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Thread: Converting a Mirage to run on CNG / LPG

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    Converting a Mirage to run on CNG / LPG

    Hi; I have done some research and the mirage looks to be one of the most efficient ‘normal’ petrol cars out there at the moment which is also affordable.

    I want to then maximise fuel savings further by converting it to LPG [also known as CNG] as it is fairly common to source and is only about half the price of petrol in the UK.

    However; I don’t know if it would be recommended with its engine and wondered if there is any knowledge here about it?
    Certain engines such as those on German cars usually don’t have issues with it but I have heard Japanese engines or those on cheaper models have components made from softer metal.

    The effect of running long-term on LPG is similar to when old cars started running on unleaded fuel in that the lack of lubrication results in pre-mature valve seat and guide wear.

    There are kits that deliver an additive along with the natural gas as you drive along using a vacuum driven drip-feed system but this doesn’t work under light-load steady-throttle situations such as when cruising on a motorway and it is really only optimised for stop-start city driving.

    I do about 4 miles of city driving at the beginning and end of my journey with about 20 miles of flat motorway in-between twice-daily.

    The conversion usually allows the engine to start and run the first few minutes on petrol until it is warmed up and then switches over to the natural gas but also usually offers a manual switch when the secondary tank is empty.

    Is there any data that might suggest if the valves on the Mitsubishi engines are hardened and would resist this wear?



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    Hi CaneyJ

    I did some research on the forum and found a few threads about LPG..

    And i wrote to a guy in this thread ho has a LPG / GAS version, im not shure that he answers, because he had not been online since last year, but lets hope or that someone has some infor about it

    http://mirageforum.com/forum/showthr...ce-star!/page2

    I would love to have the option to put a LPG system in the Car, but there a 2 thing about it.
    For me, it would put the car in another category of TAX, in Denmark we have the biggeste car taxes in the World, so this is not option for me as this car should be as cheap as possible, moving to LPG would make it a Bi-fuel car, and they have the biggest TAX ...
    The other thing is, i could as it is right now only fill it up at 2 Gas stations in the hole Country
    But i hope someone knows something about it

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    Found some pictures on a quick google search ..

    http://www.lpg-ngv.com/_m/index.php#...?aid=539555449

    Maybey you can read something more at this page ..

    https://translate.google.com/transla...Id%3D539400617
    Last edited by uheym; 03-10-2016 at 04:10 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by uheym View Post
    I would love to have the option to put a LPG system in the Car, but there a 2 thing about it.
    For me, it would put the car in another category of TAX, in Denmark we have the biggest car taxes in the World, so this is not option for me as this car should be as cheap as possible, moving to LPG would make it a Bi-fuel car, and they have the biggest TAX ...
    The other thing is, i could as it is right now only fill it up at 2 Gas stations in the hole Country
    But i hope someone knows something about it
    Thanks for the links, nice to know it can be done. For England, it lowers your Road Tax band getting it done but by a negligible margin but the Mirage already classifies for the lowest band of road tax which is free so you can't do better :-).

    Odd that it should cost you more in Denmark. In England it is generally seen as being environmentally friendly converting to Natural Gas as it emits less particulates than conventional fuels and your engine runs cleaner so you don't end up changing the oil as often either.

    LPG can also be got easily here at a fair few if our fuel stations nowadays as well as truck stops and bottled gas suppliers also usually have pumps so obtaining it here is easy. Will research some more but would almost make running the car free fuel wise .

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    I've done a LPG conversion, on an old Mitsubishi truck. My brother, did one on a Suzuki Samurai. (Similar engine size to a mirage)

    You don't want to convert the Mirage. The Mirage's engine is built from the ground up to be very, very efficient running on Gasoline, or as you guys over there call it, Petrol. It gets very good mileage running on gasoline, for this reason.

    If you convert it to LPG, it will get worse mileage. My Mitsubishi truck dropped to 16-17 MPG from mid-20's, and my brother's Samurai would only get 13 mpg. The mirage won't do that badly, but I'd guess mid-30's is all you'll get.

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    I really wanted to do a LPG (propane/butane) conversion on the Mirage, spurred by the excellent experience with numerous other cars from different manufacturers running on LPG. My last two cars both had well over 300000km on them, with no problems at all and were still running perfectly when sold. Cost per distance in this country in LPG being about 60% of petrol costs. Fuel is damn expensive here, a commuter with 100km to and from work can easily spend a third of his pay check on fuel alone. Public transport usually offers no, or no realistic alternative. I'm well aware of the situation in the UK, not much different than on the continent.

    After researching quite a bit, I was repeatedly told the Mirage engine has too soft valve seats, which would make them wear out very early, needing a new head or a head overhaul at huge costs. LPG burns at around 50-70°C hotter, and the valve seats have to be able to withstand this. This info supposedly also applies to most Japanese makes after year 2000 model which are also black-listed for LPG.
    Well suited for LPG conversion are almost all FIAT, most PSA (Peugoet/Citroen), most 8v Opel, supposedly many Kia/Hyundai, and I was repeatedly told, practically no European Fords. The Smart, which shares similar engine blocks are also black-listed for LPG by leading LPG-Equipment manufacturers.

    Thats why my Mirage was not converted to LPG. If I wanted to convert to LPG, I should have gotten a Panda.
    Last edited by foama; 05-22-2016 at 03:04 PM.

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    Caneyj - The engine in our Mirages in the UK is the 3A92, which, I gather, is a development of the 3A91 that was used in the 1.1L Mitsubishi Colt from 2004. I'm not sure how similar they are internally, but I'd perhaps start by investigating if any Colt owners have converted to LPG and what their experience has been.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage 3 CVT 1.2 automatic: 47.9 mpg (US) ... 20.4 km/L ... 4.9 L/100 km ... 57.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Teasmade View Post
    Caneyj - The engine in our Mirages in the UK is the 3A92, which, I gather, is a development of the 3A91 that was used in the 1.1L Mitsubishi Colt from 2004. I'm not sure how similar they are internally, but I'd perhaps start by investigating if any Colt owners have converted to LPG and what their experience has been.
    My I suggest researching the various black lists of the LPG manufacturers!

    They are not all open for the general public, and are sometimes hard to find, but are a plethora of valuable info you really want to have before considering a conversion.
    You could start by asking the well known makers, such as KME, BRC, and so on.
    Beware of inexperienced "LPG conversion experts" from the garage nearby who will tell anybody to convert their lawnmower just to make money off a sorry customer.
    Last edited by foama; 05-22-2016 at 09:05 AM.

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    There is a German manufacturer ho makes a special developed version for Mitsubishi, witch incl. the Mirage/Space Star.

    Here is a link with a link to the page from the manufacturer .. It's almost in the middle of the page, By the Mitsubishi Logo.

    http://www.grueneautos.com/autogasfa...n-deutschland/

    ( Link direct to the manufacturer http://www.blue-for-green.de/blueforgreen/index.php )

    It's in German, so you may maybe use https://translate.google.com/

    The main installed price for a system from them is 2300 Euro, so about 2500 US dollar..

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    Anyone interested in this, please do a lot of research. Huge difference between CNG vs LPG. Anyhow, Honda made a Civic running cng for a number of years. CNG is becoming much more available to the consumer. Coolest thing about a CNG vehicle is how the oil never gets dirty. Amazing!..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_GX



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