In 2004, I tried to buy an propane-powered Dodge Diplomat. The price was right, the car was complete, and the seller claimed that I was able to pick the car up when I returned from Iraq. Care to guess how well that went? It didn’t. I got ripped off for a few hundred bucks and never saw the car. Why did I want a propane-powered Dodge? They were more powerful than the standard gasoline-powered 318, and the engine would burn cleaner, which should have helped the 318 last a bit longer than most others. Okay, the price is what got me, but having a clean-burning Dodge that was based off of a platform and engine family I knew was a pretty solid idea…at the time.
I do remember the discussion that was had with my father over the whole deal. At the time, I was still deployed and needed his help to facilitate the deal, and he was not thrilled about it. He had his concerns, chiefly about the whole idea of the deal itself, but he also wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a propane tank installed in the rear of any car I would own. At one point, I believe he referred to what I was planning as “building a hot-rod Pinto cop car”, referencing the Ford Pinto and it’s explosive reputation.
Did he have a point? Well, the Hank Hill Special Diplomat never materialized, so I couldn’t tell you. But a leak in the tank would be very problematic, indeed. Just how much so? Well, it’s a Garage 54 video, so that means two things: Russians overdubbed with English translations and science in the “aw, hell with it, let’s see what happens” school of theory. Do we just get fire or do we get the Michael Bay-style mushroom cloud when this Lada goes ka-boom? Either way, there’s about to be one more toasty Russian car in the world.
That video is the biggest load of BS I’ve ever seen. Propane is heavier than air so will naturally fall to the lowest point, it also expands to something like 250 times it’s volume as a gas compared to it’s liquid form. Propane tanks are vented to the outside when they’re installed in cars, and are rated pressure vessels so they don’t just rupture. They also have pressure relief valves so in the event the pressure inside the tank increases they vent, again to the outside. I’ve seen first hand cars with propane tanks involved in crashes and fires and have yet to see one where the tank has ruptured, LPG is still very common here in Australia.
I agree 100%. I was a firefighter and mechanic for years and never saw anything but minor problems with propane powered vehicles. I now work in the propane industry and we have a fleet of trucks powered by propane with little issue. Gasoline is far more volatile.
You guys are forgetting that this is from Russia (with love.) i would posit that the Russians are using a different composition of gas than we are. And…that’s a Russian made gas cylinder. Need I say more?
Wow another comment removed wtf your really ridiculous cant take criticism the great mctaggart?????? Grow up
agree with the comments regarding Australian fitments of LPG tanks- My Falcon coupe has run straight gas for at least the last 18 years I’ve owned it…having said that, every 10 years the tanks need checking, valves tested etc etc. I had mine done a few years ago to stay legal and the certified guy who did it had a brain fart moment…not straight away, but the day after it was certified, I was filling it up at a service station . Hung the nozzle up, paid for it, got in the car and could hear hissing – not good. Opened the boot and could hear gas pissing out around one of the valves. I drove it home, not a wise move – but leaving it in the middle of a servo would not have been wise either…It sat in the garage at my place hissing away all night, must have checked on progress 20 times that night and finally by the morning it had stopped. Ripped the tank out and went back to the certifier, not very happy. He’s like it can’t leak, theres nothing that CAN leak like you’ve described – until he pulled the valves out – when he replaced it he’d left the o ring in there and the new valve had a new o ring…2 o rings on top of each other aint going to seal for long….