GTI- LPG/Autogas conversion- is this wise?

[Homer]

Hi all, I was talking to a guy who is a mechanic and he said that I should think about doing the above conversion. He said the outlay is not huge and there is a switch that allows you to use petrol as well. Gas can be used for the long journeys. I dont know much about this so was wondering has anyone done this and what are your thoughts in general on this? Thanks for any input

[blackmagic]

Not sure you can do a gas conversion on a direct injection engine. We have quite a few gas cars as work but can only be done on the older petrol engines. They may well have developed a kit by now though. I'll ask next time I pop in and see the company that services them.

[RedRobin]

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Why would you do it? Just for fuel economy? - But how does that effect performance? Wouldn't you need to sacrifice some of your boot and load space? Not allowed on Eurotunnel either and other places in Europe probably  

[Homer]

Hi, thanks Black magic that would be good if you could do that, info would be v useful.

Redrobin- yes for fuel economy. Its not meant to affect performance say the companys who do the conversion however some people who have done it on their cars notice a slight affect on performance, ie 10bhp less. Yes some boot space would be used but on plus side there is a switch which lets you go back to the petrol. Like BM said though GTI may not be suitable. Am going to contact a company in Glasgow and see what they have to say. Will let you all know my findings.

[calculon]

Vialle & Prins are 2 big players overhere. They did some testing on TFSI engines and did not (commericaly) go on with it. Due to cooling you still need 25% petrol injection (ecu doesn't like this and creates lots and lots of errors). Besides that, engine wear increased a lot. Don't put your GTI on lpg/lpi.

-edit-
Did some further research, R32 is no issue. They offer a kit for the more recent TSI engine, but not for the TFSI one. Anyway, unless you have an R32, stay clear!

[Janner_Sy]

its something i looked into.  I believe it is possible.  A tank can also be installed in the spare wheel well.  Im not sure how well it would work with a remap though.  Jabbasport have done a few conversions and mapped them as well iirc.  I think if you are keeping your car for a prolonged period and do galactic mileage its a worthwhile mod.  It wasnt worth it for me tbh, i change cars every 1-3 years dependant how much i like it and dont really do that much mileage as i cycle to work

[s4lek]

Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole(again),  I had my passat 2005 v6 4motion converted to
LPG.  It was more trouble than it's worth. I spent nearly 2k on the high spec prins system. Economy wise, there wasn't much difference, for every full tank of LPG I  used about 15-20litres Petrol, I did all the research Before hand and it seemed like a great idea. Oh and it only reduced by road tax 20 quid. 

[RedRobin]

Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole(again),  I had my passat 2005 v6 4motion converted to
LPG.  It was more trouble than it's worth. I spent nearly 2k on the high spec prins system. Economy wise, there wasn't much difference, for every full tank of LPG I  used about 15-20litres Petrol, I did all the research Before hand and it seemed like a great idea. Oh and it only reduced by road tax 20 quid. 

....Useful to read some first hand experience 

I wonder what the LPG Ford running in the BTCC series is all about.

[titchy]

slightly different car but mate of mine had his fiesta done and kept blowing plastic inlet manifold the comp. who did it had to have a cast manifold made to solve the problem it was never right he got shot soon after