My new, old car. MGTF LPG (Pics added Fri 30/6/11)

It's just a regular MG TF. No mods, no added extras, apart from one.

I will post some more pics on Thursday. But here's the pic that shows why I bought it. I'll keep a note of how much it does between fill ups for those that are interested. The lpg tank is 80 litres (17.6 UK gallons.. approx) capacity.

I plan to use the car as a daily runner doing 50 miles per day.. and a bit of open top touring (might do France soon).

Any thoughts, advice or comments welcome.

Less baggage allowance than Ryan air. :ohmy:

Interesting, have you considered fitting a tank under the bonnet in the spare wheel well?

:dry: These cars are economical to run, sell the LPG kit to a 4x4 petrol owner and with the ££££ you get you can buy yourself plenty of petrol and have somewhere to put your bags for the France trip. :broon:

:lol:

@ the Ryanair quip .

The tank came with the car and was a bonus perk fitted by the vicar who owned it. I hadn't really considered lpg prior to discovering this added extra. They are economical enough without the conversion, yes. However, I'll be sure to keep you all posted on how it does in the longer term (don't forget my car's a stepspeed semi automatic). Maybe I'll need it more than others here.

As for the baggage.. I had my eyes on an MR2 convertible prior to choosing this car. They have no boot.. and I do mean no boot whatsoever (it just does not exist).

Here's a pic of an MR2 boot... So, the little space that the MGTF with boot tank allows is more than adequate for me and my sons' needs when we go to France. Lol we're camping as well. But I'll just use the spare wheel area under the bonnet for the meagre set of clothing and camping gear we take. Loads of room behind the seats.. :lol:

As a precaution I'd add a set of rear interior light covers (which have just started becoming available) from the new TF range to protect your lights when you bung things in the boot. Without these I can almost guarantee you will break the fitting lugs or bulb holders with so little space to play with. I have a full boot and have broken my lexus lights 3 times so far! Can't wait for my covers, and peace of mind, to arrive!

I am a true LPG lover myself - as I have a 4.6 Range Rover called Michael with it. It's about half the cost of fuel PLUS there's another benefit most people forget. It makes the engine last a lot longer as there are less deposits. The oil seems to stay cleaner between changes. My Range is now on almost 170,000 miles and he still sounds like a new car. The small loss of power from petrol to LPG is really hardly noticeable - maybe you could compensate for it by adding an 52mm alloy throttle body. Plus does it have an alloy or plastic inlet manifold (not sure of all TFs were alloy)? If plastic bung an alloy one on too... I did on Meg and it made a huge difference.

Out of interest, how much does the tank and it's contents (when full) weigh.
Just interested as to how the extra weight affects performance/handling? Not a concern in a Range, but perhaps something to consider in an MG.

Hi Rog, yes I'd considered if the tail would wag the dog too . I'll let you know soon as I do. I've asked the question of course and was told it didn't cause any problems.

Not sure what 130 litres weighs. Let me google it.. 92.43kg or 14.5 stone if I totally fill the petrol tank. About the same as having a body in the boot then. I expect the police will pull me over a lot .

If it does cause me to be a drift king I might just balance it out and go for that spare wheel tank that 'TC' mentioned. Now there's an idea.. .

Found this response on another forum >>>

I do LPG conversions for a living and am a bit dismayed at some of the stuff written here.

Firstly, MGTF conversion with rear tank would cost about £1,050. If you're averaging about 30 mpg then it would take around 15,000 miles to pay back. Might not be worth it if you only use the car at weekends, but I used to use mine daily and was doing 12,000 or more a year.

Secondly, LPG fuel tanks are made to much higher specifications than petrol tanks. They are extremely unlikely to explode. They are fitted with safety vent valves so they will not even explode in the event of a fire. Petrol tanks are not. petrol tanks explode.

MGF with a tank mounted in the front has a better weight distribution than a standard car and does not tend to understeer like a std car. I know, I have a track day car with the set up. It is faster than when it was on petrol.

Mixed reports about long term durability with LPG. I have never met anyone who has run LPG and their engine has had a problem because of it. I have met many who have never run LPG, but are experts and know that it damages the engine.

Most taxi drivers don't use LPG because your range is not as good as a diesel. When you are doing 1K miles a week you only want to go to the petrol station twice. On LPG you'd have to go more often.


Forget about avoidingcongestioncharge with an LPG car. It is more or less only specific installations used by councils etc.

Hope that clears up a few things.

Shaf

Typically, I do at least 15k miles per year. I don't need to worry about any 'payback'. It's a 'freebie' that came with the car . The man of the cloth I bought it from told me the conversion cost was £1800 and it has full UKLPG certification and registration. I'd no reason to disbelieve someone who has a maserati and a focus RS sitting on the drive . He also added that the tank would give me at least 700 miles, but that remains to be seen. I'll report back in due course.

camping in France eh? now if you can get a valve fitted to run a camping stove off the tank, then that would be useful

Leigh Ping wrote: .......... The man of the cloth I bought it from told me the conversion cost was £1800 and it has full UKLPG certification and registration. I'd no reason to disbelieve someone who has a maserati and a focus RS sitting on the drive . He also added that the tank would give me at least 700 miles, but that remains to be seen. I'll report back in due course.

I'm not sure that I would trust a "vicar" who can afford a maserati and a RS........................

talkingcars wrote: I'm not sure that I would trust a "vicar" who can afford a maserati and a RS.......

Oh ye of little faith.. I'm right with you on that though. It's family money, they have a large farm it seems. Suppose I'll find out tomorrow for sure . If it all falls through, then it's been a real pleasure here and I'm off to the MR2 forums :lol: .

Leigh Ping wrote:

talkingcars wrote: I'm not sure that I would trust a "vicar" who can afford a maserati and a RS.......

Oh ye of little faith.. I'm right with you on that though. It's family money, they have a large farm it seems. Suppose I'll find out tomorrow for sure . If it all falls through, then it's been a real pleasure here and I'm off to the MR2 forums :lol: .

Fingers crossed you get your new baby. I would seriously consider a wheel well tank in front though - as the extra weight helps handling considerably.

Have to say I have always thought about altering the petrol tank set up to have half size petrol tank and a gas tank in the same space - wonder if that's possible?