My experiments with LPG and CNG

[.anshuman]

My Experience with different fuels in the Hyundai Accent 1.5

Why LPG?
At around 60,000kms last year I realized that my daily running had increased so did the petrol prices. My car had high fuel consumption of 8kmpl in urban use and 14kmpl in highway use, the performance of the car was good though the engine was coarse at high rpm. I decided to switch to a alternate fuel either CNG or LPG but I did not know which fuel?

I did a lot of research, asked a lot of people who were using these fuels, after long research I zeroed in to LPG. I was told it did not compromise much on performance, plus LPG was available in various other cities like Chandigarh and Jaipur that I had to visit often. Though the running cost of LPG was higher than that of CNG but performance was much better and in the league of Petrol as I did not want to lose out on performance. Another added advantage I had with LPG compared to CNG was that LPG is stored in liquid form so more gas can be stored in the tank.

Next question was which LPG kit? Options were Lovato, Tartarini and many Indian local brands, and finally got a Tartarini LPG kit made in Italy with automatic timing advancer, Lambda and a 75litre gas tank installed. The whole kit was bought for 23k bucks. Though the tank was huge enough to occupy all my bootspace (rest of it was occupied by ICE) but I had to get it as I wanted maximum range as LPG was not available widely, even in NCR there are only around 15 petrol pumps selling LPG.

Performance- LPG
When I first drove the car after installation after I found the car a bit jerky at below 2k rpm and slow responding. Just a month ago I had got K&N Fipk extreme air filter and Automech 4-2-1 headers with freeflow exhaust so I wanted the car to perform. After several visits to the installer and lots of manhours of fine tuning the car was perfect, acceleration from rest was as good as petrol but there was slight lag at low speeds in 4th and 5th gears.

The knocking now did not exist at even 30kmph in 5thgear. The car was now delivering 8.5 to 9.5 kilometers per litre of LPG under extreme driving conditions under same conditions the car never delivered above 7kmpl on petrol, even when driven a light foot the fuel consumption was about the same ,the car was consuming ~12kmpl on highway, the price of LPG in Delhi was around Rs.27 a litre. Topspeed was very close to petrol figure around 180kmph(on speedo), The car was very comfortable reaching up to 160kmph even with part throttle open. It was quite easy to keep up with faster cars like Verna diesel on highway.

Why CNG?
After running the car on LPG for 40,000kms in 8 months, the kit was in need of a major overhaul. The car was performing very well but my preference now changed towards comfortable daily commute rather than outright performance, the running costs seemed higher as daily usage was increasing, and the exhaust now seemed very irritating.

I removed the entire exhaust system and switched again to OEM exhaust now suddenly the car felt very comfortable. The cost of LPG kit was recovered long back. I heard a lot about very low running costs of CNG so decided to switch to CNG. The odometer now read 1,00,000kms. Again it was research time same old research techniques applied and the kit this time was Lendi Renzo. Removed the LPG kit and got the CNG kit installed with a 14kg Tank this time without lambda. the CNG kit was bought for Rs.39,500.

Performance- CNG
After the installation of CNG, the car now felt very weak. I observed a huge drop in power every time i asked here to perform. The car easily must have lost 30% of the power. The K&N now sounded very funny at idle speed with AC. The range was now very limited but the distribution network and availability of CNG is far better than that of LPG. Remember LPG depends on Truck Tankers on supply and after launch of Wagon-R LPG the number of LPG powered cars have increased this has led to short supply of LPG.

The CNG retails at Rs.19.20/Kg and in my car a Kg. did last for a good 20 kms without AC and 18Kms with AC. The running cost of 1 rupee per kilometer now feels like the car is running for free. The performance loss and short range is justified at every tankful of gas and maximum of Rs.200 is what is required at everytime for a tankful.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing the comprehensive review; I am sure that a lot of people will benefit from this.

What I dont understand is the shift to CNG when you were happy with LPG. Yes, the potential economy was more but a gas setup takes a long-time to finetune (as you experienced). And from the face of it, your LPG appeared to be perfect!

[.anshuman]

Yes LPG was sort of perfect then i could not ignore the savings from CNG,and i did was ready to compromise on performance.one rupee for a kilometer is like free for me as i have usage of more than 150kms a days.

[mithun]

Nice review.

You are one of the rare breeds who has fitted both the LPG & CNG on a same car !!!

[wizardofid]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

The CNG retails at Rs.19.20/Kg and in my car a Kg. is good for 20 kms without AC and 18Kms with AC. The running cost of 1 rupee per kilometer now feels like the car is running for free and the performance loss and short range is justified at every thankful of gas and maximum of Rs.200 is what is required at everytime for a tank ful.

Nice review Anshuman. Those are really low costs. I'm curious to know if you were warned of any long term engine damage because of running on CNG.

How do they access your tank for a refill? Have they cut an opening on the side like they ask to do with LPG tanks?

[Mpower]

Very good review Anshuman. Makes more sense when you can make back to back comparisons on the same car.

BTW, have you tried any finetuning on the CNG. I know its low performance but it cant be that bad. We have another bhpian from Delhi who CNGed his Xeta. Wonder what he has to say?

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by wizardofid

Nice review Anshuman. Those are really low costs. I'm curious to know if you were warned of any long term engine damage because of running on CNG.

How do they access your tank for a refill? Have they cut an opening on the side like they ask to do with LPG tanks?

The only damages possible with LPG and CNG are valve damages as both these fuels do not form any carbon deposits on valves,the valves may build some gap but that is only possible when used only with these fuels,i do use the car a lot on petrol(when i need the adraneline rush,thats too frequent).LPG is filled though the boot near the tank and for CNG the filling point is in the engine bay.

[low_bass_makker]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

nice write up .anshuman.......my older subs....they sure sound loud and low....

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by low_bass_makker

nice write up .anshuman.......my older subs....they sure sound loud and low....

thanks LBM they still sound the same, but other things keep falling because of them,thanks to the subs i pay more attention to minor rattles now.

[ravibhat]

Very Nice Review!

Good comparision. This will help many, My freind suggested me to fit LPG with my Petrol Innova, I am not bothered about FE but I might consider that once my car clocks above 60,000kms( 4 yrs from now.. ).

Ravi.

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

Good comparision. This will help many, My freind suggested me to fit LPG with my Petrol Innova, I am not bothered about FE but I might consider that once my car clocks above 60,000kms( 4 yrs from now.. ).

Beats me!! Why would you even consider an LPG-kit and spend money on the installation if you aren't bothered about FE?

[headers]

that was an excellent write up anshuman..i guess you will soon be able to sort out the CNG power loss too by a good tune in..all the best

cheers

[headers]

that was an excellent write up anshuman..i guess you will soon be able to sort out the CNG power loss too by a good tune in..all the best

cheers

[.anshuman]

Last week got the funny idle sorted out by changing the ignition coil and spark plug cables,the driveablity is better now.

[compenn]

@Anhuman

1. In post 7 you said only damage could be valves. Are those easily replcaebale. Cost?

2. When do you get the CNG refilled. When it comes to red LED. Does red LED also blink like the green LEDs? (i'm new to CNG)

3.Did you get the Lamda and timing advanccer installed or just the kit?
I've heard there is a "millenium" system(Lambda+advancer). Any info?