LPG Converted Landrover for First car/Towing

[The Fenster]

Hi All,

Currently aged 17 and driving a Suzuki Jimny, car is nice and goes everywhere , bit like a quad bike with a cab , however naturally towing weight is low. As I’m looking to up sheep numbers I’m in need of a livestock trailer and a suitable vehicle to tow it , however with low funds I also want something economical , all trucks are too expensive to insure however I’ve come up with a plan to buy a landrover defender ( affordable to insure) and convert to LPG , hence reducing fuel costs , it should also be able to tow a decent sized trailer ( lpg reduces towing power by 5-10%) . Just wondered if anyone had experience of this , or what others have done in my situation?

Many thanks in advance ,
The Fenster

 

[Exfarmer]

I think you will find the insurers do not like lpg conversions at all.
Will lpg be any cheaper than diesel landy to run?
Also when I ran an lpg Range Rover , I found myself continually looking for garages selling it as few did then. Have not noticed many now.

 

[Goweresque]

Running a LPG vehicle is still pretty dear, as I found to my cost when I had a V8 Range Rover converted to LPG (in my defence I was young too, and it was great fun to drive ) Because the engines/vehicles suitable for conversion are generally big, their MPG is low to start with. So although you're making a 'saving' its merely turning something thats ruinously expensive into something thats just very expensive. I would be surprised if you could get 15mpg towing with a big V8 LR converted to LPG, maybe 20 running around without the trailer on. By comparison I tow a trailer all the time with my Mercedes ML (V6 diesel) and average 22mpg. And they price LPG relative to petrol, so its never that much cheaper. By the time you've found a suitable LR to convert (not cheap these days) and paid for the conversion you might have well have spent the money on something more modern and economical. Plus there's the filling up problem - there's not many places to do that, and having your own tank is another expense (and you'd need to be using a certain amount for the suppliers to install one).

Also given the price of secondhand LRs these days is insuring one any cheaper than an equivalent priced other 4x4?

 

[TripleSix]

Don't forget you'll need to take your trailer test...

I used to have a Petrol Merc G Wagen that I converted to LPG
At 11mpg it's fuel costs were comparable to a Diesel Fourtrak at 25mpg....

You can buy a lot of fuel for the £2000 LPG conversion...

You'll want a petrol defender, which aren't that plentiful, you'll either end up with a V8 or 2.5l 4cyl

Is your insurance still cheap for a 3.5l V8?

 

[The Fenster]

Tried to get quotes for various trucks and the nearest I got was with a Mitsubishi l200 that was quoted at £9000 insurance , that was with my father as main driver and me named . Most trucks they wouldn’t consider it . My mate same age and situation as me has a land rover defender and currently pays £1200 insurance , although granted that is not lpg converted . Currently waiting for call back from insurance with a quote for lpg converted defender . If calculations are correct then there is a big fuel saving converting to lpg , a company I found also offers conversion for £1100. Garages I agree are a problem , especially as I’m often in the middle of nowhere. I’m looking for economy also as in addition to sheep farming I do a fair few trips to various parts of the country hunting in winter doing long miles, I am at the end of the day looking for everything in one car and I’m happy to compromise if necessary but it’s worth a try atleast in case there is something that would solve all my issues.

 

[The Fenster]

That said I believe in emergencies it is still possible with certain conversions to be able to use the petrol tank.

 

[Exfarmer]

I do not think I saved anything with our LPG conversion, due to the number of miles I spent looking for LPG and then running on petrol.
I would go diesel every time , I suspect of course you can buy a petrol landy cheaper

 

[Chrisw]

Never had any issues getting insurance on an lpg converted vehicle. So far I have had diesel discovery, then v8 discovery on lpg for 4 years, followed by 2x v8 jeep grand cherokees over the last 12 years. At pump prices the mpg equivalent for the jeeps was 32, the disco about 29.
Got the biggest tanks you can get, the jeep has a range of 240miles, so plan the route accordingly to refuel gas at 180-200 miles. A well set up conversation will not give a noticeable difference between lpg and petrol, but the 10% loss is not generally in power but in economy. I will never go back to diesel now,mot getting harder, noisy, expensive fuel, and although there's some fast diesels out there the economy is not great.
Will be changing the jeep soon and will probably go for another jeep, but the 5.7 hemi..... says the head... heart says range rover sport 4.2, but the conversation is a pig and the car isn't known for its reliability

 

[whatnow]

I had a petrol v8 Range Rover that was converted to lpg so you could run on either. It was converted when I bought it so I didn’t directly pay for that, but in terms of running costs I don’t think there was much between the petrol and gas: if memory serves , in theory the gas is 50% the efficiency of petrol but it doesn’t quite achieve this. Then the lpg is just the wrong side of half the petrol price!

I got rid quick as I never budgeted on running a v8 at v8 costs!

 

[Drillman]

Forget it. I ran lpg concerted discoveries for 10 years. 11-12mpg solo and 7mpg towing a cattle trailer.

Be easier to make an extra few trips with the jimmy and trailer till your a bit older then just get a 4 door pickup

 

[Timbo1080]

What are you trying to achieve with the LPG? In your shoes, I’d just buy a diesel land rover, else, as has been mentioned before, I’d expect the 4 ish litre petrol engine insurance to be a bit too hefty to cover any LPG savings. However, here’s what I know about LPG, if you’re interested.

I run 2 LPG cars, one 2.5l flat 4, normally aspirated, and one monster V8 4.2l supercharged. I wouldn’t be able to justify running either if they were on straight petrol. For comparison, LPG at the pumps is generally just less than half the price of petrol. Economy is approximately 90% of petrol. So for arguements sake, let’s call it half the price of petrol. I have a lot of LPG places around me, so I have never had a problem filling up.

The flat 4 will return 29mpg on petrol, so however you want to view the figures, I look at it that on LPG I’m getting 58ish MPG equivalent.
The V8 does about 18MPG, so that puts me around 36MPG equivalent.

Prins multipoint or later are the only LPG systems to go for, and if supercharged, you’ll need a valve saver kit installed - There is basically only one bloke in the country that can do this properly, reliably and consistently.

LPG can always run on Petrol, and you will retain all of the petrol gubbins, so won’t lose any range in that respect.

Most LPG tanks are donut tanks, that sit where the spare wheel goes....so expect to lose the spare wheel, or lose boot space - I forget the wheel, and make sure I have all tyres filled with Tyre Sealant (Used to be protex, but they went bust).

They need servicing regularly.

They run hotter than petrol.

You can’t go on the channel tunnel - They don’t have the insurance.

I’m not going to get involved with a discussion on safety, but will say that I’m perfectly happy to put my wife and children in either car without any more concern than I have with either petrol or diesel cars.

Make sure any system is LPGA (Fitted by an LPG Approved fitted....If it doesn’t have a certificate, don’t touch it).

If you register it as LPG with DVLA, you will halve your road tax.

My insurance company has no issues with the LPG systems on either car.

I feel that is Diesel too expensive.

Good luck, and enjoy the search.

Tim

 

[The Fenster]

Hi there, many thanks for all your helpful replies , my main reason for looking at lpg was simply for economy , as I say I do some local travelling checking sheep which a straight diesel Land Rover would be fine for but also long trips hunting/shooting/fishing . However it seems the insurance companies I have looked at do have a problem with lpg , I have contacted 3 so far , 1 has got back to me with a quote of £7000 so that’s a no go , I’ll wait for the other two but after reading what has been put on here it does seem more sensible to stick with the jimny and by a very small trailer and do more trips or alternatively I’m looking if there is any way I could get a trailer to go behind my tractor . Many thanks once again for all your help , it’s been brilliant

 

[Exfarmer]

Hi there, many thanks for all your helpful replies , my main reason for looking at lpg was simply for economy , as I say I do some local travelling checking sheep which a straight diesel Land Rover would be fine for but also long trips hunting/shooting/fishing . However it seems the insurance companies I have looked at do have a problem with lpg , I have contacted 3 so far , 1 has got back to me with a quote of £7000 so that’s a no go , I’ll wait for the other two but after reading what has been put on here it does seem more sensible to stick with the jimny and by a very small trailer and do more trips or alternatively I’m looking if there is any way I could get a trailer to go behind my tractor . Many thanks once again for all your help , it’s been brilliant

You are aware converting diesel to lpg is not really on

 

[The Fenster]

You are aware converting diesel to lpg is not really on

Yes I didn’t mean it to come across like that , I was referring to another chap saying that I’d be better with a standard diesel land rover , I said that while this is fine I was looking at an lpg to reduce costs . Hope this clears things up , sorry it was a little confusing trying to answer and address everyone at once , thanks again for everyone’s help

 

[ollie989898]

You are aware converting diesel to lpg is not really on

Why? I thought it could be done?

 

[Timbo1080]

Why? I thought it could be done?

Can be done (Subaru will do a factory fit on their boxer diesel, I’m led to believe), but given the relative calorific differences between Petrol and LPG (not much), and LPG & Diesel (really quite a lot), I don’t understand how it would be justifiable....

 

[Chrisw]

Diesel can be converted, but unlike petrol which runs 100% lpg, diesels general only run on 30% as the compression is an issue! certainly know lorries which have been converted and they can only run at 30% but it does give savings on straight diesel.

 

[Exfarmer]

Why? I thought it could be done?

It can be done,how much do you want to pay?

 

[ollie989898]

Can be done (Subaru will do a factory fit on their boxer diesel, I’m led to believe), but given the relative calorific differences between Petrol and LPG (not much), and LPG & Diesel (really quite a lot), I don’t understand how it would be justifiable....

I was just confused by the posts above a bit. I knew it was technically possible but assumed it was illegal due to duty or tax rules etc as I am yet to hear of anyone who runs with it.