How do people afford to run petrol cars? (or how nasty are courtesy cars lol)

Dave_G_5

I'm doing the conversion myself and getting the kit cheap from a friend!!

ArsenalFC

Ah I see, wish that I can do it myself too . I gathered you are aware that most insurance company would not insure your vehicle unless it was converted by a member of the LPGA.

Dave_G_5

Just need to get it inspected afterwards at a cost of about £40. Not that hard to do when you look into it, and I have heard of quite a few approved conversion companies that haven't done a good job in the first place!! If you can change brakes etc I think you should be able to do it, just take your time, and your car doesn't have to be off the road while your doing it. I'm going to spread it over a couple of weekends I think.

ArsenalFC

I dont really think it's as easy as you have made it sound dave. I have not change a brake pads myself before, but it doesn't seem very difficult to do so.

On the other hand, a hole on the side panel would have to be cut around the boot area for the inlet hose of the gas tank. A gas button also have to be put in somewhere in the driver area, not to mention all the bits and bobs that goes under the car into the engine. To do this I think you got to know where everything go and how to assemble them. You must know how to do this I assumed, let us know how you get on with the conversion.

Dave_G_5

I did mean a bit more than just break pads, but when you break the whole task down, it doesn't appear to be too difficult:

The tank needs to be secured to the boot (I'm getting a wheel well one and will bolt and strap it in)

A hole needs to be cut for the inlet (probably the most nerve wracking part as you will see it everyday but I'm hoping to hide mine behind the rear number plate and having that on a hinged panel)

Pipes need to be run from the inlet to the tank and the tank to the engine bay, must be secured under the car every 600mm and be able to be inspected. All pipes inside the car have an extra shrowding so any gas that might escape gets directed back out to fresh air.

Vapouriser needs to be mounted in the engine bay and fed by the coolant system to prevent it from freezing.

Mixer needs to be fitted the the air inlet just before the manifold, just uses a couple of grub screws and some sealant.

Switch needs to be mounted inside the car, and wiring connections need to be made to the lambda sensor and tps sensor and then all connected to the lpg ecu and set up.

Sounds quite a lot, but I intend to break it down over a few weekends. Hopefully it will all go ok, and I intend taking plenty of pictures so other people can see what I've done and hopefully it will help them too. I'll keep you updated.

ArsenalFC

Seems like you know what you're doing. This is something that definitely interest me. At this moment in time I have a bmw 318is 1.8i, not really looking to get gas for this. Although when I get something like a 2.5 or 3.0i car that is when I will want the system install. Keep us posted with pics and details if possible, and goodluck!

andy88_2

AFC lpg conversions are vastly overpriced in this country as you can see. If you happen to be planning a trip abroad at some time, do some research on prices in Netherlands, Belgium, etc.

But I'd still go diesel myself; apart from the fuel economy, acceleration is much better in mid-range engine speeds; you don't need to thrash up to 6000 rpm. I can remember with amusement a Peugeot 205 GTI and 520 BMW that could not overtake me in my old Citroen BX TD 40 miles of varying speeds of 60 to 105 mph on German motorways. And the economy is more than you think - the £10 that takes your BMW 55 miles will take my Xantia about 135; I refill about every 800 miles.

Luis Mercedes C Sports Coupe - normally with 220CDI but maybe instead AMG 3.0CDI 230bhp still 40-50mpg - take the AMG badges off and watch all those BMW 320 petrol blokes' jaws drop

Mado

To go back to a sexy diesel... Hubby drives the Jagular X type... Bought it second hand so not toooo bad, but it was really simple:
We needed to buy a car in a real hurry after coming back from living abroad, bought the mag, did a couple of test drives and frankly this is the smoothest diesel I have ever driven. Tried a Skoda after that but not immediately available and frankly bumpy compared to the Jag!
And it looks cool

ArsenalFC

I agreed the lpg conversion over here is well over priced at around £1800. I also know that there are excellent diesel cars out there with plenty of power. I would love to have a diesel car however, my problem is as stated previously, I want a 2 door coupe and it has to be a bmw or a merc. It then has to be an automatic, so not much choice there, basically I have eliminated diesel cars.

I dont drive much, covering just 3k a year, so having the bmw isn't so much of a problem. If I do high mileage then I would definitely would have to do without all of my preferences and get a diesel.

jjames_3

> My 206 'benefits from extended service intervals', only needs doing every 20,000 miles or 2yrs whichever is soonest.

Shudder.

This is ludicrous. A service every 2 years? What are PSA thinking for pity's sake?

The number of minor things that might need attention that could turn into major faults in the space of 2 years. The mind boggles.

It's not even as if PSA can claim their cars are more reliable than the competition!

I get my car checked up every 6 months at a backstreet garage, and have the oil changed, as a matter of course. That way preventative maintenance is far more effective.