many rms'ers run on lpg

Discussion in 'Car Chat' started by josh897, Oct 1, 2012.

  1. josh897 RMS Regular

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    Jul 2, 2008
    Location:
    Bangor/Ardsville
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    Mk2 Leon
    from what i remember there is a bmw 330 on here lpg'd but does anybody else have it, roughly what does it cost these days to install?
    im still keen to get a mk2 seat leon but with the dropping prices of dc5s im thinking of staying petrol and going lpg, i drive past a shell garage on the way to work every day that sells gas so it would be handy to get and it would give me the benefit of driving a car iv always wanted but could not justify spending so much on petrol for daily commutes - im assuming the performance drop is minimal on lpg but from what i hear i can simply flick a switch on the weekends to petrol if it did?
    is it healthy to run lpg on jdm engines? may be a silly question just a thought as alot of people only run sul on imports
  2. Coog RMS Moderator

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    N'ards
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    Gas is higher octane than petrol. I've converted one car and ran another on gas for a couple of years. My advice is to buy a car already converted, it's MUCH cheaper (if you can find one that is).

    Which Shell garage are you talking about? There's no shell garages over here any more. BP in Holywood maybe?
  3. josh897 RMS Regular

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    Jul 2, 2008
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    Bangor/Ardsville
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    Mk2 Leon
    sorry yea its the bp at cultra/hollywood direction! theres was a blue dc5 for sale last year when i was hunting for one and it was on the market for quite a while but when i tried insurance quotes they were ridiculous- my points will be removed from my license shortly and il have another years ncb so i think the quotes should be a bit more affordable
  4. Aidan316i RMS Regular

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    Oct 17, 2010
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    Derry
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    BMW E34 525i Sport, BMW E46 316i SE, BMW E46 330dA Sport Touring
    That'd be Alan_B's car, he only got it converted very recently there
  5. josh897 RMS Regular

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    Yea had a nosey there and thats the one, pretty cool to have what can be a pretty thirsty motor have an economical side at the flick of a switch!
  6. Chris1109 RMS Regular

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    Jan 12, 2009
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    Bangor
    I see your from Bangor, try Bangor Fuels for LPG, from what i remember we are cheaper than the BP!
  7. richie_mck RMS Regular

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    Feb 17, 2010
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    Belfast
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    mk2 escort + s2000 + e46 330ci
    I'm gassed............my car also runs on lpg

    E46 330
    Alan_B and Sgt_Major like this.
  8. josh897 RMS Regular

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    Bangor/Ardsville
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    Mk2 Leon
    Whats the rate of lpg these days?? I did a quick calculation there assuming its about 75p per litre and it looks that it will take around 15 months for me to make back what it would cost for a conversion costing say £1200, richie how much did you spend on the conversion? Seems to have great savings but maybe not worth splashing the cash myself and find some poor fella whos already fitted it
  9. richie_mck RMS Regular

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    Feb 17, 2010
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    Belfast
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    mk2 escort + s2000 + e46 330ci
    Luckily I bought the car with it already fitted because they went for the prins system and the bill for it fitted in 08 was £2k and then serviced and upgraded for some reason a few years back at a cost of £900 odd.

    The old fella has a 745 lpg'd and cousin a mk4 r32 as well with the Romano system from ags in portadown. V8 was £1500 and v6 was £1200. They both seem to love it too.

    Hard to beat filling up and it only costing £40
  10. JCLC RMS Regular

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    Jul 14, 2009
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    Sunny(??) Bangor
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    Volvo's
    I've an S60 Bi-Fuel, it does 24mpg on gas, but with the cost (compared to petrol) I figure it to be close to 45mpg, roughly I'm getting 160 miles to £30, if you do go for one, stay away from that BP, I've yet to be in when the pump is working properly or find a gimp in there that knows anything about it, Texaco on P'ferry Rd in Ards or Bangor fuels are my preference. For some reason the LPG from Bangor fuels seems to make the car run better, its 3p/lt cheaper than anywhere else and I seem to get better mpg from it.
    moorsojr and Chris1109 like this.
  11. Chris1109 RMS Regular

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    Bangor
    76.9PPL in our place. Glad to hear good feedback from @JCLC, Calor come and fill it up directly from their tank,.
  12. bigsigh RMS Regular

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    can you store LPG at home in a gas tak like you would store gas for the house ?
  13. Coog RMS Moderator

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    You'd need a pump/compressor which would be expensive.

    BP is 83.9ppl but open outside normal business hours.
  14. m00k RMS Regular

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    Disney Land
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    Yeah I bought clogs old vectra on LPG and had three great years with it covered bout 60k

    Ten bought an st220 3 litre v6 mondeo and converted it year and a half ago and it works well. £37 or thereabouts to fill and generally 200 miles mixed driving or at a push have seen 250 miles tiddling about

    Ags in Pdown were very very reasonable for fitting £1450 for a 6 cyl and three years warranty which was better warranty and cheaper than likes of Holmes also a service is only £40
  15. neil-c RMS Regular

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    Apr 15, 2009
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    Lisburn
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    A good friend had an ML500 converted to gas. Picked it up about three years ago with 30k miles and spend 2k on a conversion. He just sold it there after putting 70/80k miles on it. I'm not convinced its cheaper than running a derv jeep but for less than 10k he got a great car with low miles. If he wanted something that was derv and could tow 3.5T 10k wouldn't go very far if you were looking something low miles.
  16. josh897 RMS Regular

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    what is it that makes a £1200 kit different to a £2000 kit, is it the quality of the parts ?
  17. mattblair RMS Regular

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    Carrickfergus
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    e38 728i
    Would 1200 see a kit fitted?
  18. josh897 RMS Regular

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    im yet to see any companies online offering anything for under £2k but on forums i seem to come across people with kits saying it cost £12-1400, assuming they must fit it themselves
  19. mk2driver RMS Regular

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    Jan 5, 2008
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    Magherafelt
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    Impreza Type RA
    Give the likes of AGS a ring and see what the craic is. The price will vary by kit and by number of cylinders.
  20. Coog RMS Moderator

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    4 pot - yes.

    You can buy kits online for £600 and fit yourself. I quite fancy doing the Jeep at some stage, maybe next year. No idea how difficult it'd be.
    Nicky likes this.
  21. Nicky RMS Regular

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    County Down
    A guy from the AA that came out to our place a few weeks ago stood for over an hour talking about the 04 Range Rover TD6 I have. He said that if it had been a V8 petrol he would gas it for around £1800 for an electronic system and a 100 litre tank. Wouldn't fancy losing the boot for that though.

    Reckons it would be paid for in the first year for someone doing 20k miles annually.
  22. josh897 RMS Regular

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    £600 id happily pay that but i wouldnt trust myself to drive round with a gas tank in my boot i installed myself lol
    svensktoppen likes this.
  23. da.murf RMS Regular

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    Would be interesting to quote on a rotary lol no cylinders lol??
  24. mk2driver RMS Regular

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    Magherafelt
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    It would really be priced on number if injectors, fuel lines etc. However this is all related to number of cylinders normally which is how it's quoted like that.
  25. feck_on_a_stick RMS Regular

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    Mar 29, 2010
    Location:
    Norn Iron
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    Audi S3 & Golf GTI
    My friend has been running his 1.8T mk1 Toledo on gas for at least a year. He's saved a fortune driving from Carrick to South Belfast everyday for work. He has it running around 220/230bhp and it really loves the higher octane on lpg.

    I know you're probably looking something newer, but it's for sale if you were looking a runaround.

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