Thread: Gas vs diesel

I used to have a 1997 Pajero GLS petrol/gas - nice comfortable car. Average fuel consumption on gas was around 5.5 km/ltr.

With LPG today at 52c/ltr (here in Bendigo) that equates to a cost per km of 9.5c/km

With diesel at $1.25/ltr (here in Bendigo) you would need to get 13.2 km/ltr from the 4 cyl diesel Pajero. That equates to 7.6ltr/100km.

My current RG Colorado diesel, which is very economical, gets 9 km/ltr or 11ltr/100km on the highway.

I don't know which model diesel Pajero you are looking at but if it an older one you wouldn't get anywhere near that sort of economy.

So to sum up the petrol/LPG would be cheaper to run, BUT if you do a lot of towing be aware that towing with LPG affects economy and power much more than towing with a diesel.

Also the 3500 6cyl petrol engine is a very smooth and quiet engine, the 4 cyl diesel engine, especially the older 2800, is a fairly noise clunky engine.

Once you start towing, the massive low-end torque advantage of diesel really shines.

As Fred pointed out, the towing effect is less on a diesel that a petrol by a big margin. Also if you intend to visit isolated areas LPG is not widely available which will have a big impact on towing costs.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

As Fred pointed out, the towing effect is less on a diesel that a petrol by a big margin. Also if you intend to visit isolated areas LPG is not widely available which will have a big impact on towing costs.

The availability of LPG has improved over the years but that comes at a price. On our recent trip through New England and up to Bundaberg we saw LPG prices as high a $1.099, ie almost double those in Bendigo. On average they were at least 50% higher than we see locally.
But it really all depends what you are going to do with the car, if its' main use is just driving locally and not towing then I would go for the petrol/LPG. If however a fair percentage of your usage will be towing and away from major population centres then I would go for the diesel, which is why we have a diesel to tow our 3300kg 5th wheeler, but our main town car is a VZ Commodore with factory dual fuel.

Year 2006-2009 Pajero the GAS is injected not the old system.

Not looking at serious off roading or towing boats and caravans at this stage. Towing would be limited to picking up machines and house/garden renovations with a trailer.

Although a folding tent caravan trailer type thing might be a nice future option.

Based on that I would go the gas, the injected (which we have on the Commodore) is more efficient/economical than the older type.

Thanks for the input

Also don't forget about the fact that you can use LPG with a diesel engine, which I have been using since 2007 in a Nissan GQ 4.2 lt diesel. The LPG is feed in via the air intake and increases the burn rate of the diesel fuel on the second stage of firing of the piston. All this gives better fuel consumption and a small increase in power.

Originally Posted by DSEL74

Year 2006-2009 Pajero the GAS is injected not the old system.

.

I take it you have actually found the vehicles and one has the gas already?

Heres my take. The DiD turbo diesels in the Pajero are fantastic engines. Very frugal and make good power. The V6's use excessive amounts of fuel and don't make a lot of power. They also tend to have soft oil rings so they start using oil relatively early in life. Very few were sold (by comparison to the TD's) as they are very much unloved.

If you were to buy one I would get one that does not have LPG on it and offset the cost of the petrol against the huge saving you made buying it over the diesel.

If you are partial to petrol power take a V6 120 series Prado for a run. Chalk and cheese. Like the Pajero the Turbo Diesel maintains a hefty price tag over the Petrol but the Prado TD and Petrols have very similar overall running costs (the Petrol returns around 12 lp/hkm on the highway).

Have fun.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

The availability of LPG has improved over the years but that comes at a price. On our recent trip through New England and up to Bundaberg we saw LPG prices as high a $1.099, ie almost double those in Bendigo. On average they were at least 50% higher than we see locally.
But it really all depends what you are going to do with the car, if its' main use is just driving locally and not towing then I would go for the petrol/LPG. If however a fair percentage of your usage will be towing and away from major population centres then I would go for the diesel, which is why we have a diesel to tow our 3300kg 5th wheeler, but our main town car is a VZ Commodore with factory dual fuel.

Only !.099!! Weren't you lucky.2 years ago in Flinders Ranges and up to Maree - average $1.69. last year up the Kidman Way to Roma - maximum $2.03 at Bourke.

I have a Lancruiser (Large V8) running petrol and LPG. There is virtually no difference in fuel consumption whether towing the van or not. On the open road it is just over 4.5 km/l Only one time when I could not get LPG when I needed it.

Bob

Originally Posted by Oldgreybeard

Only !.099!! Weren't you lucky.2 years ago in Flinders Ranges and up to Maree - average $1.69. last year up the Kidman Way to Roma - maximum $2.03 at Bourke.

I have a Lancruiser (Large V8) running petrol and LPG. There is virtually no difference in fuel consumption whether towing the van or not. On the open road it is just over 4.5 km/l Only one time when I could not get LPG when I needed it.

Bob

The V8 I had went from 11km/100 to about 19, my 2 litre diesel goes from 5 to about 8 and is a far better thing to tow with. The Asian diesels have not caught up with the Europeans yet in efficiency and power for size but they will. The performance of my car when it is not towing is eye opening for a 2 litre motor but I am thinking of putting a tune into it to see what it will really do though my technician son reckons I am mad if I do. I have always been of the opinion that you can never have too much power. Back in the 1980's we used to run LPG in the trucks to give them more power but I don't want to have to lose the space and modify the car to do that. It has fallen out of favour in the transport industry as the common rail motors these days coupled with auto boxes are so much better to drive.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

The V8 I had went from 11km/100 to about 19,

Crickey Chris, I hope you mean 11Ltr per 100Km not 11 Km per 100Ltr (9Ltr per Km )

Bob

Originally Posted by Oldgreybeard

Crickey Chris, I hope you mean 11Ltr per 100Km not 11 Km per 100Ltr (9Ltr per Km )

Bob

My keyboard made that mistake!

My 3.5 tonne van has a 2.7ltr, 5 cyl diesel and gets 10 - 11 ltr/100km depending on where it's used. I tend to drive at the speed limit and some of the regular routes I take are quite steep.
It doesn't seem to make an enourmous difference to fuel economy if it's carrying a load although I don't carry stuff that often over a reasonable distance to have any accurate figures for it.