S8 LPG First real journey, and MPG
 

Needed wheels today for a trip to Birmingham, and the D2 S8 is the only motor I have roadworthy, taxed, tested and insured, so even though its all nicely cleaned and sorted ready for sale, I had to saddle up and off we went, albeit a bit begrudgingly.

I've done loads to this car since I got it - nothing major, just lots of little bits, mostly for its MOT - But not really driven it more than a couple of miles here and there. The weekend saw a comprehensive clean which has lifted the look and feel and made it a rather pleasant place to be. Im' getting into this whole cleaning lark. Its a bit scary...

I've always moaned about the S8's thirst for fuel, especially on the motorway revving away for no good reason, but on LPG that argument does sort of fade away a little, and you forget where the law permits, just how rapidly these things move from 80 to 100 as they're already ticking away at 3000rpm. Its stopping before 120 that takes the real skill :D... It would still pain me to run one on petrol though...

The suspension is 'S8 firm', meaning its never going to be cut out for limo work, but it is surprisingly agile on the B road stuff, more so than I remember. In fact, the last time I had this much B road fun, was in the S4, and that cost a lot of wonga in fuel and had way less comfort, even though it was high spec for a B7.

This car is also surprisingly solid, the guy before seemed to have replaced so much in terms of suspension etc, that actually it has no rattles knocks or squeaks to speak of. I took a slightly longer way home to enjoy a bit more of it... Hmm. :o

I guess what I'm saying is that Im actually quite impressed by it..... A bit annoying as I've already replaced it convinced it had no place in my life right now.... :rolleyes:


Anyway, the boring MPG stuff.

So, running purely LPG from a warm start, filled to the brim, driven then refilled to the brim we get:

164.4 miles
38.27 litres
£24.84

So, 19.5 MPG or 15.1 pence per mile. Thats cheaper to run than my 3.0 Tdi D3 was, and without the sizeable capital outlay.

Thats really quite acceptable if I'm being honest, and with the Prins the gas delivery works all the way though the rev range, it doesnt fail back to petrol at higher revs.

So, assuming it doesnt sell tomorrow, I have at least 2 more journeys this week to savour, before I get to enjoy cleaning it all up again at the weekend....... +++

I used to work for an LPG installation centre, cost then was on average £1,500. LPG was also cheap at 36p per litre. We installed Landi MPI systems, which were an excellent bit of kit.

My issues here - while LPG is still cheaper than gasoline, it is NOT cheaper overall. Even at the older 36p per litre cost, couple this with the installation cost, service cost of the system, if you did 12,000 miles per annum, it would still take you well over 6 years to recoup the costs. Double your annual mileage, you're still looking at a lot of time to break even. Then add the periodic LPG cost per litre increase, it becomes clear it's not such a cheap exercise.

This is also assuming it never breaks down - needing new LPG injectors etc. Regardless of how good these systems may be, upper cylinder lubrication suffers. Dried out valve guides, valves etc. I've stripped down engines, where the bronze valve guides have actually cracked within the cylinder heads.

LPG is cheaper to buy compared to gasoline, but it's not overall cheaper to run or maintain. Some engines, by virtue of their very design consume LPG faster than they slurp gasoline.

Is LPG cheaper at the pumps, compared to gasioline? Yes. Is it cheaper long term to run, maintain etc? Definitely not.

I accept there are other cost overheads involved, which you've detailed.

What is worth bearing in mind though, is back when LPG was 36p per litre, Petrol was significantly cheaper too.

The saving back then in terms of fuel, was maybe 40-45p per litre.

With todays pricing, the savings are more in the region of 60 - 65p per litre, and LPG pricing tends to be more stable than its volatile petrol counterpart.

So, although LPG increases in price, petrol increases faster - Making the overall proposition more cost effective, plus theres the priceless smug factor of filling the tank for less than £50..... +++

Installing from new, with the cost of conversion etc, you do have to do the sums and make sure you'll be doing the mileage to make it worth while I totally agree....

<doh> - Just sold to first person that viewed it....

Looks like im gonna have to get my D3 sorted pretty quick now... :D