Jump to content

166k to high for lpg?


10bellys
 Share

Recommended Posts

I've thought about converting the S8 before but now I'm quite serious but the only concern is the car going to last to reap the benefits of spending £2500 on a gas job?

If you are planning to keep the car for at least 20k miles, then yes it's worth it. Bare in mind, by pay-off time it will have nearly 190k on the clock! That sort of mileage should pay the cost of the conversion, then you can enjoy small diesel economy with a V8! It will add approximately £500 to the value of you car, so it costs you £2k really.

My car was converted at 40k and still runs as well at 154k. It's a great saving and also reduces cylinder/piston wear due to the low carbon of LPG.

I pay 46p per litre, and I average about 17.5 mpg on gas (yours should be more efficient as a sequensial system - mines a multi-point). You will probably save about half the cost with the extra inefficiency than on petrol. That equates to about 45mpg equivalent compared to diesel.

The 8 is ideal as a gas car due to the coil-on-plug arrangement (makes a nice strong spark which gas needs). I've had loads of problems in the past with HT leads and remote coils on other cars.

My 60 litre tank gets me about 260 miles, so I suggest a 100 litre tank to give you a better range.

Good luck if you do go for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 4.2L D3 with LPG and have been running it now for about 10K miles. Its a sequential system and I am get about 20mpg on LPG. Tank is in the boot not sure how big it is bit seems to take about 80L when filled.

£2.5K seems a lot to pay. I bought my car with LPG and suspect it only cost £200 more because of it. May be worth looking at selling your car and buying one already converted?

BTW the filler for the gas can fit next to the petrol filler so everything is hidden under the fuel filler cap.

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think valve problems were more of an issue with some of the older more basic lpg conversions where te mixture was not always controlled so well. Modern cars designed to run on lead free petrol have hard valve seats anyway.

LPG burns at a higher temperature, but burns 100% so has almost no residue (oil stays clean etc). In balance an LPG conversion is probably good for the life of the engine.

As for power there is a few % drop on modern systems but you will struggle to notice the difference in normal driving. As you can switch back to petrol at the press of a button you can always keep some super unleaded / optimax etc in the petrol tank for when you want a blast.

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I previously bought an old 4.2 A8 already converted in Poland using a landirenzo system.

It was excellent, but sometimes tripped out under full load implying the systems wasn't beefy enough for a 4.2.

This hooked me on A8s and LPG and so I sold it and bought a (newer, better) '98 S8 which I had converted myself. I researched the systems a lot, and came to the conclusion that it's worth the extra money for a high quality (prins) system.

I'd suggest that (using my figures) it will take between 18 months to 2 years to pay for itself comfortably.

You can either use a spare-wheel tank at 67 litres or go for a 90 litre "back of the boot" tank. Either way, put the filler at the side of the car and not dead centre at the back as it was on my first car - pain in the ar$e.

Would I do it on that age of car? Depends on the condition of the car and whether you think it'll last (not just the engine!) another 20k miles. :)

P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Condition of the car is good. Gearbox rebuilt 30k ago and running sweet. Interior immaculate and thats saying something with a 5 and a 3 year old. Thats why I'm going to go for it. The guy said to refit to another car would be £500 & vat and as the only other car I'm lilly to get is the d3 then I'll take my chances. Thanks for the advice chaps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW the filler for the gas can fit next to the petrol filler so everything is hidden under the fuel filler cap.

If I could do that on my D2 I'd almost certainly get LPG as the visible filler is a big put off. Any chance of a photo?

Also can anyone recommend somewhere to do the conversion? I'm in West Yorks and have submitted an enquiry to Yorkshire LPG conversions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I could do that on my D2 I'd almost certainly get LPG as the visible filler is a big put off. Any chance of a photo?

Also can anyone recommend somewhere to do the conversion? I'm in West Yorks and have submitted an enquiry to Yorkshire LPG conversions.

Autogas 2000, without a doubt are extremely knowledgeable and helpful and very professional. I have delt with them myself. They are in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. www.autogas.co.uk. Can't remember the guy's name now, but he is the head techie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They're one of the places I've emailed so I'll see what they come back with.

I've checked under the filler flap and the LPG filler isn't gonna fit under there. Where are other D2 owners LPG fillers? The more discrete the better really.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I paid £2.8 for a sequential OMVL system with a tank in the spare wheel well (Which took a lot of work but doesn't cripple the boot) I put the filler down on the bumper on the offside rear quarter.

It's pretty discrete and this is my second S8 on LPG, it's well worth while.

post-17386-137914415694_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's not bad at all. I think I'll go for a larger tank in the same place as Figure11 has his as I used to have sub there anyway, I don't want to lose the spare and I'd like a sizeable tank or I'll be filling up too often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its autogas 2000 thats going to do mine. Its booked in for the 4th June and is about £1900 & vat for a sequential system . They've being doing them for 30years so you'd hope they know what they are doing by now and they are only 40 mins away. Off topic I need to apologize for the bad grammar in the thread title (it annoys me everytime I log on). I feel better now

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its autogas 2000 thats going to do mine. Its booked in for the 4th June and is about £1900 & vat for a sequential system . They've being doing them for 30years so you'd hope they know what they are doing by now and they are only 40 mins away. Off topic I need to apologize for the bad grammar in the thread title (it annoys me everytime I log on). I feel better now

Excellent choice of installer. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed. Good price too!

In regards to the filler location, mine is in the same place as Figure11's car, but there is a slight corrosion visible in the paint around the filler (it has been there 7 years though). I would put it on the bumper if I was going to do it again. I also don't like the idea of spioling that beautifully expensive aluminium panel. At least a bumper can be replaced relatively cheaply, and there's no corrosion.

Also, demand you have the filler coulour coded with your car. You will seriously regret it if you don't. Those fillers look hideously ugly in an unpainted state. My A8 has the filler coloured, but my Jeep Grand Cherokee doesn't and it sticks out like a sore thumb!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My petrol filler flap needs painting anyway so I'll pick up an LPG filler from whichever installer I use and get it painted at the same time. Just got 2 quotes so far, the one I posted earlier and another one of £1800 for a Romano system with 1yr warranty but they provide a courtesy car.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing to note with the conversion is to make sure that the conversion place understands the implications of an ally chassis - They need to choose there fixings carefully to avoid metal corrosion when bolting the tanks in place....

Autogas 2000 are aware of this I know, and Im sure others would be - but worth checking... +++

We've also concluded that the prins system is the best, although the others are quite adequate. We're looking to set up some sort of deal with a conversion supplier sometime soon, and we'll be getting ours converted as demos....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Autogas 2000 have got back to me and have asked me to call in as they haven't done an S8 before, I imagine it will be very similar to an A8 V8 which they have done before. Price quoted is £1991.32 inc vat

Thats a good quote and I know you'll be very happy with the work.

It is an identical install to 4.2 A8, but obviously there is slightly increased fueling at full throttle. Just check that the evaporator/regulator can cope with the additional fuelling. It might be worth having two regulators (one per bank) to ensure it can supply enough fuel. This would cost a couple of hundred more though. My metering units are fully open at about 5000rpm, therefore the fuel/air mixture is slightly low at higher revs. Your system might cope with this quite happily, but the installer should be able to program it to turn back to petrol over, say 4000 rpm, so you get maximum power when booting it, but the economy of LPG when driving normally. This means you can keep super-unleaded in your tank for that extra 'ooomph'. The switchover should be seamless. I wish mine did this, but its a bit old hat now.

Good luck with the install!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They'e emailed saying they have a new high output regulator which they think should do the job but want to check the compatibility with my car. They also include a 2yr warranty and use of courtesy car during the install. they also said this regarding the issue of aluminium and the fixings:

"With regards to fixings to alloy we have not been made aware of any problems to date but we do seal and insulate all fittings during and after conversion."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...