Thanks.. had a bad feeling about it too. Though there are lots of sellers on ebay claiming huge savings in gas.
May be if you use enough solar panels on the roof to electrolyze

Here's a link to installation instructions if anyone is curious. This company is offering kits for 4-6 and 8 cylinder engines.
I asked him about California regulations and he said.. " this is for off road use only "

I guess just like the HID bulbs and all the rest of the aftermarket parts for sale.
Even a K&N filter is "for off road use only"

http://www.dudadiesel.com/files/propane/propanemanual.pdf


Here's a nice Video of an install on a Porsche Cayenne in UK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifDtBhP65O8

Looks pretty clean.

The more i read about it the more i want it. People associate the LPG conversions to the old single point systems that would feed one line to the intake manifold next to the MAF sensor.
Those systems were primitive and there was nothing electronic in them. A lot of backfires, smells and 'accidents'.

Current systems have an injector for each cylinder that uses manifold pressure to calculate load, oxygen sensor to calculate the unused oxygen, engine and LPG temperature and an ECU that does all the adjustments.
Funny that i read European forums and find lots of positive feedback about it and the few negative comments are usually left by US people.
The current systems auto calibrate the flow of gas and burn very clean. They allow custom mapping and are easy enough to be adjusted by owners using a laptop.
The other times i see negative comments is from people trying to install LPG on 1.8 4 cylinder cars/ Now that's something that will need a lot of time to recover the investment.

I see people commenting.. "well you aren't driving 100 miles a day in a 5.0 engine"
I do. 100 miles commute to work with the V8. And i LOVE my car. Don't want a Prius. I ride a bike normally but the season will soon be over and don't feel like paying gas stations that much.

The systems perform constant auto testing and will alert you in case of a leak. Premium Gas is 4.4 in California and i can bet money that it will never be cheaper. 2.10$ for LPG
Even if i loose 20% of my engine Horse Power i'm fine with cruising the CL500 @ 260hp

The Propane tanks fit nicely in the spare wheel compartment and i would throw away the spare either way (that's what AAA membership is)
Lots of EU companies will ship to US. And the price you pay for the Front Kit alone in the US can get you a Full kit with a nice tank from EU.

All the shuttle companies, buses and fleet vehicles use LPG in the US. I don't think they do it for the sake of environment. Why wouldn't we do the same. I understand if you have a 4 banger honda, it wouldn't make sense. But on a big V8 or V12 it would be worth it.
Mercedes, Honda, Volvo, Mitsubishi all make LPG cars. And i really doubt you will see the Mercedes stamp on LPG components. They will have a BRC or other big LPG manufacturers label on them.

What am i missing ? Is this another brain wash ?

One thing I would look at the need for when doing a CNG conversion is hardened valve seals.

I work for a truck equipment manufacturer and one of our large fleet customers recently wanted to convert part of their fleet to CNG bi-fuel service trucks.

They decided to go with 2012 Ford F-350s, SRW, 137" WB, 6.2L V8 Gasoline.

When their fleet advisers were discussing the process of the conversion, they said that to extend the life of the engine, they would be pulling the heads off the V8s and installing hardened valve seals. I vaguely remember him explaining that a standard valve seat engine would last 100,000 to 120,000 miles and that an engine with hardened valve seals would last up to 250,000 miles.

Just thought this may be helpful for people who are seriously looking into a conversion.

__________________
2006 BMW M5 "Heidi" @ 109,000 miles
2005 MBZ C55 AMG "Lorelai" @ 165,000 miles
1991 MBZ 300E "Benzachino II" @ 165,000 miles
1990 MBZ 500SL "Shoshanna" @ 118,000 miles

(On the hunt for a good used M103 engine as of 6/10/23, PM me if you have one to sell!)

I was under the impression that hardened valve seats were put into anything that runs unleaded gasoline. In the case of Mercedes, that would be at least from the early 70's.

__________________
With best regards

Al

I've read about the valve issues.
Are they talking about seals or seats?

On a side note, my engine has 200k miles. I expect it to fail any day now due to high mileage. Not that i have any symptoms. So if the Heads fail, i'll blame it on the wear, not lpg

CNG tanks are much stronger, but they are composite, and thus very lightweight.

Price? It depends quite a bit on your location. If you're in Oklahoma, Utah, or some landlocked place with a production glut, you can get the stuff for a song. $1-$2 per GGE.

CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) Stations
CNG stations and Prices for the US, Canada and Europe

It's also going to depend in the future on the viability of shale gas plays and whether or not any LNG terminals are opened in the US. One thing that's driven the price down is that asshat Aubrey McClendon who leased up the whole damned country, and was forced to produce it, or forfeit the leases. Between him and the mild summer (compared to last year), the prices have crashed. You can bet if it stays this low, someone or something big will come in and take advantage of it. Cheap BTU's can't last forever.

__________________
Remember, Safety Third!
'99 E300 Turbodiesel, '82 300TD, 1996 12V Cummins Turbo, '94 Neoplan - Detroit 6V92TA

Thanks for the links. The station in my city has CNG at 1.80$ GGE

So from what i've read, CNG is what is the most common option used on vehicles. And CNG is a fuel that doesn't go through too much refinement where LPG is a mixture of gases mainly obtained from fossil fuels.
There is a 15% drop in power in CNG, LPG has a slightly better score at a 10% drop in power.

Anyone has any idea of the availability of CNG vs LPG gas stations in california ?


I see distributors selling the kits offer both options.
Is it a matter of availability of Gas Stations only ?

EDIT: Here's a comparison

CNGPrices.com - Document Template

Here's a calculator to see your savings per year