Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


Lpg Conversion (Is300)


Recommended Posts

Chrisgixer I think you might need to have some discussion on guys from the RX, LS forum as some are really happy with thier conversions

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=69479&pid=773969&st=0entry773969

Been looking at this with interest. Here's my take as someone who has run several LPG motors and converted even more.

LPG generally reduces the fuel costs to 2/3 of running on petrol. This takes into account the petrol for starting, flashlube, etc.

To give a fair comparison of the 2 fuels you need to compare the cost per mile, nothing else is accurate. This is how I have managed to get to the saving figure. When I first started running on LPG it saved about half (LPG was 30p/L and petrol was about 80p/L) but with the price increases it is now more like a third. This has remained steady now for about 3 years.

So, taking the rather odd example used above. If the petrol running costs are £120 per month for 3 years, LPG running costs will be £80 per month for 3 years. This means a saving of £40/month. £40 * 36 months = £1440. A DIY kit for a 6 cylinder car can be fitted, inspected and registered for sub £1k (last 6 cyl kit cost me £845 all in) so take that £1000 outlay away from the £1440 savings and you have saved £440 straight away.

Additionally, it burns much more cleanly so is more friendly to the engine and also qualifies for a (small) reduction in Road Fund License for post 2001 vehicles of £10 per Year. So there's another £30 making the savings £470 immediately :innocent: Yes, there is a little extra cost in general maintenance (filters) but the clean burning of LPG will mean that the engine oil maintains it's properties longer. So instead of changing oil every 4k max (as I tend to on petrol) it can be extended to 7-8k and still come out a nice golden colour.

Moving on to the other things raised... Modern (Fully Sequential) LPG systems can easilly perform exactly the same as on petrol if they are correctly fitted and tuned. This is fact! Yes, with the old mixer systems there was a loss of power but even then they could be tuned to minimise it. But that is old technology and things have moved on considerably (as they have with cars as well!)

The number of LPG filling stations is increasing year on year and in the last 5 years I've only had to run on petrol (because of running out of LPG and not being able to find somewhere to fill up) for a maximum of 500 miles of my 100k+ miles driven.

Finally... Whilst I accept that LPG isn't for everyone and if your petrol bill is only £120/month then it's quite affordable. With the distances I drive my petrol bills were more like £150 per week so LPG was a no brainer and had paid for itself within a few months. That car did 77k on LPG, saving 9p per mile, which cost me £800 to convert. 77000*£0.09= £6930 in savings. Take £800 off of that £6930 and I saved over £6k in fuel costs running that car! That's not to be sniffed at ;)

What I would say is that LPG is a no brainer if you do enough miles, regardless of what anyone elses rather strange calculations show ^_^

Guys...everyone has raised both pros and cons of running on LPG and we can all conclude it pays off if one will be doing a lot of miles and I mean a lot of miles..I mean Lazydocker was going through £150 a week so yes would really make sense and pay off quicky due to the miles being convered were as in my case I was going through £120 a month which confirms I wasnt covering that much miles for an LPG conversion to be viable so I guess if one goes through more than £100 a week then LPG would make sense but for someone like me going through £30 a week might aswell stick to petrol. so Chrigixer if your weekly expense is in the region of Lazydocker then I guess LPG will be the right way to go mate... :driving:

I'm aware of the pros and cons of "LPG" what I am not aware of , obviously, is LPG on this particular model. Have you anything to add to that?...as the original question implies, I'm really looking for first hand factual experience.

Thanks for your guess though.

But as you say, the cost of the install, will take longer to return in fuel savings the less miles covered. Obviously, a fuel saving "formula" needs to be accurate when calculating this, or potentially for example a professional prins install costing in the region £2.500 will never return a saving at all if the car only covers 6000 miles a year and the owner sells it after two years. No brainer again.

So, now you'll understand why DIY install offers further savings. Obviously. Payback in fuel savings will be achieved much sooner. Provided the install is not problematic of course. Hence my ORIGINAL QUESTION!

Loooks like we all ending up at the same conclusion as I also mentioned in my prevoius post and i quote "LPG convertion does not always = saving money".....so like everyone one here is saying based on the miles one does LPG will be viable but for others it will be a waste of precious time/energy and some times money which in my case 3 years and an everage yearly miles of 8000 miles wasnt really worth the hassle but might certainly work for you Chrisgixer and thats also based on if the installation and flush and getting hold of live data goes to plan with no hicups :shifty:

We? Mate, please, give it a rest.

Just try to be helpful thats all!! at the end of the day if i couldnt afford putting fuel in a 3.0 Lexus i wouldnt be buying one...and maybe still to a 1.4 focus

Yeah, see, "we" still don't get it do "we". It's not a case of affording. If we couldnt afford an is300 and it's running costs we wouldn't have bought one in the first place.

It's a case of not peshing money up the wall. If you want to waiste money unnecessarily that's up to yo of course.

Just to explane the situation, and you'll notice this is the first time I have gone into detail on the vehicles use level, currently the car gets very little use. So although we intend to keep the car for several years, it's still arguable if its worth converting to dual fuel.

However, a possible change in commuting circumstances may very well change all that. Hence, once again, the original question. And I quote;

Anyone converted one of these to dual fuel?

Nice deep wheel well. Can the valve seats take it?

Now I realise your trying to be helpfull. But clearly, and I'll apologise in advance for this, you clearly have no clue on the subject what so ever. I'm afraid that's as polite a reply as i can manage given your input.

Although I would like to thank those have given thier first hand experiences. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 54
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Chrisgixer, as there seems to be a lack of understanding for your initial question I have had a hunt around on another forum I visit. It seems that Lexus engines lend themselves quite nicely to LPG, although flashlube is (as I initially said) highly recommended.

Unfortunately I can't help you with the live data capable scanner though

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lazdocker, thanks for your advice and efforts. That's good news.

Koko, thankyou as well. Sounds like a 70 litre is possible. Should give reasonable range. :)

To try and help out some more I had a look around another forum I visit which is specificly for LPG vehicles and the feelings on there (from both professional converters and DIYers) is that the Lexus is actually quite a straight forward conversion and takes it very well. Flashlube is (as I suggested) higly recommended essential and the kit selection is important.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share




×
×
  • Create New...