XC70: Engine which motor?

[Tony427]

I've recently bought a shed of a XC70 2.4 Petrol Turbo manual and converted it to LPG using a kit that had been on a 3.6 Cadillac and then a 2.4 N/A Petrol S80.

I use it for general knocking about and towing duties and it has been brilliant getting low 20's on LPG but then I'm buying LPG at an average of 55.5 ppl. I use the wheel well for the LPG tank and you therefore lose space to the large "spacesaver" spare wheel in the load area but if space is needed there, the spare wheel can be placed behind the passenger seat.

Mine came with excellent Mud and Snow tyres and proved as agile as a mountain goat in the recent snow and ice. One snowy morning I took the Mrs Toyota Auris out and instantly regretted it, it was like ( continuing the anuimal analogy) Bambi on ice in comparison to the xc70.

If you are travelling abroad LPG is far more common than over here ( its everywhere in every country) and even cheaper. I travel to Holland frequently and I tend to fill up at my local garage at home, top up at Asda High Wycombe as its just off the M40 and then the next fill up is at the first motorway service area in Belgium where I paid up to 28 pence per litre. Italy I have found to be next cheaper with France approaching the UK price. I find that with waiting time at the rail terminal and the added expense of the tunnel the ferries are just as quick and cheaper.

Re load lugging the self levelling rear struts work wonderfully well, mine tows up to its 1.8 tonne limit easily and without any drama, but are extremely expensive if they leak or go wrong. One of mine had been replaced previously and I have replaced the other leaking one with a preloved example from ebay for under £70. I am fortunate in having a full toolkit and being handy with the spanners though.

In short, I would get a petrol one, manual prefererably, with good service history, take a good look at the rear struts and any signs of leakage or ride height difference either take £1500 off the price for genuine Nivomats or factor in a £300 parts conversion to standard non load levelling spring shocker combination.

Run the car for a bit just to make sure its a good 'un and then convert it to LPG. Your wallet will thank you for it.


I dont know if the 3.2 petrol engine is direct injection rather than the bog standard port imnjection. Direct injection engines are very hard to convert to LPG.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Tony

[ThomasG]

Yes, helps a lot!
Thank you.
One more question, though: did conversion to LPG change anything in relation to road tax?

[ThomasG]

OK.. Its a bad day.. I'm waiting for technician to fix heating at clients house and I have surplus time..
I've just done some counting.
Assumptions:
Price diesel £1.25pl
Price petrol £1.20pl
Price LPG £0.55pl

Road tax per model
Fuel consumption unreal official (for all of it the actual consumption will be higher, but the keyword is ALL of them, each dropping some 20% roughly equally, so I disregard actual figures for this one)

All will be XC70, either D5 (I was led to believe "thirsty" diesel), 3.2 petrol, 3.2 petrol with (extra cost) LPG conversion (assumed £1500, even if a bit off )

10 years usage, with 10000miles each year, half urban, half extra urban, in case of 3.2+LPG again half of each on petrol, and half on gas.

Diesel:
Cost of buying £7000, road tax £280 per annum, mpg 28 urb/46extr,
That is:
7000+(10(years)*280)+(10044(urban fuel)+6114(extra urban fuel)
7000+2800+10044+6114=£25958

3.2 petrol:
Buying £7500, tax 530, mpg 17/33
7500+5300+15882+8181=£36836

3.2+LPG
Buying £7500, conversion £1500, tax £530, mpg 17/34petrol, 13.6/26 LPG
7500+1500+5300+7941(petrol urban)+4090(petrol extrurb)+4549(gas urban)+2379(gas extrurb)= £33259

So.. Excluding insurance and servicing, a 10 year period would cost me:

£25958 for bad diesel

£36836 for big petrol

£33259 for big petrol with LPG..

I know.. I'm answering my own question..

But for one- I still hope someone will challenge this,
And for the other- maybe someone else will find it useful..

[Simon Jones]

Originally Posted by ThomasG

But nowhere I've seen anything about 3.2 petrol with LPG conversion.

Has anyone got one? Was it factory or retrofit LPG? If retrofit- what's the rough cost of such a service?

I've got XC70 with Prins VSI 2.0 conversion. I'm having annual LPG service tomorrow so can report back on cost, but I seem to recall its in the region of £100 for which you get a diagnostic check & a software update. The garage I take it so recommend 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'. While they could re-do the LPG ECU mapping, if its already running perfectly fine then the risk of it running worse afterwards outweighs any possible advantages.

Originally Posted by ThomasG

One more question, though: did conversion to LPG change anything in relation to road tax?

Unless the vehicle has 'type approval' for the specific LPG conversion then there are no tax savings. For factory fitted systems, where the manufacturer has gone through the expense of type approval, then you could benefit to the sum of £10 off annual cost.

[tommyweaves]

Can you do the figures for a V70 2.5T petrol?

[ThomasG]

Originally Posted by tommyweaves

Can you do the figures for a V70 2.5T petrol?

Sure. Assumptions as above, cost of car £6000(per autotrader- model 2008, 2.5T SE geartronic with 89k miles on clock), 10 years use, mpg 20.2urban/38.2extrurb petrol, 16.16/30.56 gas:

Petrol:
6000+5200(tax)+13366(urban)+7068(extra)

Total £31634

Petrol +LPG:
6000+1500(LPG conversion)+5200+6683(petrol urban)+3534(petrol extra)+3828(gas urban)+2024(gas extraurvan)

Total £28769

[tommyweaves]

Originally Posted by ThomasG

Sure. Assumptions as above, cost of car £6000(per autotrader- model 2008, 2.5T SE geartronic with 89k miles on clock), 10 years use, mpg 20.2urban/38.2extrurb petrol, 16.16/30.56 gas:

Petrol:
6000+5200(tax)+13366(urban)+7068(extra)

Total £31634

Petrol +LPG:
6000+1500(LPG conversion)+5200+6683(petrol urban)+3534(petrol extra)+3828(gas urban)+2024(gas extraurvan)

Total £28769

Tax seems a bit high on that?

[ThomasG]

£520 per year, on 2.5 litre petrol with 247g/km carbon dioxide.

That's figures for that car as per gov. site...

For comparison- I pay £316 a year for my 2002 V70 2.4 without turbo..

[ThomasG]

And strangely- same car as mine is listed as £520 a year!
Sumting wrong there...

[ThomasG]

Nope.. Triple checked. 2008, 2.5T, auto. £520 per year