Hi all. Gonna be convertingmy 2011 to lpg in the near future, and was wondering if anyone else had done it?

Risky business converting to LPG, prolonged use makes you engine run hot and fries your piston rings. There was a Forester on Ebay that had an LPG conversion and it had done that. I may be wrong but it's what i've been informed by my brother whos a mechanic.

I think you need a system called Flash Lube or something like that to help stop your car having problems but from my own research all LPG installs come with that these days so not a big problem.

 

Subaru also sold foresters with an LPG option at factory so sure its not as scary as people make out.

 

That said I am in 2 minds myself, I might be getting it done though shall see what kind of milage I end up doing.

Indeed - Subaru engines work extremely well with LPG, and yes you need Flashlube. You just top up the Flashlube bottle every 10 tanks of LPG and that solves any issues with valve wear. LPG does not cause an engine to run hot or damage piston rings. I previously had a 1996 BD7C Legacy 2.2 that did over 80,000 miles on LPG, and my current 2004 BPEA Outback 3.0Rn has been running LPG for the last 3000 miles with no issues. Other than the issue of only paying 49p a litre for fuel, and still getting over 30mpg on motorways that is :)

 

My last car was a Vauxhall Vectra with a factory LPG system, and my wife's Honda CRV runs LPG. Unless you've got a direct injection engine, don't do many miles in a year or don't plan to keep the car for long, there are very few reasons not to convert to LPG. In mainland Europe LPG is incredibly common, especially Germany, Poland, Italy, Sweden and Holland.

 

Cost of conversion for a four cylinder Subaru is around £1000-1200 for a good system and an experienced installer (add about £100 for a six cylinder). Given that LPG is currently less than half the cost of petrol, the average person will have saved that much in the first year.

The one thing holding me back is modding the car would lpg something to do after I have finished the car? Or is it not really an issue when it comes to getting remaps and so on?

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Speak to Tlag if I remember he has/had a legacy converted

Thanks guys, ive looked into it quite a bit and am defo going to do it anyway, its just nice to hear from people who have experience of it.;-). Absolutely loving the cvt by the way!

Remember that the LPG ECU doesn't actually have a fuel map as such, all it does is take the petrol injector signal and then increase the duration of the injection pulse by a factor according to a simple rpm map then feed that to the gas injector for that cylinder. So if you remap the petrol ECU, the LPG ECU will follow - and so if the petrol ECU starts altering its short term fuel trim to compensate for too rich/lean, the amount of LPG injected will similarly alter in exactly the same way. Some systems can be connected to the ODB port to dynamically alter their map based on the fuel trims.

 

The old fashioned mixer systems are a totally different matter -but on a modern engine like the Legacy/Outback you wouldn't ever run anything other than a sequential injection system.

 

4eyes - if you need a recommendation for an installer, based on your location I'd give Independent Autogas in Tenbury Wells a go. Toby has a lot of experience of converting Subarus and does a very good job (although he's not the cheapest).

Thanks rich. I spoke to toby on an lpg forum a while ago, and i am considering him along with a few places more local, ( uklpg reg) just need to get prices etc.

For reference, my Outback 3.0Rn cost me about £1200, with a 74 litre tank, KME Nevo G4 ECU, Magicjet injectors, KME Gold reducer and Flashlube. But I doubt you're planning to travel to Yorkshire to get it done :)

Have today booked the lpg conversion for the 21 st aug. Went with lpg wales in newport, romano system with multipoint flashlube (jlm actually), uklpg reg etc, for £1300. Most places were around the same price.Will post after the install.

Picked up the outback today and my first impression is delight! The car seems to run a bit quieter with no loss in performance. Filled up with Lpg for £26!!!!! Drove the 40 odd miles home and gauge still has 4 out of 4 lights lit. Big thank you to pawel and staff.

And it came in at £1225!

Well, 18 months down the road, done about 18k miles with no problems. Car running perfectly and conversion has already paid for itself! Car is doing 21 mpg around town, and about 32 mpg on a run. LPG at 54 ppl , compared to 110 ppl for unleaded. Best decision I've ever made!

Nice to hear some real world feedback

Great stuff; the more I hear the more I'm tempted. Do keep us updated please as time goes on [emoji106]

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Ok it's 2 years since the conversion, done 30 k miles on lpg and the car is running like a Swiss watch. Just had the 2 year service ( last of the free ones) on the lpg system and all good. Car is doing the cost equivalent of 44 mpg around town (21 mpg actual) and 60 mpg ( 28 mpg actual) on a run. LPG is still 54p / litre. Cheaper, cleaner and quieter than diesel! Wish I'd bought a 3.6r now.....

am i right to assume the tank is fitted in place of the spare wheel  ? and that your OB is a 4 pot ?

Yes you are correct. 71 ltr tank in spare space (55 ltr usable), mine is a 2.5 ltr 4 cylinder CVT.

i've been thinking about doing mine...buts it's a 3.0... *wonder if anyone on here has experience of that* 

Just to update, it's nearly 3 years and 35000 miles since I converted to LPG, and have saved almost £4000 in fuel in that time. Both car and lpg system have been pretty much flawless in that time too. Still all good.😊

Hi 

What is the name of the system that you installed 

? 

I thinking of installing lovato system.

Do you think I will need the oil pump? The are saying that I don't need.

Thank you 

On my 2004 Outback 3.0Rn I have a KME Nevo ECU with six MagicJet injectors (mounted right next to each of the petrol injectors), KME Gold reducer and a 74 litre tank. Totally trouble free so far after about 50,000 miles and performance is identical to petrol.

You will need a valve lubricant such as Flashlube, but the cheaper vacuum system (rather than the injected one) is sufficient for a non-turbo engine. The only Subaru engines that don't need it are the 2.0 litre ones sold in Germany (and possibly some other central European countries) with LPG fitted by the dealer from new.

 

We had BRC system fitted to the present Foz XT a few months ago, running very well indeed.

Previously had our 2002 Outback H6 converted, that too never gave a moments trouble and still gives good service with my son, but will be sold shortly as they are emigrating.

Flashlube or its equivalent valve saver is a must on Japanese engines or valve seat recession will be a problem,  preferably pump driven, the system on our conversion pumps the oil straight into the gas mix, which is not something i've come across before.

My system is all Romano. I had conflicting advice about flashlube but my installer (mint lpg Wales) fits it for free with Romano kit. It might not do any good, but I suppose it doesn't do any harm. Lpg was the best motoring decision I've ever made, saved me a fortune!