|
||
|
14th June 2016, 09:22 | #11 |
Posted a thing or two
MG ZT, Rover Sterling, MG ZS EV & BMW X5 Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: The Norfolk Broads
Posts: 1,491
Thanks: 20
Thanked 196 Times in 117 Posts
|
LPG is great and basically a way to 'cheat' and run a fun car for the cost of a diesel however availability is the biggest problem. I ran LPG cars for around a decade (still have one) and at the start they were great however a few LPG stations closed leaving me with a long drive out of my way to fill up. Our Jeep which is LPG'd mainly runs on expensive unleaded because I hardly get a chance to gas up. The other thing to bear in mind is maintenance. If you have a good local maintainer this isn't a problem however if your nearest one is a crook that you wouldn't trust for anything then it becomes an issue.
That said it is sometimes useful having a second fuel tank........going back to a diesel it's taken a bit of getting used to the concept of empty really meaning empty!
__________________
My car history http://m6jkk.com
|
14th June 2016, 14:58 | #12 | |
Posted a thing or two
Wedgewood Connie SE / Black Club SE Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Ballymoney
Posts: 1,459
Thanks: 542
Thanked 583 Times in 365 Posts
|
Quote:
Diesel currently costs me about 1.07 a litre (about 15% less when I fill up across the border, but I'll ignore that for now as being anomalous). Conservatively, I'll say that I average about 46mpg, although I have seen 52/53 or thereabouts on longer runs. The car runs just as I like, with excellent torque and mid-range acceleration for overtaking (thank you Brian!), so I'm happy with that. At current prices, it takes £67-£68 to cover 640-650 miles, or about 10.5p a mile (in fuel). On gas, the only forecourt price I've seen recently shows it would cost me 63.9ppl / £2.90 a gallon. At 24mpg, covering 650 miles will take 27 gallons, or about 123 litres. At 63.9ppl, it would cost £78.67 to cover the same distance. However if I was able to get LPG for the same sort of prices mentioned above, it would only cost me £61-£62. Over 10000 miles, the figures come out as follows: diesel (at 107ppl) - £1046 LPG (at 63.9ppl) - £1210 LPG (at 50ppl) - £954 So it's definitely worth it for you lucky people across the water - however it doesn't keep its nose clean over here, unless I can find somewhere supplying gas at a much cheaper price. Or unless the diesel price rises while the gas price stays the same or even drops. I'd also have to see how my insurance would be affected. Last time I looked at this, IIRC the best quote from a variety of insurers was an extra £180 or thereabouts onto my premium about 4 months into the policy, just for a theoretical change from a diesel 75 saloon to a ZT 2.5 tourer on LPG. Maybe if a 75 on LPG comes up, the premium may be lower ("a ZT's a sports car, innit?") but I'd have to check it out thoroughly beforehand. I'll keep an eye out for other LPG prices, but for now the idea falls into the "nice idea, but not feasible" category.
__________________
My blood brother is an immigrant A beautiful immigrant My blood brother's Freddie Mercury A Nigerian mother of three |
|
14th June 2016, 15:57 | #13 |
Gets stuck in
Rover 75 Connoisseur 2.5 V6 auto Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire
Posts: 907
Thanks: 320
Thanked 159 Times in 127 Posts
|
I've never had any change in insurance prices for lpg, and I've always stated it as a modification, can't be too careful about that! Some insurers ask for an install certificate which costa about £25 (or it did when I last checked), I've always done DIY fits and had them checked after by a professional. Mind you there is a bit of a" cartel scam " going on with certs, but that's another story.
And I reiterate, check gas supply depots 1st, NOT forecourts. My local Flogas (noted as expensive or so I've heard in the trade) is 47.0p, whereas Shell is around 63.9p. BP (always the dearest I've found wherever I've been in the last 16 years) is around 69.9p. Morrisons actually is often very cheap; locally it has been 47.9p for months which is unusual as their prices often change almost daily. I have heard recently that you can go as low as around 36-39p in the W.Midlands, noted as a cheap area. And of course as a green fuel the Govt. helps us out, we get all of a £15 rebate on the Road Fund! Stewart |
14th June 2016, 16:01 | #14 |
Posted a thing or two
Wedgewood Connie SE / Black Club SE Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Ballymoney
Posts: 1,459
Thanks: 542
Thanked 583 Times in 365 Posts
|
Hmm, it didn't occur to me that anywhere other than a forecourt would supply LPG as a road fuel. I'll bear that in mind.
__________________
My blood brother is an immigrant A beautiful immigrant My blood brother's Freddie Mercury A Nigerian mother of three |
17th June 2016, 11:02 | #15 |
Posted a thing or two
Mazda 6 Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Wigan
Posts: 1,384
Thanks: 266
Thanked 398 Times in 287 Posts
|
To be honest if anything happened to my diesel Tourer the only Rover/MG I'd replace it with would be an auto MK2 ZT-T 180+ with LPG. That would be a pretty tall order to find though and you have to drive a lot of miles to justify/recoup the cost of having a decent kit fitted yourself
|
18th June 2016, 16:25 | #16 | |
This is my second home
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 5,428
Thanks: 3,123
Thanked 3,170 Times in 2,096 Posts
|
Quote:
This compared well to the LR diesels where the 200 series and the 300 series did about 27mpg and the Td5 not a lot more. So I always thought buying a cheaper and often more luxurious V8 Petrol (the petrol LR's were usually top of the range) and converting it to LPG such that the total cost was about that I would have paid for a diesel was a mpre sensible option. That said - the conversion did not, sadly, increase the value. Equally sadly - LPG round here is between 54 and 58 pence per litre. Wish it was 49p/L !!! On the M3 on Thursday - Fleet Services - LPG was 57.9p/L and petrol and diesel were 122p/L - This is the first time I have ever seen LPG being less than half the price of petrol or diesel. Overall - It really is making sense to look at a nice tope of the range 2.5 V6 and LPG convert it. |
|
18th June 2016, 16:35 | #17 | |
This is my second home
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 5,428
Thanks: 3,123
Thanked 3,170 Times in 2,096 Posts
|
Quote:
Also airports often have an LPG outlet - Bournemouth Airport has one. In the SW - Countrywide Farmers have an LPG Distribution network that works well. You get a card and a pin number and can go and fill up on a Farm or similar. No money changes hands - you get a monthly bill based upon your usage. https://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk...sscontentbasic Not sure if this has expanded outside of the SW - or if there are similar providers. |
|
18th June 2016, 19:57 | #18 |
Coolguy
Rover 75 CDT Tourer Auto, Rover 75 2.0 Connoisseur Auto, MG ZT 2.5 Auto and MG ZT Cdti Auto (Monogra Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Finedon
Posts: 1,899
Thanks: 933
Thanked 638 Times in 430 Posts
|
Picked up a ZT 180 Auto with LPG recently. The guy who had it before me reckoned he got 230 miles for £20. I'll let you know how I get on. I may be selling it as I really don't like it's colour (anthracite), and if so, it will go on the forum first.
|
22nd June 2016, 18:28 | #19 | |
Loves to post
Rover 75 Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Tamworth
Posts: 291
Thanks: 2
Thanked 72 Times in 65 Posts
|
Quote:
Sounds about right... But prices vary big time. Birmingham has cheapest I've ever seen currently 38ppl. In Bristol I pay 47.7 at asds. V6 auto.. Can squeeze around 60l in which is around the 20ish mark in brum and go for around 260 miles. A session on t4 or vt4 can help enabling LPG not massively but on my v6 for sure it has advanced timing or changed fuelling (instantly after sending new tune to car, cold start = high revs when it fires then it brings them down almost like an air leak). Next car will be LPG - 11 years of mgr products but fancy a 300c on barbecue fuel. |
|
23rd June 2016, 04:23 | #20 |
This is my second home
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 5,428
Thanks: 3,123
Thanked 3,170 Times in 2,096 Posts
|
|
|
|