Surely we have all heard of cars running on ‘gas’, actually Liquefied Petroleum Gas or LPG for short, referred to as ‘autogas’ when used as vehicle fuel. We have also probably noticed the odd fork lifter here and there with a household gas cylinder strapped at the rear. What most of us have not thought about though is can I convert my vehicle and what are the cost and future savings involved. Another issue held dear to car enthusiasts is will it harm the engine or will performance deteriorate.
What, exactly, is LPG? LPG is a liquefied mixture of hydrocarbon gases that burns relatively cleanly and with no exhaust remnants, emitting 10-12% less CO2 and 53% less nitrogen oxides than petrol. It also costs roughly half the cost of unleaded petrol whilst fuel economy is similar, therefore saving in total 40-50% from your current fuel expenditure.
After being invited by Waldorf Auto Service Centre to test drive a fairly new Hyundai i20 that was recently converted I concluded the afternoon convinced that LPG will save money, help the environment, actually benefit the engine’s life expectancy, and noticed no drop in performance.
Waldorf Auto Service Centre has established an exclusive representation agreement with Italian LPG specialist brand IMEGA, one of the most respected producers of LPG kits in the market. With its 6000 sq m production plant in Arezzo and a full-dedicated research and development centre and training facilities, IMEGA is led by a management that enjoys over 30 years of experience in this sector. The IMEGA brand is therefore acknowledged as Italy’s leading LPG kit producer.
An LPG conversion requires a secondary fuel system added to your car with its own seperate and independent fuel tank which is usually fitted in the spare wheel’s cavity in the car’s boot or underneath the vehicle, depending on the model. The tank is filled with LPG gas via a hose and a dedicated filling point, just like normal petrol and diesel vehicles. The LPG kit, a sequential phased injection system developed by IMEGA will therefore consist of a small fuel switch which is installed in the car’s dashboard or centre console, to indicate when the car is running on LPG and the level of gas in the tank, and a pressure and map sensor.
The quality of IMEGA’s components and the innovative electronic management, allow a significant reduction in consumption while maintaining excellent LPG performance. I was pleased to have been given the chance to confirm this personally. Performance is hardly effected when the system is switched over to LPG. I say hardly because I noticed no drop in power however hard I pushed the vehicle but after conducting further inquiries I learned that there is in fact a slight drop of around 2% in bhp – hardly noticeable. IMEGA’s system is a technologically advanced and state of the art product, compliant with the strict Euro 4 and Euro 5 anti-pollution directives whilst the simple, intuitive calibration procedure and few electric connections, make installation a relatively fast and straightforward procedure.
Driving the car was no different than any other. Apart from the small 2 x 2cm square changeover switch / LPG gauge nothing changes inside. After the conversion the car can be driven normally on unleaded fuel or LPG at the touch of this button. One still has to fill both tanks and start a cold engine on unleaded switching over to LPG on the fly without any slowing down or loss in power. If LPG runs out the system will immediately switch over to the unleaded fuel automatically and your LPG gauge will flash red (empty).
What are the pros of converting one’s car at the Waldorf Auto Service Centre? WASC does the conversion at a standard rate of €1200 whatever the model. Prices elsewhere are similar but customers here enjoy a more professional service by specifically trained technicians, and whilst some promise to do the service in 24 hours, WASC does not believe in hasty jobs yet the car is still returned within 48 hours.
An LPG conversion will not affect the warranty of the car and the performance of the vehicle will remain practically untouched. LPG kits are shipped upon order, directly by IMEGA in Italy and therefore, real quality is safeguarded and guaranteed at all times.
The current Government subsidy of €200 applies on all LPG installations.
I concluded that according to my yearly average outlay in petrol costs I would be breaking even in just under two years should I take the plunge and ‘convert’. After that period I would be saving close to 50% of all fuel costs and should I decide to sell that particular car I am pretty sure that apart from holding a better value over identical cars in a similar condition without the LPG kit the car would definitely sell quicker. The only drawback I could foresee is the loss of the space allocated for the spare wheel, yet if I look back I can only recall needing that spare wheel once in the past eight years and most new cars on the market are being sold without them anyway!
Text and photos: John Peel