V8 LPG vs TD5 fuel economy

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mrnice

mrnice

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Up **** creek.
Hi all!

The Mrs was seriously thinking of buying a Golf recently because of the running cost of the V8 LPG :eek:, instead we are now looking at Disco 2s but she would like to know which is the cheapest to run fuelwise?

I want another V8 LPG but she is wondering if the TD5 would be a more economical choice?

Could you please let us know your running costs (fuelwise) and a few pros and cons on the 2 different engines?

Nice one!:)
 
I had the same decision to make a couple of years ago. I calculated that for the price of a TD5 I could get a V8 discovery 2 and have it converted to LPG. I get 20mpg on a run in the V8 - and I use the V8 the way it was designed to be used. With LPG approximately half the cost of diesel that equates cost wise to the equivalent of 40mpg. I don't think that many will be getting that from a TD5
 
I've gone from a V8 Lpg Disco 1 to a Disco 2 TD5.

I find it is a little bit cheaper to run that the V8, but the main benefit is the increased range and ability to fill up pretty much anywhere, rather than having to plan every trip away from home around where I can get my next fill.

The downside is the lack of that glorious V8 rumble, though I still have the 101 for that!

MW
 
I am the same as Mike Whiskey, i came from a v8 to a td5.
I have had 8 v8 motors in my time driving, the last 2 being range rovers with lpg. I do miss the v8 rumble but personally wouldnt go back now. The Td5 has its problems as we all know but so does the later v8`s. In my last car a 4.6 the cylinder liner slipped/cracked, a common problem on 4.0 and 4.6 ltr v8`s, cost me £3500 to have top hat liners fitted, and the problems didnt stop there. I dont know what the disco 2 is on (bosch or Gems) but my gems Maf was £760 and i got through 3 in my 4 years of ownership.
The ignition system has to be in tip top condition to run lpg too, so no skimping on plugs / leads etc.
Every one has their own favourite and i do like the v8 and allways will there are good ones and bad as with any car, (i think mine was a friday afternoon car).
Good luck with your search, and get whats right for you.
Mark
 
I agree with Mike Whiskey. I got fed up looking for LPG after 100 miles with the van on the back. V8s are nice, LPG is a good fuel, but for me a 400+ mile range and access to fuel anywhere are huge bonuses. And the TD5 is as fast as the 3.5 V8 was in real world circumstances.
 
If you have to travel 20 or 30 miles (or more if you live in the sticks) to find an LPG filling point, and have to plan your journeys to be near an LPG filling point I wouldn't bother. It's a bit like electric cars, unless you are going somewhere with a charging point you could be in trouble. Stick to diesel and you cant really go wrong :)

Nigel
 
lpg is cheaper for miles per pound than diesel but i now drive diesel 4x4s since owning a 4.6 rr with lpg. I miss the sound and power but am no longer looking for lpg stations, servicing is cheaper (only one fuel system), can go in water without worry, and being a 4x4 landy it was never going to be fast was it ;)
 
Yeah I can see how LPG can be a problem with filling but luckilly i live about 5 mins away from our local autogas supplier, with trips away ive never been that bothered as i just google on my phone the closest autogas supplier and use petrol if needs be until i get there and to be fair ive always found one pretty soon after running out of LPG and never had to go that far out of my way, also its became common practice for us to look out for autogas stations, make a mental note of them and even refill if the tanks are below 1/4 full.

With my truck i have the twin underslung tanks and so always keep a healthy amount of both of the gogo juices in my truck in case i either run out or one of the systems starts playin up ( once I had an air leak on the lpg part of my truck, luckilly i could switch manually to petrol to get home, on the flipside once it was running lumpy on petrol so i switched to gas and the problem stopped, this helped me trace the problem of my blocked injectors).

The only problems im really worried about now are the common problems associated with the 4L V8 engine vs the TD5 for cost and ease of repairing it (as i do most of the work myself but am by no means a mechanic) and ive also been told that there is no room underneath for torpedo tanks as the fuel tank has been removed and replaced with the LPG one and a tiny petrol tank. I can imagine that may cause trouble in the wrong circumstances.
 
we had a 04 D2 4.0 converted to gas recently, it was a car we had in stock at work.

the gas conversion was what the gas man called the 'top spec' which was a BRC system iirc, with its own ecu and twin vaporisors. this system involved two tanks in place of the existing petrol tank, and a small 20ltr approx petrol tank, which was custom made to fit under the boot floor, outside of the chassis rail, behind the drivers rear wheel. it had the proper level sensor fitted so the dash gauge worked, and the lpg filler fitting was hidden alongside it.

this coversion cost about 2100 i think, it was a really nice job, gotta hand it to them.

if you want to keep your big petrol tank you gotta either put the gas in the boot and lose the 7 seats, or put them underneath as saddle tanks and lose/move the air suspension pump.

hope that helps, cheers.

p.s. oh and as a reference, i drove that car from manchester to york and back for about 33 quid i think (on gas obviously)
 
I have the same system - Spheroidal 80 litre LPG cylinder in place of the petrol tank and an auxillary petrol tank of 7 gallons capacity mounted in the rear wing. System works well and never had a problem - I keep the petrol tank topped up so that gives me at least 100 miles to find an LPG station if needed
 
yeah thats it, 20 quid gets you quite a long way really, so its normally never a problem.

this install had two fat sausage tanks mounted transversely, but capacity was same, just overr 80 useable litres in total.

cheers!
 
Cant see how any lpg is cheaper to run than diesel... it aint half price fuel at all in real terms cos lpg burns 30% less efficiently than petrol, but im talking disco 1 dunno bout the disco 2
 
its like this mate:

the car costs less

the fuel costs just less than half, but you've got usually about 20% less efficiency.

youre driving a v8 for 2/3 to 3/4 the price of driving a diesel. and for some people that seals the deal. the disco 2 we ran average about 34mpg n all.

these new systems run just as well on lpg as they do on petrol, but you do use about 20% more fuel litre for litre.

the early 3.5s werent as efficient, they did about the equivalent of 25mpg on gas, which is the same as the diesel, but for a lot of lads that means they can run a v8 rangey instead of a 200tdi disco etc etc and it costs the same...

cheers
 
I'll say it again, cos i may not have been very clear.

Running the V8 was no cheaper than running the td5 is now, at least for me.
yes the fuel is cheaper (artificially created situation due to tax, and therefore subject to change at the whim of the government), but not quite by 50%. Mileage is at best the same as, and usually slightly less than on petrol (less calorific fuel) so things tend to cancel out.

The only advantage is that you are running a v8, with that soundtrack and power.
That said, comparing the two in a not totally scientific way (same road, different day) although the V8 was marginally quicker from a standing start, in normal driving there is very little difference, especially now i have learned to drive around the turbo lag.

I didn't used to mind planning trips around gas stations, but as we have started taking the van further afield, I have gotten fed up with having to plan this way, and put up with a lower range, or run on both gas and petrol between fills, which of course ramps up the cost.

MW
 
With the exception of the cheaper purchace price (if already gas converted) I can't see a gassed V8 being cheaper to run than a TD5.
I run a gassed classic and a petrol P38, whilst the classic is much cheaper to run than the P38 if a TD5 cost as much to run as my classic I wouldn't buy one!!
Running on gas never equaits to running 50% cheaper than petrol.
If it was me I'd source the best gassed Disco I could find because that will be alot cheaper than the best TD5's out there.
But as with anything Landrover either option ain't gonna be cheap on running costs.
Just my 2 bobs worth.
 
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