Vehicle & Technical > Discovery
v8 or diesel
JumboBeef:
--- Quote from: thermidorthelobster on November 22, 2008, 10:55:23 ---less hassle than LPG.
--- End quote ---
I've had my 1996 LPG Disco now for 18 months, and covered 26,000 miles in that time. Here is a complete list of LPG problems I have had in that time:
:dance:
Plus, running on LPG is much cheaper than running on diesel.
(....and even if it did give me grief, I would still have the V8 vrooooooooooooooooom over the diesel death clatter any day :lol: )
thermidorthelobster:
--- Quote from: JumboBeef on November 22, 2008, 11:07:19 ---Plus, running on LPG is much cheaper than running on diesel.
--- End quote ---
Much cheaper?
My 200tdi Disco used to do about 32mpg. My Range Rover did about 16 - ie about half - on unleaded, but engines generally run about 10% less efficient on LPG. LPG is generally slightly less than half the price of diesel. Put all this together and you find the costs are pretty comparable (particularly if you ignore the cost of putting the LPG conversion in in the first place).
OTOH, I could drive my Disco for 500 miles or so on a tank of Diesel; in the Range Rover I'd get a couple of hundred miles max and have to stop to fill up, with the inconvenience of finding an LPG station that actually had fuel in the tanks and where the pump worked, having then to wait while some pillock parked at the LPG pump for 20 minutes and filled up with unleaded. Then I'd sometimes find the pump didn't fit properly to the filler point and wouldn't fill properly, or I'd get a hand covered in freezing gas condensate when I'd release it.
My carburetted 3.5v8 needed ongoing tweaking to happily run on both LPG and Unleaded (including re-oiling the damper pots, cleaning out the carbs every so often, etc). My Range Rover ran great, but only after I'd spent a fair amount of money getting a specialist company to install and fettle a good multi-point injection system.
This sounds very negative; in reality I did enjoy the V8s and I'd have LPG again, in the right vehicle. But if you've run for 26,000 miles on LPG without any impact on your performance, and your engine is happy on Unleaded too, and you get more than 20mpg or so on LPG, and you can find plenty of garages with a reliable supply of fuel, and you don't mind stopping to refuel fairly frequently, then I'd say your experience is probably the exception rather than the norm. Browse uk.rec.cars.fuel.lpg for more information; it used to be packed with postings from people having problems with their LPG systems, on a variety of makes and models, including factory fitted.
JumboBeef:
--- Quote from: thermidorthelobster on November 22, 2008, 11:29:01 ---My 200tdi Disco used to do about 32mpg. My Range Rover did about 16
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You need to compare like for like: I can't compare my Disco 3.9i with the RRC LSE 4.2i I used to have for example. Your 200TDi gave around 32mpg? My LPG gives around 20mpg on petrol, so on LPG the costs per mile is *about* the same as 40mpg on petrol and 50mpg on diesel.
--- Quote from: thermidorthelobster on November 22, 2008, 11:29:01 ---But if you've run for 26,000 miles on LPG without any impact on your performance, and your engine is happy on Unleaded too, and you get more than 20mpg or so on LPG, and you can find plenty of garages with a reliable supply of fuel, and you don't mind stopping to refuel fairly frequently, then I'd say your experience is probably the exception rather than the norm.
--- End quote ---
Engine very happy on LPG or petrol (not that I use petrol much). There are two LPG garages within five miles of here (rural Cumbria) and I have a range of about 180 miles on full tanks anyway. Most service stations between here and the West Midlands (where I travel to a lot) have LPG. I've never had a problem with badly fitting hoses, and only rarely are stations out of LPG (and I can always run on petrol if need be).
I'm more than happy to stop every 180 miles: it is good to have a break!
I've owned V8s, V8s on LPG and Diesels: it is a *good* LPG for me everytime!
cluffy:
must admit the v8 does sound awsome. And with the price of petrol hear now at 92p its cheeper than the 109 of diesel. Its all the water profin thats turning me away an i carnt aford fancy water proff dizzys etc.
andrew2986:
Hi,
Im very happy with my V8, would get another if I needed to.
There are loads of stations that sell lpg, I have a booklet/map in the car with post codes and phone numbers of all the lpg stations in the Uk.
I can go about 280 miles on my system on lpg,( 4 lpg tanks and just a small petrol tank in the rear wing)
Waterproofing a V8 isn't so bad, I use silicon and chain wax, and am about to modify my distributor to be waterproof. But how much water do you go through and how often?
On a recent trip to Bristol the LPG in Asda there was 45/liter.
Im running 265/75 16 tires on mine so the gearing is now a little tall for long motor way hills but it will still cruise along at 75/80 mph on the flat.
also if I were to breath in some water,( its happened a few times, no snorkel yet) it doesn't kill my motor like it might a diesel.
plus I love the noise, it makes me smile, and thats a good thing.
Andy
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