The Hoff Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 With the price of fuel gettting ever higher I've been looking into getting the Z converted to run on LPG. Still not decided one weay or the other but I thought I would share my findings with others here to gain any input. Cost of system: PRIMS system - £2173.75 inc VAT, 3-4 working day installation, courtesy car included. LANDI system - £2056 inc VAT, 7 working day installation, courtesy car inc. Both systems include a 2 year warranty which covers 'anything the gas touches'. Not sure of advantages of each system, these were just the two quotes I got. An LPG car will get 10-20% worse MPG so I factored in 15% less efficiency for arguments sake. Please see the pic attachment for the spreadsheet calc. I have put the size of the tank at 70 litres and the gallons conversion at 4.55 litres to the gallon. I have put in 4 different MPG values to suit everyones driving style and just to give a comparison really. So if my workings are correct and at the current fuel prices it will take 15K miles to pay itself off at an average of 20 mpg (petrol equiv). If fuel goes up 20% then its will take even less miles to break even. I really am giving this serious consideration now, I am going to cover 15K within the time I own the car - yes I think is the answer. What do you guys think? Edit: I have also attached the Excel version of the data. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbs Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Read on here somewhere that Autogas 2000 advised against converting a Zed, something to do with valve problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Why have you put the MPG LPG at 12.75, 17, 21.25 and 25.5? Edit: Just read the full post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmJak Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I'd just buy a german diesal shed and run it on veggie oil as a second car. All in would be less than £2k inc insurance. Veggie oil about 50p per litre. There was an LPG Z on pistonheads here. Bet it sounds like a bag of spanners but could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I'd just buy a german diesal shed and run it on veggie oil as a second car. All in would be less than £2k inc insurance. Veggie oil about 50p per litre. There was an LPG Z on pistonheads here. Bet it sounds like a bag of spanners but could be wrong. +1 I think you may find your zed unsellable by doing this to it, or at least have to take a maassive hit..... As Chris said, you can get a Golf '98 TDI for about £2k which means when you come to sell you'll recoup a chunk of that back and get top dollar for your zed. £2k on an LPG conversion is throwing it away imo............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Wouldn't bother, as soon as LPG starts getting popular the Government will throw so much tax on it that it'll be cheaper to stick with unleaded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hoff Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 Autogas said that the LPGa have issued a warning about possible valve problems on the Z but with limited info on under what circumstances that problems occur. I have emailed the LPGa to enquire about more info on under what circumstances the issue is caused. The MPG is 10-20% lower on an LPG conveted car so I put the petrol MPG's at 15,20,25 and 30 and put the LPG as the same but with 15% knocked off so 15 MPG with petrol would give 12.75 MPG with an LPG conversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Wouldn't bother, as soon as LPG starts getting popular the Government will throw so much tax on it that it'll be cheaper to stick with unleaded +1 And with the price of diesel at the moment the best choice woulb be a sub 1.4 petrol car imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Wouldn't bother, as soon as LPG starts getting popular the Government will throw so much tax on it that it'll be cheaper to stick with unleaded Shhhh! We need to keep this to ourselves. Tell everyone to get LPG and diesel! We can just wait for them to get bored of petrol and stop taxing it when everyone is LPG and diesel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pembo Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I'd just buy a german diesal shed and run it on veggie oil as a second car. All in would be less than £2k inc insurance. Veggie oil about 50p per litre. There was an LPG Z on pistonheads here. Bet it sounds like a bag of spanners but could be wrong. I've heard that only some diesels work well on veg oil (mainly french and old) and a mate that does this has seen comparitive rises in veg oil prices lately, it's still cheaper but the gap is closing and it's gonna make that Friday night trip to the chippy more expensive as well. My dad also runs a factory fitted LPG Astra, he has hunted around and found the cheapest gas around 60p/L but has to drive out of his way a lot to pick it up so it kind of defeats the object. The losses he gets in economy are quite high as well, only looking at the equivalent of 60mpg on a car that would usually get 40's anyway so he would probably be better off with just a small petrol. He also carries around 2 full tanks of fuel all the time so that can't be helping much but it does 'feel better' to go to the pump and pay so much less. Best off just sticking with what we have and working on that grin when we press the go pedal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I've heard that only some diesels work well on veg oil (mainly french and old) and a mate that does this has seen comparitive rises in veg oil prices lately, it's still cheaper but the gap is closing and it's gonna make that Friday night trip to the chippy more expensive as well. I looked into veg oil a while back and legally if you use it as a fuel you need to declare it to the taxman, and they will charge you fuel duty on it. So veg oil costs like 50p a litre and the duty is about a quid or something, so it ends up the same price as diesel. Also, you need to change the fuel filter more often as it gets caked up with stuff and the fuel lines. One of the biggest problem is cooking oil is thicker than diesel, so you can either mix 50/50 in the tank, or ideally use an inline heater on the fuel line. Some fuel pumps also dont like it, so you need to check the pump you have is okay as if you break the fuel pump then its not cheap!!!! So, all in all, unless you are doing mega miles you arnt going to save much money - unless you dont declare it to the tax man, or unless you brew your own biodiesel using free waste cooking oil from your local chip shop. One of the biggest negative points I saw was that your car smells like a burger van if your running it on cooking oil, so you end up day dreaming about burgers as you drive along, resulting in you spending a small fortune at Macdonalds each day which you wouldnt have done had you been running on diesel. So fuel savings will be negated by the extra expenditure on burgers! Best old cars for running chip fat tho are old mercs and volvos apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonk Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Recent post from someone buying one already converted and I'm sure R35 Lee warns against it. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=57619 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 If you get a print system with valve care you will be ok I'm Sure. There is cars running twice the power of the zed on prins systems. Prins valve care is load dosed. The guy has installed LPG on a few 350s before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Plus the conversation seriously affects the re sale value of the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Plus the conversation seriously affects the re sale value of the car If your lpging it though your most likely planning on doing some major miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
was8v Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I looked into veg oil a while back and legally if you use it as a fuel you need to declare it to the taxman, and they will charge you fuel duty on it. So veg oil costs like 50p a litre and the duty is about a quid or something, so it ends up the same price as diesel. You are allowed to use 2500 litres a year SVO tax free. If you use more you should pay tax on all you use. http://www.vegoilmotoring.com/eng/legal-stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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