I’ve had an Auto-LPG kit(Lovato) installed on my Indica v2 MPFI(Petrol) CAR for the past 7 months. I’d like to share my experience, which should help several of you, who’re considering the Auto-LPG option.
Initially, for the first 4 months, after I had the kit installed, Performance, Power and’Driving-feel’ was all good and I didn’t feel any’significant difference’ in running my CAR using Petrol or on GAS. Given below is my experience, by City driving and by Long-Distance drives:
City driving: I’ve travelled for about 40-50 kms a day in Bangalore for the past 6 months. The’drive-feel’ is almost the same, whether I’m running on Petrol or on LPG - but, there is a slightly more comfortable’feel’ on Petrol - you don’t have to shift gears too quickly on Petrol(on Petrol, you can drive in the 40-50 Kmph in 4th gear, but on Auto-LPG, you’d have to come down to the 3rd, pick-up some speed and then shift to 4th gear). So, on LPG, you do feel just a slight dip in’power’(maybe, similar to diesel experience, but I haven’t driven a diesal car before).
Long-Distance drives: I’ve been out on some long drives(Bangalore-Ooty, Bangalore-Chikmagalur and Bangalore-Yercaud). I’ve had no major problems - the CAR does run smoothly on LPG - one point to note again about power/pickup is that, when you’re moving upwards on a slope(my Ooty/Yercaud experience), the power is slightly lower on LPG, while it feels much better on Petrol. It’s a very small difference though - about 5-8% lesser power than when you’re on petrol.
In terms of cost-savings on fuel, I managed to get back all the money I paid for the kit(Rs. 18000/-+ Rs 700/- for RTO procedures) within the first 5 months itself. Mileage is about 9 kms/litre on Auto-LPG(Rs 25.50 in Bangalore).
In terms of maintenance costs, it’s a different story. For first 4 months, no problems(general maintenance costs of about Rs 1500 - 2000/-). After about 4 months on LPG, I started to experience low pick-up(lower than the normal 5-8% performance - about 25-30% low!) as well as intermittent stopping of the engine(if you’re in the 2nd gear and you’re slowing down, this happens a lot - you always end up re-starting the car). I needed to constantly keep my foot on the clutch and hit the acceleretor hard. I thought it was probably a Spark Plug issue or the air/fuel filter issue. I had this attended to, but it did not solve the problem(Rs 900/- paid at this point). I took the CAR back to the service centre after a couple of days. The mechanic informed me that it was a fuel injection pump timing issue(and that he had the sensors corrected). They were adjusted(timed) properly. The problem was solved, but only for a while. At this point I’ve paid a total of Rs. 1900/-.
I ran the car smoothly for about 2 weeks and the problem was back again. This time the CAR was not starting on Petrol - it was starting/running fine on LPG(with the use of a choke), but was not starting on Petrol! So again, the car was back in the garage(Concorde Motors in BLR). The fuel-pump had to be completely replaced:(. The fuel-pump was not functioning and the car was not starting/running on Petrol - strangely, this problem was only on Petrol(and not on LPG). The representative who attended my CAR insisted that the Auto-LPG installation was causing this problem and he firmly believed that Auto-LPG should not have been installed on a Tata Indiva v2(MPFI) vehicle. He even made an assuring statement that if Tata could run the car on LPG, they would manufacture it themselves! But, he failed to explain to me why it was running fine on LPG and not on Petrol. He indicated that Auto-LPG was not suitable for MPFI system running on electronic fuel-injection systems and are more suited to older carburetter systems.
The fuel-pump replacement cost me Rs. 5250/-. Some of the other components that were attended to cost me about Rs 8000/-. Total maintenance costs since I converted to Auto-LPG= 15150/-.
I did some study and none of the theory seems to match with actual pratical usage of LPG - I’m still doing some reading to understand how to effeciently run my car on Auto-LPG. I’m not giving up, but I’d also say that it is not an option for the faint-hearted(you’ve got be willing to take risks).
Other details:
For those of you who aren’t sure about filling stations in Bangalore, there’s nothing to worry - you will find one closer to your residence and you don’t have to go far to fill Auto-LPG. To list a few, there are Auto-LPG stations in BSK Bus-station, Koramangala, Ring Road, 3 on Mysore Rd.
Given my experience on Auto-LPG for the past 6 months, I’m still not sure about it. But, if you’re someone who’d like to tread unusual paths and give it a go, try it after good research and get a quality mechanic to do the conversion - it may work for you. If it does, there’s nothing like it.