LPG - where'd it go ?

Capri

Looking at a classic car programme the other night, they had a lot of old yank cars in Germany and Holland converted to LPG
Just wondering if anyone can remember why LPG disappeared off the Irish market, seems stupid when LPG is cleaner and cheaper than ULD petrol.

kahaya

I'd like to know where LPG went also.
I remember my father buying an Opel Kadett in 1981 with LPG kit installed, and it was just a flick of a switch to change from LPG to Petrol. Then when he sold the car he took the kit out and used it in about 4 cars after that, a 1984 Kadett, a 1987 Kadett, a 1991 Kadett and then finally in an 1993 Astra. The kit's been lying in our shed at home since 1995.
The one thing I do remember back in the early 80's was that LPG was available all over Ireland and when we used to go to the UK on holidays we couldn't get LPG for love nor money.

MercMad

LPG dissapeared almost completely about 3 years ago. You cans till get it, but even in 2005 it was not economiucal to run a car on it as it is less efficient that petrol so your car has poorer mpg, and the cost kept rising to the point where it made no sense as €50 of petrol got you further.

Also it was very user "unfriendly" people were always scared of it. When you then consider the cost of fitting a kit, not everyone has one at home , it really made no sense as the fitters becamse regulated and therefore pushed their prices up. Last I heard it cost about €2,000 for a kit for a modern fuel injection car.

PaulK_CCI

lpg is immensily popular here in holland, with approx 20-25% of ALL petrol engined cars running it. LPG systems are fitted at the dealerships from NEW and cars carry same warranties as regular cars.

I guess the price difference and government incentives make it a very viable alternative. Petrol is aprox 1.50 at the pumps. LPG gas is .60 cents!!! a litre. You do pay a higher motor tax rate if the car runs on LPG, but ít's earned back fairly quickly. If you own a tax free classic (25 years and older, as opposed to 30 yrs in Ireland), you pay no tax, so the price difference lands in your pocket straight away. That is why Holland is the Classic Yank Capital of Europe!!!

Nowadays, modern regulated LPG systems are not that much more inefficient as in the old days, and will usually get more or less similar performance/efficiency figures. Yes, it is very, very tightly regulated, and prices can be steep for modern, fuel injected cars, with prices running up to 2-2,5k for a complete system, but if you do a certain mileage it's still a viable option. Older Carb engines can have a full guaranteed brand new system in place for around 900 euro's...

Lyre61

If you google it there are still a number of garages with it, one at the back of the airport.

Wishbone Ash

There are still a few filling stations in the greater Dublin area doing it. My nearest one is probably the ESSO at Blake's Cross, Lusk, Co Dublin.

shagman

Anyone know of a filling station that does LPG in South Dublin / Wicklow area?
I've got a kit that I'm installing in my 79 chevy van.

Max_Damage

^ There was one in Walkinstown (I think it was an Esso), near the Submarine pub, they used to sell LPG. I'm not sure if they still do.

Wishbone Ash

Only one mentioned here in Dublin http://www.ilpga.ie/outlets.htm and they seem to have got it's name and address arseways! (mentioned by me in post #6 above).

Capri

Years ago I had a Datsun 180B running on LPG, a mech mate of mine fitted a 'restrictor plate' over the carb intake and the yoke got a 50% power boost !
I think wheras the petrol fuel / air ratio was 10/90%, wheras LPG needed a 50 /50% ratio, hence the 'restrictor' on the air intake :eek:

atlantean

PaulK_CCI wrote: »

lpg is immensily popular here in holland, with approx 20-25% of ALL petrol engined cars running it. LPG systems are fitted at the dealerships from NEW and cars carry same warranties as regular cars.

I guess the price difference and government incentives make it a very viable alternative. Petrol is aprox 1.50 at the pumps. LPG gas is .60 cents!!! a litre. You do pay a higher motor tax rate if the car runs on LPG, but ít's earned back fairly quickly. If you own a tax free classic (25 years and older, as opposed to 30 yrs in Ireland), you pay no tax, so the price difference lands in your pocket straight away. That is why Holland is the Classic Yank Capital of Europe!!!

That is interesting - I wondered about all those old US motors I saw in the Netherlands - just thought everyone there was rich!

shagman

Max_Damage wrote: »

^ There was one in Walkinstown (I think it was an Esso), near the Submarine pub, they used to sell LPG. I'm not sure if they still do.

Does anyone know if this garage still does LPG or any others that do it , anywhere off the N11 between Wicklow town and Dublin city centre?

Max_Damage

shagman wrote: »

Does anyone know if this garage still does LPG or any others that do it , anywhere off the N11 between Wicklow town and Dublin city centre?

I happened to go past that garage today (it's now an Applegreen garage), and they don't sell LPG anymore unfortunately.

shagman

Buggah!! Looks like I'll only be able to get it when I'm on longer runs down the country. Ah well I suppose thats when It'll be most usefull to cut down the cost of surf trips to the west coast. I'm putting 2 tanks in so I'll get decent capacity.

Eric318

LPG suits many who love it and annoys those it does not suit and who hate it.

Usually, the investments starts paying off after 25,000 - 30,000 kms.

It is usually installed on cars with large engines (e.g. Jaguars). Jaguar club members report quieter engines and no change in either performance or mileage.

Diy systems are to be avoided and only the best equipment is to be fitted for it to be optimum and safe. But I know nothing, just what I read from users.