LPG options and commnets

[Mr_Shed]

Hi all,

Not been on for a while, although been looking in every now and then.

I'm looking at new job which could involve using MG more often and increased mileage. Don't really want to change the car as love it, so is the option of LPG conversion worthwhile. On a balance, I note the cost is between £800 and £1600 depending where and what options which could buy a diesel ZT.

Your thoughts and comments are welcome

[Rick-sta]

It depends on what you enjoy driving. I see you have a 190, so the diesel will be a bit slower unless custom remapped but that will use more fuel so will be pointless for you. The diesels do deliver good power and are fun to drive, but I think the v6 190 would be more lively and fun, plus it sounds better.

If you love the v6 then adding the LPG system will give you the best of both worlds. Only downside that puts me off is it takes up boot space, unless you fit one of those tanks in the spare wheel well but then you don't have a spare wheel.

I'd personally try to find another 190 with a lpg kit already fitted, they do come up now and again. That would work out cheaper than fitting a kit to your own car.

[fandango151]

The k handles lpg well.

Mine came with lpg ... a landing Renzo reducer and rebadged AEB electronics.

Tank is 68l spare wheel and costs around 25 to fill for shy of 300 miles (mine is the gas guzzling auto so 22mpg on gas). Economy drops but at the price well worth it.

I can vouch for Birmingham autogas. Nazir is a decent bloke who did my friends focus, just ask him to fit AEB kit rather than brc as its cheaper and easier to work on.

A session on testbook changed the tune on it (blatantly playing with ignition timing as it now revs high when started on petrol). Replacement parts are ok price - reducer and injectors had to be replaced - saves a fortune.

[Sector-9]

An LPG conversion isn't cheap and could cost as much as the car's currently worth - and it won't increase the resale value by much. On that basis I'd look for another car and keep your V6 standard, but first consider that whatever you'd spend on either would pay the difference in running cost for many miles, so it could still work out cheaper overall to just use the V6 as it is.

[fandango151]

An LPG conversion isn't cheap and could cost as much as the car's currently worth - and it won't increase the resale value by much. On that basis I'd look for another car and keep your V6 standard, but first consider that whatever you'd spend on either would pay the difference in running cost for many miles, so it could still work out cheaper overall to just use the V6 as it is.

I'd agree with you but a trip along the m42 and onto the m5 by the m40 proved one very good point - a lorry decided to move over, with a Chevrolet beside me. Booting the 2.5 got me out of serious trouble - I don't think my zt derv would have moved fast enough and slowing down wouldn't have helped as it was an artic with a car behind the chevvy. I'm no racer but the power was there to boot it and keep myself safe.

Also, on a running cost basis the v6 on gas is cheaper to run than the diesel (lpg in brum is 37p and 47.7p in Bristol) hence I sold my perfectly good zt. On top of that people loathe big petrols so of course a conversion will cost more than actual value. You can almost double your range and it is very satisfying filling up for so little people look at you like you are crazy as you face the pump pressing the button.

Just my 2p. The key is how long you intend to keep the motor really, NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD- the resale value - if that was the case pretty much all mgr products would be being ran into the ground with no repairs.

[minimutly]

I'm on my 3rd year on lpg on my 190. Its a top quallity kit, allwyas worth paying the extra. It does 23 to the gallon on gas, which works out about 10p a mile, cheaper than a diesel?
i do around 20k a year, once the kit is payd for its half price motoring, effectively.

[StewartIngram]

I bought my 2.5 in 2004 at 59k miles. Within a month I had (DIY) converted it to lpg. It has now done 216k. My nearest Morrisons (Wisbech) is relatively expensive at 47.9p for lpg. I get around 32 mpg locally, 42 mpg on a long run - consistently, and from my days working with the Police, over measured distances so that I know accuracy (or not, if you see what I mean) of my speedo.
No difference between petrol or mpg, though the latter feels smoother. System fitted is a Bigas/King with 6 injectors.

Stewart

[Steve42]

You get 32 mpg round town. Is that on petrol or gas.
I get 23 round town and can get 44 on a run if I drive sensibly.
Mines a 177 bhp 2.5 auto.
Big gap between yours and mine

[coolguy]

Picked up a ZT auto on LPG last month, just to try something different. I reckon I get about 230 miles for £20.00 gas on mixed driving, but with too many cars it will be up for sale shortly (on the forum of course!).

[StewartIngram]

You get 32 mpg round town. Is that on petrol or gas.
I get 23 round town and can get 44 on a run if I drive sensibly.
Mines a 177 bhp 2.5 auto.
Big gap between yours and mine


Same mpg whether on petrol or lpg. With multipoint injection there is no change. My old 827 Sterling had single point injection which is usually quoted at 15% less on lpg.
I agree with the figuresbeing good, and have heard of other similar results, but have had the car long enough to know they are right! I'm not a boy racer, but admit to nowadays not being as light footed as I used to be. With my 1st car, an Austin A30 (did 250k in that car) which I also maintained, and modified (with standard BMC parts) I taught myself to drive economically, also with the help of a vacuum gauge. I managed to get it to regularly achieve 48mpg..... (and with the timing adjusted to run on 80 octane, the lowest available being 91 octane).

Edit to change "round town" to "local journeys". I live in mid Cambs, in the Fens, rather than the "big city".

Stewart

[Radova32]

I had an MG ZR with factory fitted LPG conversion and it was great. LPG is 48.9 per liter here so a fill up was about £20 and that gave me 300 miles a week, plus extra in the unleaded should it be needed. A great little car and would still have it today had it not been seriously vandalised.

But then again, it did force me to get the 75 on the road quicker, so every cloud and all that :)

Complete Landi-Renzo factory fit systems can be found on ebay, however somewhere I have the contact details for the guy who bought up all the factory fit LPG systems for Rovers when Longbridge died. If you want those, drop me a pm and I'll dig them out for you, otherwise most other systems will work well with our cars so I'd look though the options and see what's out there.

[Mr_Shed]

Thank you for the comments. Seems interesting subject with plenty of positives. Trouble is being older car how much to you spend on it. Although I have already spent £1000s on various things lol. Does the car feel any different to drive on LGP?

[coolguy]

Thank you for the comments. Seems interesting subject with plenty of positives. Trouble is being older car how much to you spend on it. Although I have already spent £1000s on various things lol. Does the car feel any different to drive on LGP?

I cannot tell any difference, but a conversion does give you the option of running on either. They have to start on petrol and then switch to LPG automatically unless you choose not to.

[StewartIngram]

Thank you for the comments. Seems interesting subject with plenty of positives. Trouble is being older car how much to you spend on it. Although I have already spent £1000s on various things lol. Does the car feel any different to drive on LGP?


From my point of view, I would replace "plenty of positives" with "no brainer".
But I do my own maintenance, and install (with professional check over afterwards), and have no intention of parting with it. Been running on lpg since 2000, around 20k a year, so it has saved me a lot.

A simple way of looking at it is this. (Don't take precise figures as gospel, in fact I'm using mine from when I converted the 75 over, but I think you will get the drift if you allow inflation etc). (Ball park figure, lpg is approx 1/2 price over the years).
Now lets say you pulled out 2x £10 notes when you pay for the lpg; £10 goes to the cashier, £10 goes into a piggy bank under the dash. That equates to the £20 you would have paid for petrol.
Average mileage for motorists is reckoned to be 10-12000 pa, around 1000 per month. Lets stick with that figure.
When I converted, it cost me £600 for the kit of parts off ebay (I knew what to get and was lucky). At that time £700-800 was the expected DIY cost. Professional installs started around £1000, but realistically were £1200-£1500, and price did not reflect the quality, you had to get references to make sure of a good job. So, pro fits were roughly double the cost of DIY, makes the pay back time twice as long.
Various credit cards are on offer (at times) with 0% interest for 12-24 months, shop around. Use one of these to pay for the kit (say DIY), and with the £10 notes you have been stuffing into your piggy bank, pay the account off each month and it won't even be noticed! After a year on average mileage, (do the calculations), all is paid off, but suddenly driving becomes uncomfortable, this is the drawback of lpg. That wallet in your back pocket becomes full of the £10 notes you are saving on every fill, making the seat uncomfortable.....! Note, if you choose a pro fit (twice as expensive) it takes twice as long to reach this stage.
Honestly, this works. My son in law did exactly that and also a couple of friends. nothing to payout for the conversion (credit card), nothing extra to pay to fill up (1/2 the cost, put the saving in the piggy bank), pay the credit card bill with the saving each month.

Stewart

[Radova32]

If you plan on keeping your car, LPG is worth it and there are a number of benefits other than cheaper fuel too.

An example is the issue with petrol of bore wash, which is lessened with LPG so wear and tear ont he engine is lessened. In both the cases where I have had LPG fitted to a car, it has reduced my premium, once with my MG F (Which reduced it by 150 pounds) and on the ZR (Reduced by 100 pounds).

Generally people will say MPG is reduced slightly on LPG but this is more than made up for by the reduced cost. In truth, it does in part depend on both your engine and the LPG conversion chosen, either way you will still get a massive saving.

One thing to note, you will need space for a second fuel tank. A 55 liter one will fit into the spare wheel area without issue, though you will need to keep your spare in the boot (Or just not have one). If you want a larger tank, this will have to be in the bootspace.

Don't think you will get away from unleaded alltogether, you won't. It is needed to start the engine and get it warmed up before the swithcover commences, for me it was aout ten pounds a month I was spending on unleaded. There are some conversions that will allow you to start on LPG and get rid of unleaded altogether, however this is not a good idea as this causes the fuel injectors to glaze over. Running on unleaded while cold helps to keep th injectors clean.

Depending on where you are, there could be many or not so many LPG stations about, our local shell garage sold Calogas LPG and the texaco up the road sold BluGas, for my K-series and conversion, the Calorgas gave me better economy than BluGas, but your mileage may well vary