2.0L Turbo LPG Conversion

**Aidi** · 5th February 2012, 15:11

Well, all done and managed to put the first 150 miles on the clock. So far all is as it should be. Requres a service after 1000 miles, so that wont be too far away!!

Anway, Car went into the garage for its conversion on the Monday, and i got it back all completed on the Friday.

System is a BRC Sequential system with a flash lube system and a 51Ltr tank in the boot.

The switch is mounted on the bottom right blanking plate. Top LED tells you if you are running on Petrol/LPG or its doing the switch over. Button in the middle to manually switch between the two fuels and 4 LEDS for quantity. Read lots about these gauges, and basically they are rubbish! Only way to get a good idea of range/mpg etc is to zero the trip (BC2 in my case) and let it get to empty. BC2 also shows MPG which is cool!

I did ask if they could flush mount the switch, but the diameter of the gauge was too big for blank, so that will need to be revistied at a later date, and probably re-locate it.

The small LED on the left blanking plate is the low level warning for the Flash Lube. The Flash lube is an oil drip system for valve lubrication due to LPG being slightly harsher than petrol.

Filler cap was colour coded, and due to its location very inbotrusive. Fuel tank sits flush in the spare wheel bay. I would have liked a taller tank and sacrifice some boot space for additinal quantity, but they were unavailable at the time. It can be changed at a later date if i so wish.

All the components are very firmly secured under the bonnet. Where necessary brackets have been shaped to ensure a nice tidy fit. I am impressed with how things look.

Overall, i am very happy with the installation. No noticable drop in performance... Still shifts when i plant my right foot...but i dont do that too often!!

The company which fitted it is called Rapid Tune. It was until a recent buy out called GreenFuel located just outside of bath and had a very good reputation for installations. They had done a few VXR's (Corsa/Astra/Vectra) in the past and lots of Subaru owners on the forums recommended them.

Total installation cost was covered by a back payment i was owed, so it was money i would not have normally had, so pretty much from here on in its low fuel bills for me!! Filled up yesterday at 70p a Ltr, and along with a Countrywide account which gives 24hr access to pumps on a key system. Direct debit each month for whatever you put in.

I'll report back when i can get some more accurate figures on consumption etc.

Rgds
Aidi

**Steven** · 5th February 2012, 17:10

Looks a tidy set up buddy - how quickly is it going to pay for itself?

**Aidi** · 5th February 2012, 17:22

In my case, straight away. It was money i didnt have (refund) which financed the conversion. So every mile on LPG will be a saving from my point of view.

If i had paid for it out of my own money, it would have taken 8 months before it would have started to pay for itself.

**Rebellion** · 5th February 2012, 18:50

Looks like a bit of a bu999er to change spark plugs now, with all that gubbins on the plug cover.

**soulman** · 5th February 2012, 19:47

nice one Aidi .........looks very tidy ..good luck with that

**Aidi** · 5th February 2012, 19:54

You never know mate... With it being a fair bit cheaper, i might venture up your neck of the woods sometime...

**andrew e** · 5th February 2012, 20:43

Yep those gauge are useless without a doubt - use the trip. I'd say ask them to stick a decent heatshrunk crimped connection on the battery mind, looks a little rum for such an exposed place.

**rich r** · 6th February 2012, 11:36

I had a BRC system on my previous car, a Subaru Legacy. The gauge isn't great, true - but then, no fuel quantity gauge for a liquefied gas ever is. The Vauxhall Dual Fuel system uses the Vectra's own fuel gauge, and it's not much better - indicating almost empty when there's 10 litres left sometimes.

The reason is that depending on the pressure and temperature in the tank, some of the liquid propane turns into a gas - and vice versa. So if the gauge works off the level of liquid in the tank, this could be a lot lower than the actual amount of propane in there. Particularly when it's nearing empty and there's a large space above the liquid for the gas to occupy. When the tank's nearly full, there's obviously less room for gas above it.

I tended to run it until the last LED flashes, then fill up the next time I could. If you run it until it starts beeping it'll just annoy you