[pinball1008]

Just picked this up on the UK forum.

http://www.mytransaxle.de/portal/index.php...p;g2_itemId=154

So what do you think?

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[Cloud9...68]

If I could read German, maybe I'd have something intelligent to say (but don't count on it <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ). Honda has been selling an LPG Civic for a few years, and I think it's telling that despite the massive run-up in gasoline prices we experienced in 2007-mid 2008, they hardly sold any. LPG has some huge drawbacks for automotive use:



- The conversion is very expensive

- Like most "alternative" (gawd, how I hate that word) fuels, its heat content is a fraction of gasoline's

- At least in the Civic, you pay a significant horsepower penalty in the LPG version

- It's a gas at room temperature and pressure, for crying out load, making it very inconvenient to transport, store, etc.

- Because of the above, you need a huge tank to store it in your car, so you can kiss your trunk goodbye. Not sure where you'd stick this monster in a 968

- Also likely because of the above, it's very difficult to find stations that carry it, and the home refueling stations Honda sells are very expensive

- It's non-renewable, so it has no advantage in that regard over crude-based fuels

- Guess which country has one of the largest reserves of natural gas in the world - Iran



Other than that, it's a fantastic automotive fuel. I think the market has spoken loud and clear on this one.

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[DaveN]

I certainly agree with Cloud9s summation but it all comes down to one thing, Gigajoules or BTUs for you old folks <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

Why take 20% of your power away when the reason you bought a Porsche was to go from 0-100k faster than a, well, bat out of hell. The fuel companies are also no dummies. As the use of CNG increased in the 80's and 90's the price magically compensated itself upwards as did diesel in the late 90's and beyond.

Filler up with 94, add some extra octane and hit the road. Take your conversion savings and head for RSB <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/cool.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

while i'm not a huge fan of this one, for obvious reasons, there are some advantages to it - the post office has been on lpg for decades - so are a number of other fleets



this was a moderate fad in the 70s, and i saw a number of people converting to it - was pretty simple at that time



lpg is not an expensive conversion in many cars - smaller ones have the problem of the storage space - high performance cars have complications in management systems



most shell stations carry the gas



cleaner burning



relatively abundant resource



less expensive on repairs (see cleaner burning)



excellent fuel source for fleet vehicles, as storage is much easier than gasoline



smog exempt in all states

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[pinball1008]

It does seem like an odd thing to do to a performance vehichle, but with LPG half the price of petrol in europe there is a huge cost saving on day to day running. I don't know how long it would take to make back the conversion costs though. The owner states that he has noticed no big difference on the CS and I don't have the knowledge or experience to argue this either way.

Still, a "green" environmentally friendly Porsche can't be a bad thing and the owner has to be applauded for his efforts.

BTW The tank is in the back seat and looks pretty ugly.

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[Cloud9...68]

LPG is a good fuel for large fleet vehicles, and, come to think of it, there have been a few oddball applications for it in cars over the years (remember the Morgans a couple of decades ago - the very definition of oddball, lol) where it was actually less expensive for the company to convert to a cleaner-burning fuel like LPG than to engineer the required emission control systems. But with modern electronic engine controls on gasoline engines, this is pretty much moot.



As with any fuel, there are a set of plusses and minuses. With this one, especially in a small sports car (sorry, GT <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ), the minuss far outweigh the plusses. Not sure what this guy was thinking, but I guess it could make for an interesting science project for someone with a lot of time on their hands, and money to burn.

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