Gas Conversation

[Bobs]

Hi

I am considering purchasing a petrol Range Rover, with a view to having it converted to gas.

Anyone any experience or views on this and can anyone recommend a firm to do the conversion, or even a kit?

Thanks in advance

[David Wright]

The best people I have dealt with are Tinley Tech in Bourne Nr Cambridge. Great for advice help and kits of parts - but I do not think that they will do the installation

[Quagmire]

2nd Tinley tech- we have done three vehicles with their stuff, very helpful chaps.

[g&t]

Before you spend any money I'd do a search for the pro's & con's of LPG conversions to Rover V8's. It is a subject with divided opinions & personally, based on my own experiences a few years ago, I would'nt touch the stuff with a barge-pole but if you read the posts you can make your own decision.

[jonnybudd]

I've used these-

http://www.autogasworldwide.co.uk/

Very helpful

[Dave W]

If you update your profile and add a location it would help recommend an installer.

At the moment you'll save around £30 each time you fill a rangie up with LPG (compared to filling it with petrol for a similar range). If it costs you around £1500 to get a conversion done you are looking at filling it up 50 times before you break even. The higher the pump prices go the quicker you get your money back assuming LPG prices go up by about the same as petrol just as they have done in the 15 years since I got my first LPG conversion done.

If you only intend keeping the car for another year it's not worth doing as you won't get any benefit from it unless your doing above average mileage.

[M&S]

What sort of "mileage" would you expect to get out of a 3.5 V8 with LPG - when I say mileage I mean how much would it cost to do say 1000 miles on LPG as opposed to petrol?

[Dave W]

In all the LPG vehicles I've owned I've typically seen around a 3-2 MPG drop using LPG. My Disco (3.9EFi) would get around 18MPG on petrol and 16MPG on LPG.

1000 miles on LPG = 285 litres at 16MPG - at 60p per litre that's £171.00

1000 miles on LPG = 303 litres at 15MPG - at 60p per litre that's £181.80

1000 miles on petrol = 253 litres at 18MPG - at 113p per litre that's £285.89

So, at those figures you'd be saving up to £114 every 1000 miles. Obviously the less "advanced" the LPG system the bigger the drop off in relative performance so the smaller the saving at the pump relative to petrol.

I know some people get a lot less MPG than that both on petrol and LPG but then the more fuel you use the bigger the saving at the pump assuming your LPG system isn't so bad that it trails the petrol by more than 2-3 MPG.

There are only three disadvantages to living with LPG IMV:

1) Fuel planning/availability can be an issue when out of your local area, having to divert to find LPG is a PITA

2) Space taken up by fuel tanks can be a problem if you're always short on space anyway

3) Filling up can take FOREVER on some pumps

[M&S]

Thanks for the info, hopefully of use to the OP as well. I'm looking at a RR with LPG tomorrow and at those figures I reckon it'll be cheaper to run than the TD5 Disco

[Dave W]

Funnily enough we nearly ended up buying a TD5 to replace my wife's 90. We were looking at a TD5 auto 90, basically exactly the same configuration as her old one except that that was a 3.9 V8 on LPG. We borrowed the TD5 90 off the seller for a few days and she did some "real world" fuel consumption tests comparing the TD5 auto and the V8 LPG auto on her daily commute (15 miles into a major city and back each day).

It was a close run thing but the V8 came out a few quid cheaper to run per week than the TD5 so we rebuilt her 90 rather than buying a TD5, there really wasn't a lot in it on price although the V8 sounds nicer and was more relaxing to drive.

[mickeyw]

Another recommendation for Tinley Tech, very helpful people to deal with, and very knowledgable.

The old MPG thing crops up time after time, and varies widely for everyone. 10-12 MPG is more normal for me on my 3.9. Most of my journeys are short and local,a longer gentle trip can manage 15.

I carry 100 litres, all under the car, so no lost carrying space. The downside of this is only having a tiny petrol tank, so as mentioned above journey planning becomes an issue.

The big bonus of LPG is being able to afford to run a Rangey with a proper engine - burble burble

[Quagmire]

My 90 is my daily drive and does around 400miles a week on LPG @ 15mpg.

My tips for LPG would be these.

Do not go out and buy stupidly expensive HT leads, ala Magnecor. Just buy good quality ones and route them carefully to avoid them crossing or contacting each other. Use lots of the clip things (technical term) to secure them to each other.

If using a distributor use a genuine cap and rotor arm. The only running problems I ever had were when I foolishly fitted an intermotor arm.

Dont buy mega expensive plugs- use normal plugs gapped to the upper limit as specced in the LR manuals. I am using Denso plugs right now with no issues. I have also used Champions too- again with no problems. On my old 4-cylinder engine the best plugs I ever used were the NGK "V-groove" plugs.

Go closed loop if you can afford to. Mine made the drive much more pleasurable on LPG.

[PaulN]

Go closed loop if you can afford to. Mine made the drive much more pleasurable on LPG.

Closed loop?? Wasaht?

[Dave W]

Go closed loop if you can afford to. Mine made the drive much more pleasurable on LPG.

Closed loop?? Wasaht?

It means the amount of fuel is controlled electronically based on the exhaust gas (O2) reading at the lambda sensor. It's more advanced and more accurate at fuelling than the simpler "mechanical" or open loop systems and usually they are a lot easier to live with and give better consumption.

[PaulN]

Ah ha! Thanks Dave...

[bobtail84]

If you are in Essex or the SE of the UK try Keith @ gastetch. He's also on this forum as woodytz and a very helpful man he is too.

Jeff

[scube]

I currently have two range rovers and I have converted both to run on LPG. With absolutely no problem at all, the classic does do more miles to the gallon than the P38. So the claw back time on the investment for the P38 is longer. I tend to do a lot of miles in my vehicles so it’s an economical thing for me to do.

If your not knocking up the miles or don’t intend to keep the vehicle don’t bother.

Buying one already converted.

I could recommend someone in my area that I use for the conversions and servicing, very reasonable, really knows what he is doing. If you’re in the Wiltshire or Oxfordshire area let me know.

[Range Rover Blues]

I'd recomend a closed loop multipoint system.

I'd recomend T-T (though thye did balls up my last order)

We get roughtly the same running cost on a V8 LPG as our TDi

LPG burns cleaner and will make your oil stay cleaner longer and your engine last longer

LPG has an octane rating of as high as 115, it likes higher compression though it burns slower and can give a drop in power/performance. My V8 sounds different on both fuels.

I binned the space and put a torriod tank in there, keeps the weight penalty to a minimum and I can still use the boot.

The kit cost me £12,50 to fit myself including the lead and software (not the laptop though).

You emissions are cleaner too BTW