Like everyone else I am worried about the gas prices constantly increasing. It seems to be a never ending saga with no end in site. I currently have a Volvo which I am desperately trying to sell, but not going anywhere fast. Of course once it goes (I've been trying to sell now for 3 months) I will be getting myself back into a Lexus, particularly a GS300. I have owned previously what you guys and gals in the US call a SC400 and I have had 3 of the Japanese SC's with the 1JZ-GTE in it. Why I ever went to a Volvo I'll never know.

Has anyone (those with a 300) as yet thought about converting their 2JZ-GE to lpg gas? I have only ever seen it done once on a 1JZ-GTE (yes the turbo one) but am wondering if it is possible and whether it would be an expensive exercise.

Any thoughts welcome.

 

I'm thinking same way as you... but the mod will take more than $3k. (I don't thing is possible either to our cars)
Better to mod old cars with carburetors; read is about $1500.

 

As I drive a GS400, I'm not thinking much about the gas as no matter what I do it'll be a gas drinker, but what is LPG? Low Petrol Grade? And what does it usually involve? Thicker head gasket?

 

I think LPG is propane gas. I know there are some conversions that do gas/LP kits... but I have only seen those done on trucks and SUV's. I don't know where you would put the tank on a GS.

 

Yes, is propane (LPG= liquid phase gas).

Is sell in pounds. The same used for BBQ grills. 20# is near $18 bucks. A 100 pounds ($70) could last 2 or 3 weeks for a car use. But it need to be under pressure to keep the liquid phase. A tank is very heavy and a leak is very dangerous and explosive.

 

LPG stands for Liquefied Petroleum Gas. It is a combination of Methane, Propane, Butane, and other light hydrocarbon derivatives. Natural gas (NG), on the hand, consists of over 90% Methane and burns with the least amount of green house gas emissions. In Europe, and now in some cities of US, city buses use natural gas as their main fuel source. The conversion of a typical gasoline engine is actually not very difficult, but it does require the addition of compressed gas storage tank usually installed in the vehicle trunk. Also, the local gas stations must be equipped with NG storage and ability to sell to consumers. In our current economy, the price of NG has increase dramatically and most likely there will be no economic incentive to switch to NG.

 

That might be not very helpful for you but I saw many LS, RX, GS300 1st & 2nd generation with LPG systems installed......in Poland, where I live.

As far as I know for Lexus GS300 2nd gen it's recommended that you install the sixth generation of LPG system (with sequential gas injection). Fuel consumption is about 10% higher but most likely you also get a 10-15% engine power increase. Older LPG system generations usually reduced your HP by 20% and took even 25% more gas. Older systems also influenced badly the engine "life expectancy".

My GS300 '98 is still not powered with LPG but I would consider it if gas price goes much higher. Gas price in PL (95/98 octane) is about $2,10 / 1Liter so it's ca. $8,3 / 1Gallon. The LPG costs $1/Liter. It makes $3,85/1Gallon. That would be much more acceptable for me.

In Poland ca 2.000.000 passenger cars are already equipped with LPG systems and more than 90% taxi cars with benzine engines are running here on LPG. On many petrol stations there is a LPG filling infrastructure. I saw it in Germany, too. What's interesting, more and more cars dealers in PL (i.e Opel, Chevrolet, Seat) offer certified LPG installations for brand new cars without any influence to your car guarantee. Some of them even offer cars already equipped with LPG systems, ie. Renault, Kia.

And what is very important - experts say that serious road accidents statistics shows that LPG installations are very safe. Here, in PL, it is allowed to install only certified equipment. And once a year it's obligatory to go to LPG service station to check if everything is ok.

Pls, have understanding for my English :-) I don't use it everyday.

Artur

ps.
LPG - Is it worth? I have included a link.
http://www.autocentrum.pl/?FF=148

It's in Polish language but here is a link that translates everything automatically.
http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=EN