Mrs Wildfire is in the fashion industry and needs a new (well secondhand) van for transporting samples around. We have seen what looks like the ideal van, but it's LPG which we know nothing about. Advantages are that it is about half the cost of petrol, reduced vehicle tax, no London congestion charge and fewer polar icesheets are slaughtered in it's use.
However as previously said we are newbies to this LPG lark, are there any downsides that anyone knows of?
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LPG - Any Advice?
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Sex God
Im guessing its a Vauxhall, which means its factory fitted LPG. The systems are very good these days. I had it fitted to my old Jag. They run fine but can be a bit under responsive on smaller engines which is kewl in a 4.2 litre but may make your van a bit sluggish. However if you have picked avan I am assuming speed and acceleration arent your main criteria.
Engine that have been converted tend to not last as long as as the gas burns hotter and damages the valave seats - you can have special hardened seats fitted which solves that, and I assume the Vauxhall Factory fit engines would have that.
The savings are good but only if you do lots of miles and bear in mind that if you are driving in central London (your metion of congestion charge suggests that) then the LPG fuel stations are few and far between, although there are plenty on the motorways.
Engine that have been converted tend to not last as long as as the gas burns hotter and damages the valave seats - you can have special hardened seats fitted which solves that, and I assume the Vauxhall Factory fit engines would have that.
The savings are good but only if you do lots of miles and bear in mind that if you are driving in central London (your metion of congestion charge suggests that) then the LPG fuel stations are few and far between, although there are plenty on the motorways.
Thanks Silk, it's actually a Transit but (we are checking this) the conversion was done by Ford at the factory. Your point about fuel stations is a good one but there is one close by us and there is a free satnav map downloadable. However it does run on regular unleaded as well so she is very unlikely to get stranded.
Sex God
It might be worth getting the seller to have the system checked/serviced before you buy it if it doesn't have proof of this being done recently. If everything is fine you'll effectivley be getting about 40% more MPG if the price difference between petrol on LPG is still the same.
I'm planning on getting a system fitted to my Jag when i get it all up and running again
:bounce:
I'm planning on getting a system fitted to my Jag when i get it all up and running again
:bounce: Mrs Wildfire is in the fashion industry and needs a new (well secondhand) van for transporting samples around. We have seen what looks like the ideal van, but it's LPG which we know nothing about. Advantages are that it is about half the cost of petrol, reduced vehicle tax, no London congestion charge and fewer polar icesheets are slaughtered in it's use.
However as previously said we are newbies to this LPG lark, are there any downsides that anyone knows of?[/quote
speaking as a courier I would recommend LPG , it will pay dividends in the long term ( but not short term) in running costs and wear and with duel fuel you never have to worry about running out of gas , go for it I ran both a transit van and winnebago on LPG and had no problems and as you have mentiond no congestion charge etc etc etc.
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However as previously said we are newbies to this LPG lark, are there any downsides that anyone knows of?[/quote
speaking as a courier I would recommend LPG , it will pay dividends in the long term ( but not short term) in running costs and wear and with duel fuel you never have to worry about running out of gas , go for it I ran both a transit van and winnebago on LPG and had no problems and as you have mentiond no congestion charge etc etc etc.
....
We've run dual fuel cars for 10 year without any problems. The first was a conversion, the second is a Vauxhall Astra, supplied as dual duel fuel, that we've had for 6 years.
As has previously been said the mpg is slightly less than petrol, but with thew price difference you cannot loose. Performance is no issue at all on 1.6 engine and you have the beauty of 2 tanks.
The cars start on petrol and then switch to LPG, so you do need to keep some petrol in your tank.
10 years ago it was problematic finding filling stations, but not any issue now. Most areas are very well served.
Depending on the age of the van a pressure check may be needed on the LPG tank. This is recommended after 8 years on a Vauxhall.
There were problems with some ford conversions: Focus 1.8 was available, but the 1.6 had problems with valves burning out in the engine and was not recommended for conversion. Worth checking with a reputable conversion company for advice.
Would consider another dual fuel, but Vauxhall don't do them as factory options now and no gov grants to sweeten the deals as there was with our last one.
As has previously been said the mpg is slightly less than petrol, but with thew price difference you cannot loose. Performance is no issue at all on 1.6 engine and you have the beauty of 2 tanks.
The cars start on petrol and then switch to LPG, so you do need to keep some petrol in your tank.
10 years ago it was problematic finding filling stations, but not any issue now. Most areas are very well served.
Depending on the age of the van a pressure check may be needed on the LPG tank. This is recommended after 8 years on a Vauxhall.
There were problems with some ford conversions: Focus 1.8 was available, but the 1.6 had problems with valves burning out in the engine and was not recommended for conversion. Worth checking with a reputable conversion company for advice.
Would consider another dual fuel, but Vauxhall don't do them as factory options now and no gov grants to sweeten the deals as there was with our last one.
I ran a V8 discovery on Gas and found on average you lose about 10% on HP and about 10% mpg.
I very quickly got used to it and found it fine for running about in.
Only think I will say, is that if it's not done at the factory, some insurance companies will ask for a CORGI gas certificate before they cover you.
Other than that, they're a damn good idea
I very quickly got used to it and found it fine for running about in.
Only think I will say, is that if it's not done at the factory, some insurance companies will ask for a CORGI gas certificate before they cover you.
Other than that, they're a damn good idea
Sex God
ok what about a duel fuel car/van that runs on diesel and veg oil my partner has a people carrier that runs on used oil from pubs etc just filter and put in the tank along with diesel in the winter and just oil in the summer ... getting it from pubs etc its generally free so you cannt get cheaper than that lol and if you run out of fuel just pop to any corner shop for a bottle of oil enough to get you to the next fuel stop. you do have to mix with diesel in the winter as oil is too thick in the cold weather to cope
