Petrol or Diesel or LPG

In this day is there still really a consideration of fuel type when overlanding / exploring off the beaten track or can petrol be found just as easily these days? Which countries would you say diesel is still 100% the only option or are there no countries like that any more (West Africa?).

I'm ignoring the obvious practicalities of carrying petrol vs diesel in cans and the safety side but just thinking about fuel availability. Like, is LPG available in many countries at all?

When I was in South Africa living in a camp the guys there were adamant that you had to have diesel but every time I went off on a break and hired a car I always got a petrol and never had problems finding fuel.

In years to come we're thinking of the following trips and this is part of the reason for asking the question:

- Morocco / Southern Europe

- Eastern Europe

- North America / Canada

- Scandinavia

Cheers

Well, I spent about ten years bashing around all southern and east Africa in a petrol series III Landrover and never had a problem finding fuel. I spent a couple of years in west Africa as well and never had an issue.

Over time I developed a preference for a simple diesel engine because they are just so simple and uncomplicated which is high on my list of priorities....not to mention the better fuel mileage.

I would only consider LPG if I was staying in Europe or N. America.

When running Landy Rally 2007-11 (3,000 miles Alps & Spanish Pyrenees) in a 3.9 V8 Range Rover Classic on LPG, as soon as you dropped out of France into Spain, you knew there would be no LPG until you transversed the north of Spain and headed back up into France. This included Andorra by the way. It was at times like that I wish I was running a 30mpg diesel, then again nothing sounds as good as a throaty V8!!!

To a large extent it depends where in the world you are, for example if you are in India then you can get both petrol and diesel fairly easily, but LPG is abundant as they use it as the most abundant fuel in remote areas for everything from cooking to heating, and India is the largest user of LPG for vehicular use.

Initial trips (when we finally buy something!) will likely be Europe and North Africa. We'd quite like to try a bit of travelling East, maybe on the silk road, but that's more likely 3-4 years away. I'll probably stick with looking for a diesel.

Diesel is the best option as all lorries use it so it should be readily available in most places.

The perceived wisdom is that you'll always find diesel

Now coming out of the Akakous (incorrect spelling) mountains in Libya, we needed fuel , well my truck didn't but the 110 did.

Could we find any - No !

Plenty of petrol, in fact we found we were camped in the local petrol bunker cos all the local taxis and desert guides were coming in to fill their petrol vehicles.

After 2 days of waiting (we knew where the nearest fuel was - 300 Klicks away) and discussing scenarios of me towing the 110 300 klicks or driving it until it ran out then towing it, we found some parrafin. We were told it was diesel but it wasn't. I think we got 3 jerrycans full. So we consulted the guru. By this I mean Tom sheppard's vehicle dependant expeditions guide. He said that parrafin was too dry for the injection pump so add some engine oil, so we did , who are we to argue !

It smoked a bit along the road but made it to the fuel stop. We filled up and headed for Tripoli.

Many years later I got the chance to thank Tom for that piece of information personally. His comment was along the lines of , oh it worked did it, never tried it myself but an oil company guy said to would be OK , always good to know, thankyou.

Us Tom's are full of useless useful information!

what engine was in the 110, because you certainly couldnt do it with a td5 and possibley a 300tdi???

kevinf wrote:

what engine was in the 110, because you certainly couldnt do it with a td5 and possibley a 300tdi???

It was an early Iveco

Tom Mc wrote:

It was an early Iveco

Is that LEZ compliant?

Of course, but I'd hate to think how much the Congestion Charges would be - especially if they go by weight.

kevinf wrote:

what engine was in the 110, because you certainly couldnt do it with a td5 and possibley a 300tdi???

It was a 2.5 Normally Aspixiated

The 300tdi can run on aviation fuel or at least the military ones can

Threw all sorts of junk at my 300 in the 101 and it all made it go

SafariDude wrote:

Tom Mc wrote:

It was an early Iveco

Is that LEZ compliant?

Its probabily more Lez compliant than the 4x4 Ivecos (which arn't)

I'm off to see a car this weekend. Chap has found me a Disco 300 tdi. Seen pics and it looks nice and solid. No sunroof, so that's one less thing to worry about

My Coleman stove turned up today too. Have the OzTent Woo hoo, things are going nice

Has this Disco got air con? Personally I'm not keen on air conditioning and for 99.9% of the time I would rather have all the windows open, but for what you'll be using it for, it may be worth considering.

It does have the advantage of keeping you more awake on a long haul, and even me who doesn't like it, even I will admit that it's been a real life-saver in humid countries. Food for thought.

Just remembered - there are companies who specialise in importing RHD Discos and suchlike from Japan. Although a little more costly, they are often in very good condition due to their stringent MOT's, corosion-free (lack of salt on their roads) and packed to the gunnels with optional extras from the factory no less, never mind aftermarket accessories. Air con is also standard.

Did you know that at one time Honda re-badged and sold the Discovery in Japan and the Asian market? A Disco with a big chrome 'H' on the front grille and rear door instead of the green oval looks really weird.

my disco has spent all its life down here its 16-17 years old and the chassis is like new and its only done 80k miles so thats why i kept it.....and its got AC but i took the drive belt of last year now i have to put it back on it was 29deg here today...yes its hotting up nice.. ...and i needed AC today...

Not sure about A/C - doesn't look like it from the pics, but I have A/C on my current KIA and never use it so not that bothered. I may change my mind when I get to Morocco

The peeps who sourced it build expedition vehicles and I'll be getting them to do the mods, so I'm hoping they know what to look for. Been to see them a couple of times for a chat and look round their setup and really like them and what they do. Good feedback on the net and a few of their cars are travelling through Africa as we speak

They actually advised against a Jap import as these tend to be Autos and they advised against an Auto and said to stick with a manual box. Kinda makes sense but I must admit I do like driving autos.

Car is white and we believe is an ex copper car so we're hoping to see a good service history. It's an 'N' reg so I assume a '95 car.