LPG Corrado

[gavinchappell 0]

I'm toying (depending on costs) with replacing my Golf with a Corrado. I can't afford to run two cars, so if I do then I'll be looking into the possibility of an LPG conversion. I think I do about 7,500 miles a year commuting (mostly motorway/A road), plus maybe another 7,500 miles a year on top of that for other trips.

 

I've just noticed the (quite cool) feature that tells me how many topics have the same keywords as I've used in the title, so I'll be looking through a few of those this afternoon, but in the meantime are there any LPG users on here want to chip in with their opinions? I wouldn't want to replace my petrol tank with LPG, as although it's not too much hassle getting LPG near my home, I often make trips up to friends in Middlesbrough and I'd hate to get caught out up there not being able to get hold of any!

 

Basically I'm hoping that an LPG conversion would almost pay for itself in the first year of driving a Corrado, and keep fuel costs down to the same sort of ballpark as the diesel (probably half the MPG, but half the cost per litre to go with it).

 

Any thoughts?

[pkripper 0]

I would get a newer car if you are going to be doing 15k a year, thats a lot for a senior car such as a corrado.

[gavinchappell 0]

I just realised as well that I only based that on a one way trip to work! Just had a bit of a better guess, and came out at 10,560 miles for commuting :(

 

~22 miles each way

* 2 trips per day

* 5 trips per week

* 48 weeks per year

 

Looks like a Corrado daily driver isn't really feasible at all then, LPG or not. Ah well, back to the drawing board till I can afford to keep and run two cars, cheers :)

[double-6s 0]

Pah!

 

I do 30k a year in mine! :)

 

I reckon you'd probably only save 800 to 1000 quid in the first year mate.

 

How much is a conversion? 2 grand or so?

[mtc R32 0]

I always fancied doing something like this as I just can't stand paying fuel costs at roughly 83 pence a litre.....

 

i'd probably drive my C much more too :)

 

Do you actually get the same power, as obtained from petrol????

[double-6s 0]

I think you get a bit less as there's less energy in LPG? Probably wrong though.....

[double-6s 0]

Oh actually, after a quick google, it looks like LPG is higher octane than unleaded.

 

104 octane or so?

 

It says you can safely raise the compression ratio too cos of the higher octane fuel :)

 

 

Hmmm..........

[Johnboy98 0]

Well time for me to chip in, ive been running my car for some 6 years now on LPG and to be fair its not a matter of how many miles per year you do but how long you REALLY intend to keep it.

 

Conversion is around the 2 grand mark and is under half the price of petrol but what people fail to mention or realise is that its 80% as efficient. So for arguments sake you get your LPG for 40p and petrol is 85p per litre.

 

When giving the car some Beans I get 20 mpg LPG and 25 mpg gas so really im getting well under half price fuel or in excess of 40 miles to the gallon, which ever way you prefer to look at it.

 

Ive racked up 80.000 in my 6 years of ownership and worked out thats saved me some £5500-£6500 depending on fuel prices, so deducting the conversion of £2k (although it would to the right buyer fetch some of that back if i sold her) then its around a £4k saving that continues to line my pockets whilst I drive around in a fairly quick 230bhp 225lbsft coupe.

 

It really does come down to I think whether or not you intend to keep the car for at least another 2 and racking up a mileage over and above 20k.

 

With a sorted SGI (Sequential Gas Injection) system performance will only be down by about 5%

[gavinchappell 0]

That's more like what I was wanting to hear Johnboy, thanks for sharing :). If I managed to find a good condition (at least mechanically) Corrado then there's no reason why I wouldn't keep it for at least the 2 years it'd take me to scrape back the LPG conversion cost (which is slightly more than I thought, I was thinking around the £1.5k mark). However, isn't LPG only guaranteed to be a low cost fuel for about another 3 years? From what I've heard, duty on LPG is guaranteed to rise no more than 3p in the next 3 years, but after that it's fair game for some uber taxation?

 

Not sure how much truth is in that, it's just what I've heard on another (non-motoring) forum with a few "car people" on it.

[dubburke 0]

I can't see the tax rising on LPG due to it being a clean fuel, and at the moment things are very much towards the stop of global warming, so putting tax on LPG would be madness.

[Johnboy98 0]

As dubburke said the government would get slated if they were to start heavily taxing LPG as with global warming being incredibly prevalent at the moment and for all the foreseeable future then IMHO they are not going to start on that track.

 

2K buys you a quality system and an equally matched install, there are a lot of "Fly By Night" LPG installers out there so be very cautious on who you give your money to.

 

If you need any help selecting one then give me a shout.

[Mave 0]

might be a monged question, but where do you fill up for LPG? I don't think ive ever seen a petrol station with it. or am i just being blind?

[Johnboy98 0]

Try an internet search.

 

http://www.boostlpg.co.uk/

[P2daz 0]

I had a Vectra (it was very cheap!!)with factory fitted LPG, the nozzle was mounted just behind the petrol flap.

on a retro fit system where is the nozzle fitted? Is it/can it be mounted in the boot say so it doesn't spoil the C's lines?

 

might be a monged question, but where do you fill up for LPG? I don't think ive ever seen a petrol station with it. or am i just being blind?

 

There's loads of places about now, you can download a POI file for tom tom to flag up LPG forecourts too.

[gavinchappell 0]

I'm not sure how common it is, but I can get it from my local Asda (in Spondon, for any of you from the area). I can also get it from the BP garage in Ilkeston, however I think they may just run it as they inherited it when they bought the forecourt from Shell, as I've not seen any other BP stations with it locally. I'm not sure on other places, I only tend to use Asda/BP locally (Asda for every day stuff, a tank full of BP Ultimate diesel and some diesel cleaner every so often to try and keep it clean with minimal effort).

[Johnboy98 0]

Its very common these days but can be a bit centralised ie near big citys or on major routes. you can also download an overlay application for microsofts autoroute to show you there whereabouts.

 

You can longer have the filling points in the boot as its against health and safety regs.

 

Heres mine

http://www.the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48215

[jonnyboyo 0]

The government used to stump up half the cost of an LPG conversion for anyone wishing to convert? I'm not sure this is still the case as it was a few years ago. Would be nics tho!! :)

 

And on the "Corrados are to old to be a daily driver", nah!! Go for it. Mine is 16yrs old with 118,000 miles and i drive it everywhere. Did 880miles in it last week, nae worries. I own a 22yr old RS Turbo too (blasphemy!) which i drove everyday (before storing it) including 430 mile round trips to Cardiff and Northwest on many occasions.

[Johnboy98 0]

Nope youve got no chance for a goverment grant im afraid, they put toll to that years back now the only way they give you grants is on cars no more than 2 years old and listed on the powershift register, cars that basically allready emit very low hydracarbons for there engine power......I dunno go figure that one thats not exactley pro active for getting more peeps on board just sounds like their making an effort ...W*****'s the lot of em!

[PhatVR6 0]

My Missus's Golf Coutnry runs on LPG. It's great, full tank for about £16! you can get easily 300 miles out of that. Costs me £60 to do the same in my mk4!!

 

I've got an LPG kit off a VR6 for sale as it happens. came off a Sharan, so would go straight on a corrado VR

 

£300 for the lot.

[mtc R32 0]

My Missus's Golf Coutnry runs on LPG. It's great, full tank for about £16! you can get easily 300 miles out of that. Costs me £60 to do the same in my mk4!!

 

I've got an LPG kit off a VR6 for sale as it happens. came off a Sharan, so would go straight on a corrado VR

 

£300 for the lot.

 

WIll you fit it for me too Paul ???? Whats the Gas tank like ???? Big or small ???

:)

[PhatVR6 0]

it's massive! like a big innertune. can't check if it'll actually fit in a corrado as mine doesn't have a corrado boot lfoor in it!

 

as for fitting, sorry, but it's a no, don't do work on other peoples cars any more.

 

I can show you where it all goes though, that's esy enough, You could fit it in a weekend by yourself easy, but I'd have it checked by a qualifed LPG fitting garage and checked for leaks before using it.

[Johnboy98 0]

doubt you'll fit it in a weekend as a first time fit, when guys who do it for a living take 3 full days. Dont under estimate the size of the job its all straight forward engineering but fairly labour intensive.

£300 is a bargain for a full system is it direct injected into the manifold or the venturi throttle body type?

[PhatVR6 0]

it has a mixer that bolts directly to the throttle body.

 

Switch with LED's to show the level of gas in the tank

 

Computer (which you can prgramme with a laptop if you have the software

 

filler nozzle

 

tank and braksets

 

vapourizer

 

hoses, pipe, all sorts of other bits and bobs.

[gavinchappell 0]

Johnboy98, if you don't mind me asking where did you get your conversion done? The car I was considering putting an offer in for when I started this is back up for sale, so I'd like to find a more definite price for the conversion to see if I can go ahead.

 

Cheers!

[Stan 24v 0]

This site might help you for locations:

 

http://www.petrolprices.com/