Club 80-90 Forums

I was constantly flogging the AAZ to get it to perform to a level I was happy with. The fuel efficiency increase was an added bonus. If I had to buy another Syncro I would probably go for a 2.1 petrol on LPG.

I sold my 2.1 DJ simply because of reliability issues and the fact that there was no experience of them in Ireland as that engine was not imported into the country. Almost all T25s were diesel. Had there been 2.1DJ experience I would have stayed with it cuz its a lovely engine when its going right.

Does running LPG on a petrol Syncro have any effect on it. I bought a 2.1 a few years ago with a blown up engine, it was running on gas. I fitted a sweet second hand engine, but saw the same van advertised last year with yet another new engine fitted. The previous owner to me was warned about long term reliability of LPG.

I have no experience with this so couldn't say either way.

Which would be better off road, petrol or diesel?

Can of worms you've opened there me thinks.

A diesel has more torque at lower rpm so is better (I guess) off road as you don't need to work the motor as hard to drag yourself up/over/through obstacles. That said the petrol engine can do the same things you just have to get it spinning faster.

People say LPG saps a bit of engine power. I had a V8 running LPG. In that it was largely academic as I had more power than I needed. With LPG systems you can still run on Petrol if you want. It doesn't replace the petrol system it adds to it. So if you did find it sapped power (say when off road) you can always switch back to petrol when you need it.

slobbo wrote:Can of worms you've opened there me thinks.

A diesel has more torque at lower rpm so is better (I guess) off road as you don't need to work the motor as hard to drag yourself up/over/through obstacles. That said the petrol engine can do the same things you just have to get it spinning faster.

Yes, theoretically a nice big, grunty lump of a diesel engine is great for off-roading ...VW in their wisdom however fitted a diesel that has less cee-cee's than the yoke has kay-gee's, so sadly nothing grunty there but the driver

Calibrated my odometer today against the Tom-Tom (when it's stopped trying to re-direct and re-calaculate your route)..

With 15" Machos, its under-reading by 1.5%
The speedo is spot-on

Rob, what wheels and tyres are you running? have you a GPS that you can calibrate your odo too?

Yep have a Tom Tom and the wheels are the 15" rims with 215/75 R15 BFG All Terrains.

What Size are the standard 14" rims and tires? I think they are 195/75 R14 are they not? If they are then running the 215/75 R15 will make the speedo read 8.5% slower so my average MPG would be just over 28 MPG.

That said I will check next time I am out.

Better to use the Tom-Tom over 10 or 20 miles and trip the tripmeter exactly as the Tom-Tom rolls over showing a multiple of 10 (x) miles to go to destination and then note the trip when Tom-Tom says clicks over the last tenth to show x-10 to run, x-20...
Anything less than a fairly straight run over 10 or 20 miles probably won't be accurate enough... and its easier to check both at the same instant when on a strraight dual carriageway or motorway

than to second guess the diff, tyres and speedo.

I'm factoring my results by 1.5%, not a lot of change there then

What Size are the standard 14" rims and tires? I think they are 195/75 R14 are they not?

Standard tyres 185/R14 (650mm)

Will dirty great big tyres have much of an effect on economy itself?

The problem I was referring to with regards to the LPG is not the reduction in power, but the long term effect of using it. Could it be responsible for blowing up engines? A difficult one to answer I know, & if all engines blew up on gas, nobody would fit them.

Pete Nice wrote:Will dirty great big tyres have much of an effect on economy itself?

The problem I was referring to with regards to the LPG is not the reduction in power, but the long term effect of using it. Could it be responsible for blowing up engines? A difficult one to answer I know, & if all engines blew up on gas, nobody would fit them.

Dont quote me on this but this is what i have been lead to believe. LPG burns hotter than petrol but the 2,1 is made to run on the higher octane fuel so it isn't a problem with the 2,1. loads of people have run the 1.9 with no issues to though. Best ask on the fuels forum as you will get some definite answers or speak to Steve at gasure if you were ever serious about getting one done.

jed

I am going to buy a diesel, so no worries there.

Fingers crossed my Bay window should be going & a diesel Syncro will take its place.

Watch this space.

Pete Nice wrote:Will dirty great big tyres have much of an effect on economy itself?

Depends on where you drive. They zap power low down but give you more speed at the same revs. So not ideal for town driving, good for the motorway (as long as you take it easy)

Tread pattern can sap fuel. If your tyres whine like Good Year Xtra Slips (army crossply tyre once used on their landys, you can hear them a mile away on tarmac) thats costing you. AT's aren't that bad, personly I think road tyres though better aren't much better and leave you with a off roader that can't so pritty pointless).

Big tyres have significantly more mass/inertia and so are like really heavy flywheels. I recently changed the 205R16 MT's on my landy for some pritty worn 7.50R16 Trac Edges which are getting MTish but not quite so open. Its been a bit surprising as I knew how it drove very well before. Though the gearing is about 8-10% higher now and acceleration suffers, really have to work it to get it up to speed, once crusing it keeps it pritty well and still sails up most hills at 40+MPH, which I thought it wouldn't, mumentum must offset the lower torque quite a bit. MPG hasn't really been afected to my surprise and as I haven't bothered to fit a LWB speedo its actully going 8% further on so a slightly improved MPG, but driving in hilly areas does hit it more as I'm always flooring it. So depending on tyre pattern and the way you drive, could be better, worse or indifferent. My next step on it is to go back to smaller tyres and fit rover car diffs so I'll get the gearing of big tyres without the inertia - be interesting to see what that does. Fuel consumption iside the extra weight certainly doesn't help the handleing, though its never gonna be a Ferarri, and the tread is close to spent.

That's an interesting one about tyre size, I guess you gain in some areas & loose in others. As you say, it all depends where you are driving.

I like the way a Syncro handles on the road to be honest. I can chuck one into a corner faster than a standard height 2wd. 'Cos the suspension is much harder, there is less body roll. It feels much more sure footed than a stock van.