Right, so I may be being relocated from Gaydon to Castle Bromwich for a year in September - Daily commute about to go up from 18miles each way to 45 miles each way.

The sensible me is thinking.. my 1.3 micra isn't frugal enough, and I could do with LPG'ing it (will pay back within 6 months) or get an even more frugal diesel.

And yet.. I find myself looking at Alfa GTV's at the moment.

22mpg at best, italian reliability etc. Yes I know.. but oh my, so pretty! and the sound!


Anyone have any experience of GTV's to try and stop me from making a potentially perilous impulse buy?

Pavs

Buy a boring diesel for the commute and get a GTV v6 for the weekend toy??

don't lpg the micra, diesel car is cheaper and less hassle, believe me, been there done that!!!!!

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Originally posted by PSpirine
Right, so I may be being relocated from Gaydon to Castle Bromwich for a year in September - Daily commute about to go up from 18miles each way to 45 miles each way.

The sensible me is thinking.. my 1.3 micra isn't frugal enough, and I could do with LPG'ing it (will pay back within 6 months) or get an even more frugal diesel.

And yet.. I find myself looking at Alfa GTV's at the moment.

22mpg at best, italian reliability etc. Yes I know.. but oh my, so pretty! and the sound!


Anyone have any experience of GTV's to try and stop me from making a potentially perilous impulse buy?

Pavs

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quote:

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Originally posted by MK9R
don't lpg the micra, diesel car is cheaper and less hassle, believe me, been there done that!!!!!

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Pug 106 diesel 60+ mpg possible, cheap as chips and easy to fix.

Pug 106 diesels are rubbish but great. Rubbish because no power, great because there is no power and they stick like glue. So its "no braking" to keep the momentum up.

Not sure I could live with one day to day though.

Get the Alfa, life is too short live the dream.

Matt

LPG - 1000 pounds

average saving per litre = 50p (119p vs. 67p at the moment around here)

Which means I recoup the LPG installation in 2000 litres. 2000 litres is near as good enough 20,000 miles at my fuel consumption (43mpg). If I'm going to be doing 30k next year, then I don't see why it doesn't make sense?

The thing about the micra is it's bloody damn indestructible, and I'll be keeping it one way or another as the world's most useful car. Really puts to shame other cars when it comes to reliability.


As for 1.3 vs 1.0 litre, speaking from experience, in the real world the 1.3 has better fuel consumption (did this on a Yaris).


I guess my dilemma is that any diesel that's worth getting (i.e. that'll recoup itself) must be getting over 55mpg in proper mixed cycle (including B-road madness), in which case I'm down to cars which cost a hell of a lot more than an LPG conversion (and more than a GTV for that matter!)



Hmm.. Micra, GTV, and a Locost project. Potentially a happy family?


(here I was expecting a flood of replies with reasons why NOT to get a GTV.. instead I get suggestions on the best way to ensure that I can actually buy a GTV! Guess I shouldn't have expected anything else from you lot!)

Now.. finding a silver one with tan interior is proving tricky.

My mate's got a 106, and I previously had a 306. Safe to say I won't be getting a 106 for a 45 mile daily commute. Not only is it slow as crap (and living in the cotswolds, I don't think it'll get on too happily with the hills around here), but 90 miles every day in one of those would lead me to suicide I think.

quote:

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Originally posted by matt_gsxr

Get the Alfa, life is too short live the dream.

Matt

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remember your mpg drops by about 15% with the LPG compared to petrol, add ontop of that for the first few miles you use petrol until car has warmed up. I did all the somes and converted my mondeo which did about 33 on petrol, but dropped to to 26-27 on lpg, getting LPG at a reasonable price was a pain as most cheap places are only open 9-5. Saying that Flogas at CB is the cheapest LPG in the midlands, if not the cheapest in the UK, so that does work in your favour. Does the micra require flashlube, i.e. does it have soft valves, as thats another cost you need to consider. Unless you have it done professionally it will actually make you car harder to sell, and even proffesionally it will ad little value to the car. I dumped the mondeo and bout a VW bora, it can doe 58mpg if i drive carefully, but driving as i normally do on my 120 mile to commute to Gaydon everyday it does 47-50mpg, most of which is drank in the last 10 miles of B road ragging!!

I've had 4 lpg cars (one of which was a micra), and i will never have another, always more bloody hassle than its worth, and now due to fuel price, it really isn't worth it. LPG has stayed at approx 50p a litre cheaper than petrol what ever the petrol prices have done, but as you use more LPG than petrol, the more it increases, the less saving there is on LPG. Its now got to a point where a diesel is cheaper to run. And also you can get far better performance from a diesel for the same mpg costs, i.e. my mondeo was 125bhp (well less after LPG) and was dog slow, the Bora with a 140BHP remap bloody flys!!! DONT LPG!!!

Cheap diesel hack and a GTV, thats the sensible choice!!

quote:

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Originally posted by PSpirine



Hmm.. Micra, GTV, and a Locost project. Potentially a happy family?

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as MK9R says, the drop in MPG will affect your calculation badly.

I looked into it for a van but there arent enough garages selling it in leeds.

my citroen zx 1.9 TD estate does 50mpg all day

and it cost £500 to buy and after driving a small engined petrol car previously there is no way i would go back to one especially if you do motorway work diesel all the way

There is a massive difference between commuting 36 and 90 miles a day. After a while the novelty wears off and you want somthing comfortable with a decent stereo.
Little cars are great for banging around local small roads (wifey has a 1.5 diesel Clio) but they get a bit tedious on the longer journeys, especially in the winter.
Get a big diesel and a good stereo!

S

+1 on that, a couple of years ago I had to drive to Northampton for training (from Chester, about 180 miles iirc) and with the big Mondeo seats, cruise control and decent stereo I could do that all day every day.

+2, i had a diesel 205 for a 200mile a day commute but it got too much in it as it was noisy and stunk!! I then had an astra, then a xsara but eventually ended up with a Granada, its great big comfy seat and wallowing comfort made it perfect for motorway munching!!!

For some strange reason LPG conversions seem relatively popular among Micra owners. Most of the those I have heard of used Stag-4 kits or OVML and seem to work quite well.
The biggest problem is going to be fitting a big enough tank to cover a high weekly mileage.

If buying an LPG kit it I would buy it now because the prices are rising and will rise again with the increase in VAT.

If converting now I would fit a Stag 300 Premium kit because it it monitors the fuel trims via the OBD port and self corrects and has 3d mapping.


For a DIY fit it should be possible to get all the bits required for £420 to £600 depending on the kit chosen but be aware LPG kit prices are rising.

http://www.autogas-lpg.co.uk/conversion-kit/34-stag-4-conversion-kit.html

[Edited on 14/7/10 by britishtrident]