converting to lpg

[ryanshelton]

Hi
I want your views on converting my car to lpg.
I do around 15-20k miles per year. its a 2002 mini one with 88k on the clock.
Would you say its worth converting and is there any specific problems with converting a mini, apart from losing what little boot space i have?
Thanks for any info
Ryan

[humph]

Have a chat with the dogfather. He had a converted cooper. Extra weight may slow you down a bit. A conversion will cost circa £1500 and general figures suggest it'll take 30k miles fir it to pay for itself. On the annual mileage you quote it'll take 1 to 2 years to pay for itself meaning your car could be 10 years old, and 100k. Will you be wanting to trade up before these milestones? Generally LPG is great, have had 3 gas cars myself.

[rkde]

The hew LPG equipment is very good and quite hassle free. The mini will be fine but mini warranty will no longer touch the car when converted, or this is what I was told, could be wrong.

When buying the LPG kit, some people don't look at the payback vs initial cost but the mpg cost. With your sort of miles then it would be worth it, I would prbably want to own the car to 200K or maybe more

[Cazzywaz]

As well as my beloved Mini I have a factory fitted LPG Focus, purchased as I was doing 160 miles a day at one point. I would recommend LPG the car is so economical, tax reductions, no congestion charge in London (if you register), cheaper insurance, list goes on. Also don't need as many services as less wear and tear on the engine. I could fill up with petrol and gas in the Focus and drive non stop from Lands End to Scotland and still have fuel to spare. If I used my Mini daily I would definately think of converting especially if you intend to keep the car a few years. A while ago LPG was under 50p a litre, back up to 63p now but still virtually half the price of fuel.

[The Dogfather]

Yes, I did this.

It was problematic at first due to the fitter not diagnosing a faultly injector, but afterwards it was OK. I would only do this on a low mileage car so that you get chance to get the money back.

It killed the boot space but I got the equivalent to 60 mpg and still had the sound of a petrol. Performance was slightly down due to the fuel but the extra weight made negligible IMO.

[nortonski]

I remember reading somewhere. You cant go on the euro tunnel with LPG

[humph]

Worth noting here is that your car will not return the same mpg on gas as it does on LPG. A lot of literature suggests that you get 5% less on LPG but I found this to be conservative. My 1.8 focus did 34 mpg on petrol but 30 on LPG, so closer to 10% less. My rover did 15% less. Just needs accounting for in any calcs you do.

Currently trying to decide whether or not to convert the focus I've just bought. Gutfeeling is yes but need to live with it a bit longer.

[ryanshelton]

Ok thanks for all your input. The next question is rkde mentioned wanting to keep the car for at least 200k miles. would a petrol car last this long? i know it depends on lots of different factors but i was under the impression once a car gets beyond 100k ish miles then things start to go seriously wrong?
Thanks

[humph]

My last lpg converted car left my ownership when the head gasket went at 140k. Head gasket failure is common on the Rover K series engine, and truth be known I should have just got the gasket replaced, but I sold up. This was 2004, and a quick search of the DVLA car tax database shows that this Rover is still taxed and used. God knows what the mileage is now.

LPG burns cleaner than petrol and therefore engines running on it generally show less wear. Obviously it's an advantage to have the car converted at low mileage if it's engine longevity you're interested in.

All this said a modern petrol engine should easily see 200k in my opinion, especially if it's easy mileage from motorway driving.

[The Dogfather]

LPG is better for an engine than petrol so in theory it should last longer. My old Omega V6 is still running fine (a friend bought it) after 100k, it was converted with 40k on it.