LPG conversion
30 January 2008, 08:44 PM
#1
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LPG conversion
My dad has just bought an MY02 legacy estate (2ltr) and was thinking about a LPG conversion (seems BP has a January offer - £1,300 instead of £1,800).
The car has 65k miles on the clock and he does 15k-20k per year. I think in 3 years time that he'll be changing it anyway once it gets over the 100k mark.
My advice is not to do it because:
1) It might take him 3 years to recoup the cost of the conversion - by which time he'll be selling it (will it be worth more with the conversion?)
2) The tank will take a big part of the boot space up which is why he went for an estate in the first place.
Have I got it wrong?
Cheers
Richard.
The car has 65k miles on the clock and he does 15k-20k per year. I think in 3 years time that he'll be changing it anyway once it gets over the 100k mark.
My advice is not to do it because:
1) It might take him 3 years to recoup the cost of the conversion - by which time he'll be selling it (will it be worth more with the conversion?)
2) The tank will take a big part of the boot space up which is why he went for an estate in the first place.
Have I got it wrong?
Cheers
Richard.
30 January 2008, 09:07 PM
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The calculations are pretty basic.
20,000 miles at 25 mpg = 800 gallons = £4000 @ £5.00 per gallon for petrol.
If LPG is half price then saving is £2000 per annum.
So where does your 3 years plus come from?
dl
20,000 miles at 25 mpg = 800 gallons = £4000 @ £5.00 per gallon for petrol.
If LPG is half price then saving is £2000 per annum.
So where does your 3 years plus come from?
dl
31 January 2008, 10:31 PM
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I drive an 02 Legacy Estate and am interested in replacing it with either a new petrol Legacy with LPG or the new diesel Legacy when it's available.
My figures (based on 156000 miles in the car) are that I get 32mpg overall. If unleaded is 103p per litre, this works out at £4.67 per gallon, so 15K miles uses 468.75 gallons at a cost of £2189.06.
If consumption drops by 20% when using LPG I'd expect my consumption to be about 25.6 mpg. With LPG at 49p per litre this works out at £2.22 per gallon. This comes out at 585.95 gallons for 15K miles at a cost of £1300.78.
So - LPG saves £889 over 15K miles. This means that a conversion at £1300 pays for itself in about 22000 miles.
The current Subaru approved conversions put the LPG tank in the spare wheel well which means that you either have to carry a compressor and tyre repair "gunk" aerosol and hope that you don't have a shredded tyre, or the spare wheel lives in the load area and takes up space.
Although the LPG figures make a lot of sense, LPG is only cheap because it is taxed more lightly than unleaded/diesel. While Gordon Brown has said that the tax differential will remain until April 2009, there is no guarantee that this will continue.
On the mileage figures that you mention and how long he will keep the car, I think LPG makes sense.
(While LPG conversions may be possible on a WRX, they won't be Subaru approved and will invalidate your warranty)
My figures (based on 156000 miles in the car) are that I get 32mpg overall. If unleaded is 103p per litre, this works out at £4.67 per gallon, so 15K miles uses 468.75 gallons at a cost of £2189.06.
If consumption drops by 20% when using LPG I'd expect my consumption to be about 25.6 mpg. With LPG at 49p per litre this works out at £2.22 per gallon. This comes out at 585.95 gallons for 15K miles at a cost of £1300.78.
So - LPG saves £889 over 15K miles. This means that a conversion at £1300 pays for itself in about 22000 miles.
The current Subaru approved conversions put the LPG tank in the spare wheel well which means that you either have to carry a compressor and tyre repair "gunk" aerosol and hope that you don't have a shredded tyre, or the spare wheel lives in the load area and takes up space.
Although the LPG figures make a lot of sense, LPG is only cheap because it is taxed more lightly than unleaded/diesel. While Gordon Brown has said that the tax differential will remain until April 2009, there is no guarantee that this will continue.
On the mileage figures that you mention and how long he will keep the car, I think LPG makes sense.
(While LPG conversions may be possible on a WRX, they won't be Subaru approved and will invalidate your warranty)
17 February 2008, 10:24 PM
#7
Just finished converting my MY98 WRX to LPG. Although its not straight forward, its well worth the effort.
Fitted an 80 litre tank which is huge and an SGIS N Bigas Multipoint Sequential system that copes with 350hp. The use of flashlube should keep the valves in good condition.
I'm doing a complete write up on www.scoobylpg.co.uk very soon.
Here are a few pics (which may dissapear when my broadband is cancelled)
Fitted an 80 litre tank which is huge and an SGIS N Bigas Multipoint Sequential system that copes with 350hp. The use of flashlube should keep the valves in good condition.
I'm doing a complete write up on www.scoobylpg.co.uk very soon.
Here are a few pics (which may dissapear when my broadband is cancelled)
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