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Fuel saving options

LPG Australia spokesperson Phil Westlake says converting a four-cylinder engine car still provides worthwhile savings.

Hyundai has launched diesel versions of its Sonata, while its cute i30 diesel, which was named carsguide Car of the Year last year, now comes with a four-speed automatic transmission which will further widen its appeal.

Hyundai says the diesel Sonata, which goes on sale later this year, can return 6l/100km for the manual and 7l/100km for the automatic. The diesel produces 110kW and 305Nm of torque, which is close to the petrol engine's output of 127kW and 227Nm.

Toyota has taken a different approach to reducing fuel bills by re-engineering the ever-popular Corolla so it can now run on LPG.

Gas costs about half the price of petrol, but the downside is that an LPG engine is not as efficient, produces less power than petrol and robs the car of valuable luggage space. That said, it is still worth considering.

Sprintgas Australia, which provides the LPG kit, says the LPG Corolla, with auto transmission, returns 10.9l/100km.

Toyota's own fuel consumption figure for a petrol-powered Corolla is 7.4l/100km, but Sprintgas found the car consistently ran at a higher 10l of petrol per 100km.

So is it worth converting a small car to gas? LPG Australia spokesman Phil Westlake says yes.

“There's a misconception that only larger cars are worthwhile converting to Autogas,” he said.

“More important than a car's engine size is how often it requires refuelling.

“At 70 cents per litre for LPG, the Corolla costs around $7.63 per 100km to fuel. By comparison, at $1.30 per litre, the Corolla would cost around $13 per 100km to run on unleaded petrol.

“The real-world example shows an LPG-powered Corolla still saves around $5.37 for every 100km travelled compared to its petrol-powered equivalent.”

“Even considering recently higher Autogas prices, LPG remains priced around 50 per cent less than unleaded petrol so there are substantial savings to be had by converting a vehicle — especially one travelling average to high annual kilometres.”