How does an LPG conversion affect the BHP of the petrol TSI?

[Shaun Witts]

I had my 204 TSI converted to LPG quite early on in my ownership (at about 4K miles), and one of the questions people are always asking is: How does running on LPG affect the performance?

Well, I just had mine mapped by Martin at Pendle HQ today, and he kindly printed off the rolling road data for LPG as well as petrol in standard tune (the LPG system will need a bit of tuning to make the most of the new map, so he didn’t do an LPG run with the remapped engine).

As standard (and at just over 23k miles) my van made 198.3 BHP and 329.9 NM torque using petrol.
Using LPG the figures were quite close at 192.7 BHP and 315.1 NM torque.

So running LPG in a standard van gives 5.6 less BHP and 14.8 NM less torque, which was never noticeable when driving and well worth it considering LPG cost me less than 50p/litre a few days ago.

Oh, and the remapped figures (on petrol) are 303.6 BHP and 430.1NM torque.

Many thanks to Martin at Pendle HQ for the tune - it really feels awesome now.

 

[Shaun Witts]

As a follow up: I had the LPG system checked by the place in Warrington that did the install, and it was able to match the fuelling of the tuned map without any further adjustment needed.

 

[gavp]

How many miles until your in profit? With LPG
I’ve done about 13k now and averaging 29.2 (actual) with 150 tsI manual, pretty happy with that as didn’t get much more than 36 in the old 140 tdi T5 used/measured the same way.

 

[j4ckal]

Roughly how much did the lpg conversion cost?

 

[Blitz]

303BHP. Can I test drive

 

[Shaun Witts]

How many miles until your in profit? With LPG
I’ve done about 13k now and averaging 29.2 (actual) with 150 tsI manual, pretty happy with that as didn’t get much more than 36 in the old 140 tdi T5 used/measured the same way.

I was expecting it to be about 20k miles before the fuel savings covered the cost of the conversion and I would be there by now except I’ve hardly used my van since 17th March - and most of that usage was to get the remap and LPG checked!
You seem to get better mileage than me - I’m getting about 23 - 26 on LPG compared to about 27 - 30 on petrol with mixed driving and cruising on the motorway at 80 (actual 77).

 

[Shaun Witts]

Roughly how much did the lpg conversion cost?

£2,300. But I bought my van new, and the petrol versions were all £1k cheaper than the equivalent diesel, so I view it as only £1,300 over the cost of a diesel van.
Oh, and did I mention that LPG is now 49.9p a litre at the local garage I use in Burnley?

 

[Stuthewarrior]

Hi, do they switch from petrol to lpg once they get warm ? How long would it take to switch over ? I live about 6 miles from my work and I'm just wondering if it would be worth doing.

Also what kits are people running ?

Does it alter the road tax ?

Regards
Stu

 

[Shaun Witts]

Hi, do they switch from petrol to lpg once they get warm ? How long would it take to switch over ? I live about 6 miles from my work and I'm just wondering if it would be worth doing.

Also what kits are people running ?

Does it alter the road tax ?

Regards
Stu

The Prins system in mine, always starts using petrol, which is one reason I always turn stop/start off. In warm weather it will switch to LPG (after a cold start) before leaving the estate where I live, so less than 200m. In winter, it will take longer, but usually within 1km.

As part of my decision, I worked out that it would take me 20k miles to save the cost of the conversion, which I had just about reached this time last year.

I am not aware that it can alter road tax.