Aye, that's true enough - in fact it's the one thing really stopping me moving on from my XUDTs; an HDi would be more economical, quicker and generally nicer to drive, but when things go wrong you lose everything you've saved and them some, putting it right. I've been bitten by the DMF monster once, and I'm not in a hurry to do it again.
I hear the 2L VAG units now pull to 6k.
The Chevette had variable rate/winding springs didn't it?
Not at the front. Can't remember if the rears were.
Might have been the rears. Advice for handling upgrades was cut the bottom and top coils off, all they do is squish out the small stuff. The middle stuff was the hardcore spring for the biggies.
Why aren't car makers taking advantage of the 113 RON lpg and just building straight gas lpg turbo monsters with massive compression. That cost peanuts to run. Especially here in Aus where he have heaps of it.
Fraser
We have heaps of LPG over here too. Only yesterday I saw a big heap of lpg, but it flew into the air no sooner than I'd laid my eyes on it. Perhaps it was something I said.
Because they you cant switch back to petrol?
It works great with nitrous as an enrichment fuel.
Because carmakers are a bit weary to plunge in uncharted waters. GM for one hasn't recovered yett for its electrical car-adventure.
They like to stick with what they know and what's been tested beyond imagination. In general: keeping it on the safe side. Few are the makes that can permit a major cockup like the A-class/Smart-history lived by Mercedes. Making a LPG-specific engine would be somewhat more risky than one of the German top carmakers designing a lunchbox-sized car.
Increasing compression on an Otto-engine does indeed raise the theoretical efficiency but the gain is measured in a few percent.
As for LPG and having heaps of it: rest assured that if people use it in quantity and when it would become a real alternatif for petrol or diesel, that it would cost to the end-user as much as diesel or petrol.
Tom De Moor
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