Buying an LPG Car

davidjwest

I'm considering buying an LPG car as I do 25-30k miles annually and it would save me a fair bit in fuel, I am currently running a Pug 306 Diesel but that's 17 years old so I don't expect it to last long with the mileage I am doing.

I've seen a Fiesta with LPG conversion that reputedly returns around 45 MPG combined, is that realistic? With LPG around 68p/l around here I'd save £120 a month on my current fuel bill.

What are the pros and cons of LPG and what do I need to be aware of?

I have noticed there aren't many LPG cars around for sale and a lot of them are 4x4s that are not any good from an economy point of view, I need something that will return 45MPG+

Most of my mileage is on the motorway.

Thanks for any advice.

rev_henry

You won't get 45mpg on LPG, it'll return around 80% of that.

I'd hold onto what you've got, old 306 diesels are excellent. Why not see if you can't run it on veg oil? That would save you loads...

gilbert_and_sullivan

You need to drive a used pre converted car from cold and witness it change over itself and to drive it for some miles on LPG, make sure it start ok hot after stopping for several minutes and that you can switch easily between the two fuels manually via the control once its up to temp.

Ideally the car should have had a flashlube kit fitted when it was converted, there should be a 500mm or so plastci bottle under the bonnet with a pipe coming out (the top usually) via an adjustable valve, this pipse is routed down to the inlet manifold and the flashlube oil gets sucked in and lubricates the valve seats.

LPG burns hotter than petrol and can in some engines cause valve seat recession.

Worth doing as much research as possible into the particular car and system fitted, this forum is quite good, well worth a read up.
http://www.lpgforum.co.uk/

I have two LPG converted cars, one i had done one which was converted when new, both run well and give excellent economy.
I shall for the forseeable only buy LPG cars or get another converted when one of these dies.

forgotmyname

Too many people have issues later on. Then the savings vanish.

Spare wheel tank approc 40L? Trying to remember how much you can fill them i think its 80%. So a 40L tank will only hold 32 litres.

So your looking for a refuel every 300 miles or so.

Stick to a small diesel hatch. But dont get the smallest engine. If its underpowered it will actually do less to the gallon than a larger one.

If i can get 60+mpg from a Mondeo estate a small hatch should easily beat that without the added expense of LPG services.

OddballJamie

Depending on which engine the Fiesta has I doubt you will see 45mpg even on petrol, more likely 38-40mpg, running on lpg 30-32mpg.

Stick with diesel, something like the Fiesta tdci, C2hdi, C3hdi, 207hdi, 206hdi, go for the 1.4, it's non dpf, less troublesome and is shared across all those cars. Expect to average 60mpg with those cars.

Also look into whether your current car can run on veg oil, if it can that will save you some cash.

This site is useful for more accurate mpg
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/