buying a VE, advice wanted on LPG

[JAKE-26]

Gday guys.

My dad's in the market for a 08+ VE at the moment, but he would prefer a car with lpg.
I know the options are either factory dual fuel, or getting an unleaded converted to duel fuel.
I have heard a few things about the SIDI not going well with lpg, and dad's mechanic told him he shouldn't convert one with SIDI.

Any advice on whether its better to go a factory LPG or is converting an sidi, or non sidi VE a better option. we both don't know too much about them so any advice is greatly appreciated!

Cheers guys.

 

[TinSnips]

Not sure on the compatibility of lpg with SIDI, but I do know that if you can get your hands on a good liquid injection gas system as opposed the the vapour systems used by factory lpg cars, you'll get MUCH better results.

 

[JAKE-26]

Yeah i've vaguely heard about that liquid injection system, but i can imagine it would cost a fair bit of dosh.
Dad told me the mechanic said something like with the sidi models, if converted to gas they use petrol and gas or something, and don't get the best mileage.

Do the non sidi commo's just have an alloytech or something?

 

[TinSnips]

yeah, alloytech. I'd look into doing the conversion - I think the rebates are still on.

 

[JAKE-26]

Yeah we've seen alot online for sale for like $22,800 ex holden, but i think they might be sidi's, not too sure.
DO you know how the alloytech goes? is it 170 or 190kw?

 

[colonelbmx]

i've had a merc on lpg while it was only a 4cyc the thing never ran right on lpg never seemed to idle smooth.. And unless your doing really high k's the difference in your pocket isnt that big. i used to get 600k's from $80 of fuel and bout 350k's for $40 of lpg while its half the price at the pump you almost get half the k's. This was 5 years ago now but for me now i would never go lpg again

 

[JAKE-26]

Yeah well i guess it depends on the car and gas system/installer.
We have it on our current vt, theres a few problems but still cheaper to run.
Would just going sidi be the same cost as lpg. i remember all the promo's saying how good it was but is it actually any good for economy?

 

[colonelbmx]

lpg is cheaper to run once the system is installed takes a little bit of time to work off the install costs. One thing for sure is its not as good as media make it out to be...
if your doing high k's then lpg is alot cheaper but if its only running down to the shops then you probably wont notice any difference.
If buying 2nd with the system installed is the best option main thing to look out for is switch it to lpg and let it idle for as long as you can the have a listen for any ticking or idle rough spots.

 

[greenacc]

I was reading somewherer that the factory lpg alloytech's are a slightly different engine to the unleaded ones, i think it was the compression ratio ? and that the unleaded version is not suitable to be converted.
I guess this applies to conventional gas systems, no idea about the liquid ones.

 

[JAKE-26]

CHeers for the info fellas.
Yeah we are a bit stuck in a rut. I'm tryna hurry him along to buying one so i can then buy his car.
He really doesn't care at all for the performance side of things, just wants the most efficient/cheap to run one.
ive seen an ex holden, black omega factory lpg for 23,880 i think which is decent. There are tons of ex holdens that are 22,800 that are just alloytech unleaded's.
For the facotry lpg is around 24 grand what you'd expect to pay?

This is the car