Phoenix's Disco Buying Decisions: Gas Vs Diesel

In my experience ....

ACTUAL Cost of fuel only, and calculated for every fill since owning the vehicles. (= all driving conditions, off road , towing, highway, commuting = EVERYTHING)

Annettes V8 Auto on petrol = 26 cents per km
Stevo's 300tdi = 22 cents per km
Annettes V8 Auto on LPG = 14 cents per km

My Tdi carries a fair bit of weight (bullbar, winch, roofrack + load) and is running oversized BFG MT's meaning it's never achieved some of the economy figures bandied about on here.

But thems the facts ...

Stevo

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Originally Posted by sschmez

In my experience ....

ACTUAL Cost of fuel only, and calculated for every fill since owning the vehicles. (= all driving conditions, off road , towing, highway, commuting = EVERYTHING)

Annettes V8 Auto on petrol = 26 cents per km
Stevo's 300tdi = 22 cents per km
Annettes V8 Auto on LPG = 14 cents per km

My Tdi carries a fair bit of weight (bullbar, winch, roofrack + load) and is running oversized BFG MT's meaning it's never achieved some of the economy figures bandied about on here.

But thems the facts ...

Stevo

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Too many people only think of fuel economy,not the total cost. Pat

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Originally Posted by V8Ian

The price of gas is increasing, by 2012 (IIRC) gas price will be on par with motor spirit.

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No it won't. Read the govt. website. I'm amazed at how many people think that. It is increasing by 2.5 cents/litre per annum up to a max of 12.5 cents/litre. Current price in Sydey is 53 cents so you can see it will be nowhere near the 1.22 of petrol.

The problem with LPG in Tassie (and most places in regional Oz) is that it very expensive compared with mainland capitals and may not be a economic proposition if one has to get the conversion done.

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Originally Posted by V8Ian

Take into account the inefficiencies of gas in comparision to petrol, it will be interesting to compare 'bang for bucks'.

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Even doing that, LPG is still cheaper in mainland cities.

In Pheeny's case, the cost saving for LPG may be marginal and be outweighed by the convenience of diesel, e.g., range, no loss of interior space, etc.

As suggested here already, it depends on where you live. Back in Perth I was filling up my tanks with LPG for $30. Now that I've moved back up to the Kimberley it now costs me $80 for the same amount of LPG. I currently pay $1.20/litre so there is not much difference in running costs between LPG and petrol. I mainly use the LPG for extra range up here, if I am to stay up here for a few years I would be looking at a diesel. Back in Perth my fuel costs were halved by running LPG. If you are in a major city with reasonable LPG prices, IMO your running costs will be less with an LPG V8 than they would be with a diesel.

Diesel all the way.
Having just seen a few LPG D1's with backfires causing more than a few $$ to repair the damage to airbox and inlet manifold gasket etc etc , all the fuel savings for the last 6 months on our inflated LPG prices have gone in repairs:mad:
Diesel, Diesel, Diesel....:):):)

JC

Got to Queenstown on the way to Zeehan only to discover no servo's there had LPG!!! WTF, a industrial town and no LPG! That was the straw that broke the camels back... However, ran on petrol for the 3 days which was OK, but still Diesel for me is the go.

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Originally Posted by justinc

Diesel all the way.
Having just seen a few LPG D1's with backfires causing more than a few $$ to repair the damage to airbox and inlet manifold gasket etc etc , all the fuel savings for the last 6 months on our inflated LPG prices have gone in repairs:mad:
Diesel, Diesel, Diesel....:):):)

JC

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Having had four gas powered vehicles,three of them petrol I can only say I kept the electrics and tune in good condition and never had an issue.It's no different to engine cooling,I serviced that every year and have yet to slip a liner or blow a headgasket. Pat

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Originally Posted by stooge

Got to Queenstown on the way to Zeehan only to discover no servo's there had LPG!!! WTF, a industrial town and no LPG! That was the straw that broke the camels back... However, ran on petrol for the 3 days which was OK, but still Diesel for me is the go.

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Tom Price ran out of diesel not long back,you could get all the LPG or unleaded you want though. Pat

I used to have an 88 Rangie on gas/petrol. Went to Tassie and kept running out of gas because I had a 270-300km range and not enough towns with gas.
I used to hear the car whimper every time I drove past a servo because it loved the stuff so much. (Only joking) :D. But the sound and power was great.
Now have a 96 TDI disco, (though I have had some head gasket/ head trouble, I hope that's behind me), love the range of 600km's now with 72lts of diesel. Yes the diesel is dearer but the millage is great and depending on where you get the LPgas in may not be cheaper against diesel in the long run.

And the myth of gas going up to a level that will make it too dear to use has been going around for 20 years.
The day it goes up higher than what you can pay off your conversion investment in 1.5 years is the day people won't convert cars and any higher people will take the tank out of their boot and tell the government were to go.

I cant speak for the V8 bridage never having owned anything other than a diesel landy, but i love my 300Tdi. Plenty of power for what i do and 10L/100km. Downside is the parts are more expensive when it comes to repairing the engine should things go wrong. But with regular servicing and good maintenance not much goes wrong with them.