D5 vs T5 mpgs ?

[cyberstretch]

Hi all

Can anyone please provide me the true and realistic averages for the T5 and D5 XC90 as im not sure whether to go diesel or buy a petrol and have the lpg conversion done.

I will mainly be town driving with the odd long trip and circa 10k a year.

Thanks people

[Jameshow]

Hi
As far as I am aware they never made a T5 Xc90, only a 2.4T or a T6, I would think the LPG conversion would be better as the D5 only returns 30 mph??, where as the LPG should return 40mpg Equiv,
But I am no expert.
Yours James

[capt jack]

A lot depends on lots of factors, not least the weight of your right boot!

LPG will return 80% of your petrol mpg figure. So if your T5 returns 25mpg on petrol, expect 20mpg on LPG. the saving will come because the LPG is half the price of petrol.

At 10k miles a year it will take you three years to recoup the installation cost, and another 3 years to make you feel it was worth doing.

LPG works best when you do a big annual mileage - 20k plus, made up mostly of longer journeys, and you intend to keep the car a long time. If you do a lot of short trips - say less than 2 miles a time, many times the LPG won't even kick in as the first mile or two of every trip is done on petrol anyway.

That's based on the experience of running a 97 V70 2.5 auto on LPG for the last 210,000 miles over eight years.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Jack

[classicswede]

Of the XC90's the 2.4T and the 3.2 engines are teh best ones to go for. The T6 engines has issues and not for me personaly.

You do need to do high milage to see the full benifits of the LPG conversion. With low MPG cars like the XC90 the payback will be much quicker. A car that does 20 MPG will have a pay back time of half one that does 40MPG.

To get a real comparison you are going to need some real world MPG figures from both types and work out where you go from there. You would also want to factor in purcase price as the D5's command more money than the petrol variants.

Short trips are not so much of an issue as you will only run for about 1/2 mile on petrol before the engine switches over to LPG from cold. Once warm it only takes a couple of seconds.

[cyberstretch]

Thanks Guys.

Great info given but im still in two minds. - I hate changing cars !! haha.

I know im not covering the mileage and would not normally consider an lpg conversion on only 10k a year but an lpg savings calulator (boostlpg.co.uk) said i would be saving around £700 a year using gas on a 30mpg car doing 10k against petrol....
So in theory a conversion would pay itself back in 2.5 years approx and then i would be laughing , coupled with the fact i would be saving money buying a petrol and not the premium for a D5.

Am i missing something ??

Ps. I meant a 2.4t not a t5 as in my first post. Saw adverts for 2.5t but guessed it was the 2.4t. Shame about the T6 gearboxe issue as there are more of them out there compare to the 2.4 petrol

[cyberstretch]

Originally Posted by Jameshow

Hi
As far as I am aware they never made a T5 Xc90, only a 2.4T or a T6, I would think the LPG conversion would be better as the D5 only returns 30 mph??, where as the LPG should return 40mpg Equiv,
But I am no expert.
Yours James

Just double checked on the web and there is a 2.5t petrol as well as the 2.9 t6 ,3.2 and i think the V8 !

[Jameshow]

Originally Posted by cyberstretch

Just double checked on the web and there is a 2.5t petrol as well as the 2.9 t6 ,3.2 and i think the V8 !

Are not the 2.4 and the 2.5 the same engine 2435cc or is the 2.5 the newer 2525cc found in the V50 t5 and S max focus ST etc.

Yours james

[cyberstretch]

I would not normally consider an Lpg conversion doing only 10k a year but an Lpg savings calulator (boostlpg.co.uk) showed that i would be saving around £700 a year using gas on a 30mpg car doing 10k compare to petrol.

So in theory a conversion would pay itself back in 2.5 years approx and then i would be laughing, coupled with the fact i would be saving money buying a petrol car in the first placeand not the premium for a D5.

Am i missing something or is this a no brainer, especially with diesel fuel going up and up in price ?

[capt jack]

Originally Posted by cyberstretch

I would not normally consider an Lpg conversion doing only 10k a year but an Lpg savings calulator (boostlpg.co.uk) showed that i would be saving around £700 a year using gas on a 30mpg car doing 10k compare to petrol.

So in theory a conversion would pay itself back in 2.5 years approx and then i would be laughing, coupled with the fact i would be saving money buying a petrol car in the first placeand not the premium for a D5.

Am i missing something or is this a no brainer, especially with diesel fuel going up and up in price ?

The plan sounds reasonable - the imponderables are the future price of LPG - you're going to be relying on the chances that it will stay around 50% of the cost of diesel for at least the next 30 months to recoup your outlay, and then much longer beyond that in order to realise the savings. Checking the latest on Govt policy with the LPGA would be a prudent move.

The point you make about saving the 'diesel premium' when purchasing your new car is a very good one. Although it's a while ago, when I bought my V70, good 2nd-hand lowish mileage diesels were very expensive, if available at all. I got a very nice low-mileage petrol CD model with leather, alloys, ECC etc, at a good price, and got the conversion to LPG done. I reckon I recouped my conversion costs in 6 months - back then LPG was around 25p/litre, petrol around 70p/litre, and I was driving 30,000+ miles a year. 8 years and well over 200,000 miles later I still have the car and in that time reckon to have saved something in excess of £12,000 in fuel costs.

Cheers

Jack