Arun Autogas in West Sussex are a company who specialise in LPG conversions. They will undertake to convert any vehicle, including Marine Motorboats and Commercial vehicles.

When they told us they had successfully converted a Diesel Pick-Up to a dual-fuel LPG/Diesel system we just had to have a look. There are a number of systems currently being developed worldwide that will offer similar dual fuel capabilities but this was the first we had seen actually working and available NOW!

Their installation is based on an American design, originally conceived to operate on Fork Lift Trucks and other commecial vehicles that are often used in warehouses and thus require cleaner emissions.

The vehicle converted by Arun Autogas was their own Vauxhall Pick Up. It has an Isuzu Turbo Diesel Engine and a manual 5 speed 'box.

We drove the vehicle with the LPG switched off and were unimpressed by the general sluggishness of it. Even our project Land Rover 110 was quicker off the mark than this. But after we switched the LPG on the difference was quite astonishing. We could only liken it to the difference between a normally aspirated diesel and a turbo charged version. We drove along switching the LPG on and off to make sure it was not a fluke, much to the annoyance of the vehicle owner!

This system, as installed on the Vauxhall, runs on a 10% LPG 90% Diesel mixture and returns a 20% fuel saving. You can add more LPG for a bigger saving but the engine runs much hotter and it starts to negatively affect the performance. They will set up the mixture for you depending on whether you want the extra performance or the extra fuel savings, if you fiddle with it after that then you will obviously void the comprehensive warranty provided by Arun. And it is a very simple system to fiddle with so you might get tempted.

The biggest difference between this system and a normal LPG / Petrol system is that the LPG is stored and delivered as a VAPOUR not as a liquid. The Tank, therefore is not pressurised and there is no need for a vapouriser to be fitted as it's already in vapour form.

They recomend that the amount of LPG carried should be at least 25% of the total amount of Diesel carried, and they can obviously position the tanks wherever best suits your requirements.

An installation like this will cost you around £1,800 to £2,000 depending on which vehicle you have and what tanks your require so it may be too expensive an option for many drivers.But if you are covering quite high mileages it would not take that long to recover the costs.

Arun have also undertaken conversions on several HGV wagons with very good results. Many of these operators can end up paying thousands of pounds in Diesel per year so a saving of 20% is very welcome and will very quickly cover the conversion costs.

Fitting this system to a Land Rover Discovery 300Tdi returning an average of 30mpg would give you an annual saving of around £300 at the current fuel prices. So unless you are covering very high mileages it would take quite a while to recover your costs. However if you are looking for extra performance rather than fuel savings it could be used to boost your output by up to 30%

In our opinion this system could be of more interest to off-road competitors that need the diesel for wading but require the extra performance for timed trials.

go to www.lpgdiesel.co.uk for more information

or contact Arun Autogas on 01243 544705

	The LPG is stored as a VAPOUR in the tank. Fitted here on the rear load bed of this pick-up. Althoug the tanks can be fitted elsewhere depending on your requirements, juist like a Petrol system
	1. This is the feed pipe to the engine, delivering the LPG as a vapour. 2. This is the filler pipe to the Tank
	Arun sited the filler valve just below the regular Diesel Fuel Filler
	A simple ON/OFF switch controls the LPG feed, there's no need to run the system down on one fuel before switching like in some Petrol/LPG installations, you can just switch it off and switch it on again.
	This little box of tricks is all that's needed under the bonnet, it controls the LPG flow and mixture.
	This shows the LPG being fed into the Air to the Turbo. The Turbo actually draws the LPG through by creating a vaccum.
	There's not much else to look at under the bonnet. 1. the control system and 2. The LPG feed Pipe.

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