LPG

[luvmygti]

Hear's one for descussion

Just a thought, but has anyone got or looked into a LPG conversion for the GTI? Would the fsi even run on lpg?

Ive heard it doesn't affect performance  or mpg but is loads cheaper to buy about 60p ltr, so after reading the V-power descussion and all agreing how fed up we are with fuel bills it could be the future!!!

I hope i dont get shot down for tis idea

Matt

[jaydubveedub]

Running cars on LPG is very tempting when you see the price of it (half the price of petrol) and I have looked into this in the past albeit at one of the Volvo Bi-fuel models which have a factory-fitted LPG system.

Not sure if you could fit an LPG kit to the GTI due to the FSI system, I would imagine it would be hideously complicated.

A few points to condside though is that cars that are converted generally produce 10% less power running on LPG than on petrol, and also lose 10-20% of their fuel economy, although this is possibly due to the system not being optimised. You also lose a fair chunk of bootspace to house the donut tank and have to get the system certified every 12 months (I think) which costs about £100 (this is all rough from memory, so I stand to be corrected).

Thing is, I find the 2.0 TFSI to be surprisingly economical engine when driven steadily (i've seen 42mpg average on a run) and in normal driving the GTI has sensible fuel costs, so not sure if the cost of the conversion would be worth it?

[smartypants]

Is LPG value for money? YES IT IS!! Now I can't say whether the GTI is good for it, but lets just go with the economics.

I do an average of arounf 16k miles a year, lets say 300 miles a week. Now when I had the GTI I could get at best 400 miles to the tank, so we'll go with a driving miss daisy approach to our maths!

Even if we get a 25% reduction in range with the LPG conversion (so now 300 miles to the tank) the figures are as below:


Golf GTI

Range: 400
Cost per litre unleaded: 122p
MPG:    33.06
Cost per mile: 16.775p
Cost per week: £50.33
Cost per month: £201.30
Cost per year: £2415.6


Golf GTI LPG

Range: 300
Cost per litre LPG: 60p
MPG: 24.80
Cost per mile: 11p
Cost per week: £33
Cost per month: £132
Cost per year: £1584


So the saving over a year is nearly a grand, which pays for the LPG conversion after only 12 months - and this was with very biased figures towards unleaded, I am sure the difference will actually be a lot more in real terms.

Ok that's for me doing a lot of miles, probably not the same for lower mileage drivers... but you get the drift

[No Golf Clubs at all]

LPG is good value...for now... Once it's popular the government robbers will make it as expensive as they want.

[smartypants]

Yes that is also true - I'm surprised it hasnt been taxed in line with standard fuel already!