Have just bought Disco 2 4L V8 - to LPG or not to LPG??

Its beautiful - Leather seats, harmon stereo, all the extras, see here

http://wilcosarge.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/wpid-20131006_160752.jpg

Its done 65k miles and I bought it at a very good price. My initial plan as I do 15k miles a year was to LPG it but I spoke to a Land Rover mechanic who said stay away as it is not good for the engine. I have heard others say LPG is great for the engine, better than petrol!

I was going to fix top of the range LPG (£2.5k) because I am going to have it for at least another 50k miles and it could be thirsty and expensive.

What do you guys think? Who's right, who's wrong??

I looked into converting a previous car to LPG. What I found out was that LPG burns more cleanly than petrol, so the oil stays cleaner, you get less emissions. You take a slight hit performance & economy wise as the calorific value is lower than petrol (less bang per cc of fuel). Gas also burns hotter, so the cooling system needs to be A1.

Overall, LPG is almost all good - BUT its imperative that the cooling system is perfect.

More good info here BTW - What is LPG?

HTH


BTW - thats a GORGEOUS D2. Nice one

Thanks Fox, appreciate the feedback. But that article was written in 2001 - it seemed to have peaked some time ago, and did not kick on.

It should have got better, more common, with better tech/more pumps.

It seems to have gone backward?

Go for it. Mine was fitted with LPG in Jan 2001 & has now done 108k on LPG no probs. And LPG doesn,t burn hotter.

Plenty of Rover V8's out there done mega miles on LPG.
I've got one outside done nearly 140k system fitted 100k miles ago and still going strong. Great compression on all cylinders. It's been regularly serviced which is the MOST important thing with RV8's.

Make sure you get twin underslung tanks, though. What's the point of buying a car with a big boot to just fill it with fuel tanks?
Mine runs two 30 litre torpedo tanks and still has the original 20 gal fuel tank.
I get 200 miles for 60 litres of gas - would be more if it were a manual. Not quite as cheap to run as a diesel, but that's not why you (we) bought a V8 for in the first place, right?

Put your hand in your pocket.

agree go for underslung tanks but if ACE has been fitted you may find you do not have enough room.

I had it fitted to mine but involved replacing the petrol tank with a smaller version and fitting the LPG tanks along side.

LPG preforms just as well as petrol but i could do with a few more stations selling it !

I dig you all.

We have a pump on the school run (I live in Cranbrook Kent) so am OK there.

Yes to under the car, the guy I spoke to said remove petrol tank, put in gas one and then a small petrol one. Use Prins as they are the best.

Medway Dual Fuel - LPG Conversion

I said I had been quoted cheaper. He said maybe so, but why not fit the best? Fair point.

So it looks like a yes to LPG. Thanks guys. Any other advice?

Yes, DON'T go for saddle tanks outside of the chassis rails if you intend to go offroad. You run the risk of puncturing one or ripping it off entirely. If you're planning to go offroad replace the petrol tank with LPG tanks and fit a small petrol tank - see www.tinleytech.com for details. I've used them and found them very helpful.

Hey lads I did it, did the conversion and managed to get huge discount as it was the garage's first one

So it runs like a dream, you can't tell the difference.

We do fill up a lot - so for a 70 litre tank (we get it up to 55l about) we only get about 133 miles.

Does that sound right?

I am doing a cost analysis vs petrol and the numbers are coming out roughly the same without cost of conversion. Or is my maths buggered?

Pls advise!

Economy on LPG should be down about 10% on petrol, that's all, but the vaporiser needs to bed in a bit first.

Once you've got a few 100 miles on it, take it back for adjustment. Should be FOC (or nominal charge at worst) and see how it runs then.

OK so you think hang in there and I will see improvement?

My maths tell me on petrol, the 80 litre tank was giving me 313 miles so c 17 mpg.

The LPG is giving me 10 LPG. (55 litres, 133 miles).

I aint making much of a saving - cost per mile 33p vs 36p.

They both sound low, is it an automatic? On lpg you should be getting pretty much the same mpg as petrol the savings are made with lpg being half the price.

At the moment your saving £450 a year or every 15k

Hi thanks for the reply - can you take a look at my figures below - doe this seem about right or do you think there is an error here? I am bemused.

I am comparing the old 80l tank to the new LPG tank.


litres gallons miles cost mpg cost per mile
PETROL 80 17.52 313 £113 17.87 £0.36
LPG 55 12.04 133 £45 11.04 £0.34

Yes automatic. Grabber tyres, not sure if that is relevant.

Filling up every 135 miles is quite often at the moment!

wilcosarge said:

Yes automatic. Grabber tyres, not sure if that is relevant.

Filling up every 135 miles is quite often at the moment!

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It'll do better mpg on road tyres,my 4.0 is a manual and does around 20-22 mpg on a run and 17-18 around the houses down here in cornwall,bog standard with no roof rack etc,235/70x16 michelin road orientated tyres

It's possible to get a couple of 36 litre sill tanks if you haven't got SLS, the compressor bracket gets in the way. ACE valve doesn't affect it.

We get 150-160 miles or so on 48 litres.

Filled up yesterday, 71.9p a litre, cheaper than most I've seen recently.

Having the full petrol tank is far better than a tiddly tank from Tinley, as you can always find petrol if you run out of LPG, but not vice-versa.

I'm about to fit two extra 'dumpy' LPG tanks, 40 litres each, they are going partially into the recesses where the 3rd row seats were, but still leaves us with the option of putting the second row seats down and having a decent load area.

Peter

Peter - how do you get room? Once the third row seats go down theres not room for much?


Will

The difference between LPG mpg and petrol mpg is very small now compared to what it was, due to better control of the timing of the injection.
LPG does produce more heat in the combustion process than petrol and burns at a faster rate, its not a huge amount more heat, but it is enough to overwhelm an 'adequate' cooling system that has managed for years on petrol. For extra insurance, I have always made sure I fit a new lower opening thermostat, flush the cooling system and make sure the pump and rad are up to the job.

wilcosarge said:

Peter - how do you get room? Once the third row seats go down theres not room for much?

Will

Click to expand...

Seats are coming out, my 42 and 39 year old sons won't fit them any more....

Peter