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Since LPG is so cheap, why aren't all cars available in LPG versions? In fact why aren't there cars which run on LPG only?
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>> In fact why aren't there cars which run on LPG only?
Lack of filling stations at a guess. At least if you've got petrol in another tank, you can carry on your journey until you find LPG, or put some petrol in if you can't.
However, whereas on most LPG cars they still have a full sized petrol tank, I'm sure I read on the other site sometime ago that one of the Volvo's only has a petrol tank that holds a couple of gallons.
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They have to start up on petrol. My friends golf, a 1.4 running on LPG uses about 2 tanks of petrol a year.
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if LPG ever became popular it would soon be taxed to petrol levels.
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There are issues on valve burnout and upper cylinder lubrication on some cars...
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>>upper cylinder lubrication on some cars...
Redex might resolve that problem, and only 1d per shot!
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Apparently some conversions include an upper cylinder lubrication system...
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>> Apparently some conversions include an upper cylinder lubrication system...
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Flashlube is the name. It's not needed on most cars, but some (Japanese I think?) are vulnerable.
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I think my Upper cylinders need lubing. Is that a Fridge I spy??
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Marston's 'Owd roger' 7.6 I believe. Bought one for a rainy day. Guess what? It's raining. Wil eport in doo corse!
Hic
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My understanding of LPG is that 1) the conversion is quite expensive (400-750+ quid), 2) there aren't that many filling stations around, 3) your mpg (or equivalent!) when running on gas is actually quite low, which is OK if the gas is cheap to buy, but... 4) the price of LPG has indeed crept up considerably these past few years in the UK, due in the most part to increased taxation... (well-spotted Zero).
And... you lose boot space. You wouldn't want to be rear-ended. And some multi-storey car parks, ferries, tunnels, etc ban LPG-powered vehicles in case they go Boom....
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The cost of conversion ranges from about £500 for a DIY basic system suitable for an older car, through to 1-2 thousand for a professional installation of the modern sequential injection systems. (I don't know what that means, just that it's way more sophisticated than the basic system I inherited on my Volvo 240)
Gas economy is about 10% down on an old system, and about the same with a modern one. That's inherent in the energy in the two fuels, but I have heard that with a computer controlled LPG system there is some offsetting gain because ignition timing can be more advanced.
Gas is readily available in mainstreem Britain, but a bit hard to find out in the sticks. It typically costs about 50 p per litre less than petrol.
As an example, my Volvo does 27 mpg on gas. After allowing for price diiferentials, that's the equivalent of the car doing about 50 mpg in terms of petrol-equivalent. That's on an old car with a primitive gas system, which was already fitted when I bought it. I do about 20,000 miles a year.
A modern installation would do much better than that, but with a higher capital cost to allow for. I think they say it's worth converting if you intend keeping the car and do over 10,000 miles a year.
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>> Gas is readily available in mainstreem Britain but a bit hard to find out in
>> the sticks. It typically costs about 50 p per litre less than petrol.
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Depends where you live. Round my way (Carmarthen) there are quite a few suppliers.
Good tip is to check if there's an established conversion specialist in your area; if there is it's a safe bet that there will be a ready supply of LPG in the locality.
I've considered a conversion for my old GMC pick-up, but have been advised that I'd need to change the valves and seats; apparently LPG burns hotter than petrol. I don't really do the mileage at the moment to warrant the conversion, but I do have the advantage that the engine in my truck was also fitted in gas-powered Hyster fork-lifts in the USA, so I'm currently trying to find some details about this.
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>> Since LPG is so cheap why aren't all cars available in LPG versions? In fact
>> why aren't there cars which run on LPG only?
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IIRC one of the far eastern manufacturers has brought out a Hybrid that only uses LPG and electric and cannot run on electric alone so if it runs out of LPG gas then it stops, DOH!.
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I once owned a 'W' reg Vauxhall Vectra 2.0 Dualfuel (ie petrol and LPG). It was built that way, so not converted but the LPG never worked on it and would have cost around £600 to put right. I believe that Vauxhall quietly dropped the Dualfuel range as they had so many problems with it.
If someone could invent an LPG system that was reliable then they'd make a fortune.
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I used to fit these systems to forklifts as standard on nissans the system was a safe unit nikki vaporiser or Beam units, so long as the coolant had no air locks they didn't freeze up and the gas amount was a steady flow it worked spot on with no problems.
It beats me why it's so expensive to fit one to a car!, i know they have a tank fitted opposed to a bottle this alone is the expensive part but the systems i have seen are so expensive.
On the forklift it comprises of the gas bottle a filter lock thats a gas solonoid valve with a filter built in straight to vaporiser nikki been better than beam, then to air intake in single point injection manifold, vacuum is required to suck the gas through the vaporiser.
They came standard as as dual fuel but never seen any ran on petrol, it's about time a cheaper alternative was made for the car i just may fit one off a forklift and fit the gas bottle in the boot.!
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I don't think its as cheap as it once was. However currently there are two huge storage facility's nearing completion in the UK. One at the Isle of Grain and the other i believe in Wales somewhere. These are to recieve the LPG coming to these shores in huge purpose built ocean going tankers. I thought at one time it was going to be all the rage. About 10 yrs ago you would see plenty of converstion centres, but not now.
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LPG cars - VxFan
