Lpgc

Starting work on LPG conversion of yet another 3L Outback tomorrow. Have converted a lot more 4 cylinder turbo'd Subaru's to LPG than H6 engines - there are of course a lot more 4 cylinder turbo'd Subaru's around than H6's. All run well on LPG, particularly if appropriate parts are fitted, fitted correctly and system calibrated properly. Had a few owners of high power stuff phone in the past, seemingly with their mate sat beside them and for the laugh, probably expecting me to say 'sorry we cannot convert your model'... But they're wrong! It doesn't matter how powerful a vehicle is, can still be converted to LPG, and besides, they should remember that power figures are always relative - What may seem big power figures to owners of 4 cylinder turbo vehicles my seem paltry to owners of big block supercharged V8s - We convert big block supercharged V8's, no problem. Some turbo'd engines can make much more power on LPG than on petrol - That's due to the way the boost is managed (boosted until onset of pinking and then boost backed off). Since LPG has a higher octane rating than the best super unleaded petrol you can buy, can run higher boost before the onset of pinking. On such engines you get more more power on LPG than on petrol with no other mods necessary other than the LPG conversion. Simon

Would charge you £1295 for the conversion and would need your car here for 3 to 4 days. I do a very thorough job! Being an auto makes no difference - the engine is converted, as far as engine is concerned it could be driving a manual, an auto, or a boat's / aeroplane's prop.. I believe the owner of the vehicle I posted pictures of (and converted) above comes on this forum.. If interested I could ask him if he'd be willing to chat with you, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Simon

I don't know how to edit my (above) post, so I'll add to it here... If, in the very unlikely event I suffered a blow-out on the motorway (would probably mean I'd been careless and kerbed tyres / not kept eye on pressure etc), and WAS stuck for 2 hours waiting for the recovery man to come pick my vehicle up (and deliver it back to home or wherever I wanted), then while I was waiting for recovery man I'd be looking at my LPG tank thinking - Well I'm stuck on the hard shoulder but I'm effectively getting paid £500 to £1000 an hour for it! And the same is very unlikely to happen next year, when I can expect that LPG tank to pay me £1000 to £2000 without me having to stare at it on hard shoulder... Simon

Maybe my wording wasn't great, I'll reword here - If the Chancellor said you had to pay between £1000 and £2000 per year extra for road tax if you carry a spare wheel, would you pay the £1000 to £2000 extra or would you take your spare wheel out? You've implied you'd pay the spare wheel tax, do you reckon most people would do the same? Context, see if we're on the same page - Maybe you have been unlucky and had a blow out or shredded tyre on the motorway - The type of tyre damage that an aerosol of instant tyre repair could not repair? Most people go year in year out without ever using the spare wheel? The majority of punctures don't involve blow outs or shredded tyres? Most punctured tyres can be inflated with a £15 !Removed! lighter socket compressor and the vehicle driven to the tyre shop at owner's convenience for the tyre to be repaired (maybe after a few days of inflating with the £15 compressor), spare never used in these situations? The next most common type of tyre failure involves situations like nails through tyres, where the tyre goes down too quickly to keep topping up with a £15 compressor but this type can be repaired with an aerosol of tyre repair? Very often where people suffer blow outs on the motorway it's because they previously damaged the tyre by kerbing or didn't keep an eye on a slow (operative word) puncture, not great practice anyway? Recovery services are available that will get your vehicle home (or in some cases to wherever you want) if you have a flat tyre? If so concerned about not carrying a spare, you could put the spare in the boot when you don't need the boot space? If your full size spare would take up too much space in the boot, maybe you'd consider a space saver spare to put in the boot instead of a full size spare? Fewer and fewer new cars come with spare wheels at all these days anyway - Time may come when those carrying a spare wheel are in the minority, where any spare they want to carry may have to go in the boot anyway, particularly in the case of hybrids? Hybrid - Not available yet, will it have a spare wheel or will it have batteries etc where the spare usually fits? You mention motorway driving - How far do you reckon it will be possible to drive on electric at motorway speeds before the engine kicks in and you're running on full price petrol or diesel again? If you're looking at long term ownership, how much money will hybrid save long term over petrol/diesel compared to LPG savings when cost of replacement batteries is factored in? Simon

No problem with LPG on modded or remapped engines. LPG has a far higher octane rating than VPower petrol, so if an engine is remapped with more boost and/or more advanced ignition than standard there is less chance of a problem such as detonation on LPG than the same engine running on petrol. You wouldn't need to switch back to petrol for fun or sporty driving, car should feel just as powerful on LPG as on petrol, you just save loads of money on fuel and because of that may feel more inclined to have fun more often... having fun becomes more affordable! Simon

Many new cars come without spare wheels anyway... Where appropriate, many customers prefer the LPG tank to fit in spare wheel location - so you can either put spare wheel in boot or carry a can of instant tyre repair (like those vehicles that don't come with a spare wheel). Other tank options are a cylinder tank (retain spare wheel but then there's a cylinder in boot). Most Range Rovers have tank in spare wheel location. Putting it like this - I will charge you £1000 (for a 4 cylinder car) or £2000 year (for a V8) per year for the privilege of carrying a spare wheel - or you don't pay that £1000 or £2000 if instead of a spare wheel you carry a can on tyre repair.... put things into context! Simon

230 miles for £40 would become more like 400 miles for £40

This 6 cylinder Subaru has been converted properly to LPG by myself. Technically correct install with parts selected to suit the technical spec and design of the engine - Horses for courses regards components, a better idea than fitting pretty much the same components on every vehicle as long as the installer knows his stuff, 80 Litre tank fits exactly in the spare wheel well without raising boot floor. Performance on LPG indistinguishable from petrol. Saves owner 40% on fuel costs. Simon

Replied to your PM a little while ago... People go literally out of their way to save only a few pence per litre on petrol/diesel at the pumps, to save maybe £1 on putting 50 litres in.. I wouldn't bother. But when it comes to saving over £25 on 50 litres, over £1000 per year if you use 50 litres per week - then that does make a lot more sense. Converting a Subaru properly will cost just over £1000 but an LPG conversion will add to the car value - You can tell prospective car buyers that your car costs less in fuel than a SUbaru diesel yet has all the performance same as before the LPG conversion. And by the way, you can still run on petrol just the same as before the conversion if you don;t mind paying twice as much for fuel... Got to be converted properly though - There are a lot of installers who fit the same LPG conversion bits on turbo'd Subaru's as they do on 1.6 Astra's etc... Got to use an installer who knows his stuff and doesn't only ever advise the same bits for every vehicle. And it's got to be fitted properly - almost as critical as getting the parts list right. . I'm LPGC on the LPG forum, have a look at this... http://www.lpgforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=13467 Simon

I'm the man to speak to! Have converted a great many Subarus's, all models, to LPG and they all run just as well as on petrol but cost only half as much in fuel. Simon

Any Subaru, regardless of spec will run the same on LPG as on petrol if converted properly... Enjoy Subaru performance but only pay half price for fuel! Attached files show one of my straight forward H6 LPG conversions If anyone needs help with LPG related issues, or if you're looking into having you car converted, send me a message... Simon