud there's some good information in here

It's only a 4 pot so maybe £1500 isn't such a bad figure after all. I wonder, with the rising costs of fuel, if the conversions will become more popular and therefore cheaper.

Really for me, it's probably not worth it - I'm averaging high 20s (29.8 at last check) for my mixed use and it'll get to mid 30s on a run, high 30s if driven like a saint. As I've tried to get across, the point was really just for a discussion as it's something that interests me - I could have prevented the "wrong car" nonsense by eliminating the second sentence of my post, but never mind.

As for Fox, I dont let him wind me up these days - I'm fairly sure he genuinely doesnt understand my reasoning behind certain things. Whether it's him being narrow minded, or me being random I don't know and don't really care - although I will say if I had bought a 330i (which is equally as "wrong" as the Saab) and posted this thread, it wouldn't have provoked the same response.

Lets try and turn the thread in a slightly different direction then - we've got a thread about pointless fuel saving devices. What good ways are there out there for legitimately saving money on fuel? Any top tips?

 

[Participant]

I will say if I had bought a 330i (which is equally as "wrong" as the Saab) and posted this thread, it wouldn't have provoked the same response.

Or anything similar to one of his parents' cars that he happens to be driving at the time. He'll deny it, of course.

Shame really, as in between his getting the hump about people disregarding his "Do I or have I ever driven it? Then buy it." brand of advice, he seems to apply his furious geek energy in a useful direction.

My best tip for saving fuel is to consciously think about how to minimise braking and accordingly drive like a granny. Bloody boring and difficult in an automatic, but it works.

 

[beermonster]

In all honesty it boils down to what kind of compromise your willing to make, driving it like an OAP to save money is fine but then I don't see the point in buying a turbo car, admittedly you can't go redlining it everywhere that would just be silly, but you can't have both.

Generaly things I do are not idling the car while waiting at lights or picking people up, anticipate lights changing, don't carry excessive weight, I guess even only half filling the tank might help but then you'd make more journeys to the filling stations.

 

[iaind]

The thing that makes driving like a granny more difficult is the addictive combination of kickdown + turbo whistle + head into the headrest that comes from being distinctly ungrannylike

The other thing I've seen that claims to improve economy is a remap - any experience on this aspect of remapping anyone? I know some tuners actually offer an economy map for some cars, although I don't think this would be for me as I assume it would be at the expense of performance. Saying that, give me a device with a switchable map between normal, power and economy; I'd be sorely tempted to buy it

 

[eatcustard]

My camper has LPG

I pay 56PPL that less than half petrol price

I get between 16-20 MPG on Gas or 18-24MPG on Petrol
and no real loss in power, not that it can go quick anyway

The conversion cost me £1000

The best bit is lower emissions

 

[Zip]

My Experiences with LPG is this.

Makes The car Gutless
Drinks like a Fish
Kills the Engine or just makes it plain ol hard to start!

 

[izzy eckerslike]

Our camper van has a conversion, you start the vehicle on petrol & then flick it over to gas after a mile or two. around 28 -30mpg on petrol & 21- 24 mpg on gas
Take note that your insurance company will need to be advised as well as DVLA, beware of some backstreet cheap conversions as your insurance company will want see details & a gas safety certificate & may raise your insurance, this is why DIY conversions fail unless they get a certificate from a regulated fitter

 

[EddScott]

Kills the Engine or just makes it plain ol hard to start!

My understanding is that the engine is started on petrol and then switches to LPG.

As for gutless and drinks like a fish - this is what is meant by loss of power and lower MPG. My reasoning for LPG would be on long hauls so power really isn't an issue on the motorway.

The conversion doesn't half your costs, not really. I get just under 200 miles town driving from £70 (It did 450 on £105 ish on the journey back from buying it). If I can get 200 miles for £40 I'll be happy - if I can get sneak the conversion into the business to get the VAT back I'll be even happier

 

[DM]

My Experiences with LPG is this.

Makes The car Gutless
Drinks like a Fish
Kills the Engine or just makes it plain ol hard to start!

You obviously got a **** conversion done then.

 

[Gribs]

The other thing I've seen that claims to improve economy is a remap - any experience on this aspect of remapping anyone? I know some tuners actually offer an economy map for some cars, although I don't think this would be for me as I assume it would be at the expense of performance. Saying that, give me a device with a switchable map between normal, power and economy; I'd be sorely tempted to buy it

It's generally lies if you actually use the extra power though some of the remaps run the engine leaner so will save fuel but at a greater risk of damage. The 200sx for example runs the injectors at almost maximum after about 5000rpm to reduce temperatures as standard but most remaps actually reduce the injector duty so will give better ecconomy.

The Vauxhaul ones, and maybe the Saab ones too, for the ecconomy mode just remap the throttle respsonse so you effectively don't have full throttle.

 

[Lum]

While I can't be bothered to work out how and why it does what it does. My GF had her modified* 200SX converted last year. This is a 1.8 turbo 4 pot, so in that respect similar to your Saab. She went for the Romano system converted by Mint LPG who are local(ish) to us.

Yes it's true that you don't get as much power as standard (though if you map for LPG, you can take advantage of it's 106 RON octane rating) but the system switches automatically back to petrol when it's reaching it's limits so when you need it your car performs exactly as it did before. If you really need every last ounce of performance (eg. you are planning an overtake) then you can switch it back to petrol just by pressing a button.

MPG? maybe a bit lower, impossible to tell. Ultimately it has halved her fuel bill from £30 a day to £15 a day, so will be paying for itself quite quickly.

*bigger turbo, FMIC, apexi intake, mongoose exhaust, jez stage 2 chip, skyline brakes etc. etc. Needs to run on V-Power too.

 

[logix42p]

My focus has a factory fitted one and ive found that mpg wise its only slightly less than when running on petrol.

As far as loss of power there is a slight drop but its hardly a sports car to start with.

In my case also the engine runs quieter when running on gas.

 

[Joshy]

I think I’m going to have to side with fox here .

For someone who can comfortably afford the fuel, you are putting an awful lot of through into this, don’t you think? Really, I cannot understand why someone who can afford fuel so easily would be “Solely tempted” by the idea of a switchable Map that would give a saving of a couple of MPG at the most?

I just find it difficult to believe that someone who enjoys their car as much as you claim to enjoy your Saab would worry this muuh about saving a few quid on Fuel - If you're happy with it and can afford to run it, why bother potentially ruining the car to save a bit of money you claim not to need?

 

[Ricochet J]

Really, I cannot understand why someone who can afford fuel so easily would be “Solely tempted” by the idea of a switchable Map that would give a saving of a couple of MPG at the most?

Are you reading the same thread as everyone else? The general consensus here is that LPG reduces the MPG.

I just find it difficult to believe that someone who enjoys their car as much as you claim to enjoy your Saab would worry this muuh about saving a few quid on Fuel

Why go for a Bentley Continental GT when a Fiat Panda would do? The point is it's human nature to improve on things. A majority of people of have experience with LPG in this thread have reported quite significant savings. One poster even reported halving their costs from £30 a day to £15 in terms of fuel. I'd hardly call that "saving a few quid". Besides, he hasn't said he was going to go for it, rather, merely being curious.

I don't see the fuss.

 

[Lum]

It's not MPG that is the issue at hand with an LPG conversion, it's MP£

Our experience with the 200SX is that the MP£ is doubled with an LPG conversion.

 

[iaind]

I think I’m going to have to side with fox here .

For someone who can comfortably afford the fuel, you are putting an awful lot of through into this, don’t you think? Really, I cannot understand why someone who can afford fuel so easily would be “Solely tempted” by the idea of a switchable Map that would give a saving of a couple of MPG at the most?

I just find it difficult to believe that someone who enjoys their car as much as you claim to enjoy your Saab would worry this muuh about saving a few quid on Fuel - If you're happy with it and can afford to run it, why bother potentially ruining the car to save a bit of money you claim not to need?

I'm very happy with my car and have no intention of spending any sort of money on it any time soon - the thread was started out of interest rather than anything else.

Really for me, it's probably not worth it - I'm averaging high 20s (29.8 at last check) for my mixed use and it'll get to mid 30s on a run, high 30s if driven like a saint. As I've tried to get across, the point was really just for a discussion as it's something that interests me - I could have prevented the "wrong car" nonsense by eliminating the second sentence of my post, but never mind.

 

[bullit in head]

I'll add to this I've recently had my Galaxy converted...

cost £306 all in...including the first tank of gas.....

I've been running it for two months ish now and is running at 22 mpg on gas and 23 on petrol. no disernable differance in performance. who drives at 100% of the cars power all the time anyway.

the only problems I find are the lack of filling stations and the variance in price..up to 12 ppl from different garages, and the fact that with a smaller tank refills need to take place more often. but is that really a great pain to save ££ .


bullit

 

[iaind]

£306!!!? Is that a floating point error?

 

[[TW]Fox]

£306 for an LPG conversion?!

 

[bullit in head]

that was for all the parts..... £50 for the check to make it legal....
all parts sorced locally and on the bay.... DIY.. the only way to go to save even more money.....should be paid back by the end of this month...

bullit