Highway Robbery

A very nice article indeed.

Sadly, even with these ``robberies`` the recent price hike will make everyone run for CNG again !

All you can do is beware of the fraudsters and don`t give in to ``its just Rs. 25`` or ``why should I bother or make a show out of myself``.

Remeber, silence is half concurrence. So you are infact appreciating the robbery by not confronting it.

Veeresh sahib:

Thanks for the useful tips. Interestingly, Baleno( CNG), performs better than Honda City(Petrol) while climbing Salt Range.

I am selling my CNG car for precisely the reasons you mentioned in your post.

Nadeem Akram,

My cousins in Karachi have a car that runs on CNG. They frequent only two gas stations from where they get their gas. These stations are reputed to be fair in providing value for price. My cousins get good mileage which is proof of reliable service. My advice to you is that you ought do the same and frequent only one or two gas stations that are reputed to provide value for money and do not overcharge their customers.

Peace!

#2 yasirz:

Funny that you mentioned Pintos. I had bought a 1975 Ford Pinto when I was a student at university in the US. The 1975 models did not have that problem of catching fire as their gas tanks were well above ground level. The 1973 - 4 models had known to have those problems of catching fire as the fuel tanks were too low and very close to the ground. And upon hitting the ground with enough force the friction of the tank with the road would create sparks and that would set the car on fire as gasoline is a very highly volatile and combustable liquid.

Peace!

Hi Nadeem, interesting article on CNG scams. Thanks. They are quite the same everywhere. A few more points that may help you figure out whether you are ahead or not . . .

a) The total driving range of your vehicle comes down, thus forcing about 2-3 times the number of visits to filling stations. The pick-up comes down. And I am keen to know how your car behaved going up the Salt Ranges, did you have to go one gear below what you normally use in petrol?

b) If it is a small car, the effect on the rear-suspension of lugging a heavy cylinder around all the time can be long-standing. You get to know when you do about 50-60k.

c) There is an issue of the fuel lines drying up, so do try to shut the car down for the night stop on petrol. And petrol left in the fuel tank unused goes ``bad`` after about 3-4 months in my experience.

d) There is an issue of lubricity on valves and vale seats. Some engine oil rubbed along the brass filling pinstop may help.

e) In due course the settings and tunings of your car will get impacted and under petrol you will get really lousy mileage. CNG also tends to take longer cranks of the starter so look forward to more battery replacement cost.

f) On the plus side, there is no known way, as yet, for CNG to be adulterated. Also, CNG being lighter than air simply escapes into the atmosphere and dissipates, so it can`t really explode that easily.

CNG is good for fleet operators where maintenance is inhouse and life of a vehicle is about 3 years, then it works for citybuses where they can be lined up together for paralel refilliing at night. But on an individual basis, I gave up once the lines became too long and switched back to a diesel car instead. (In India, diesel costs about 60% of petrol) Some of the new generation diesel cars can easily put petrol cars to shame at those red-light wars.

All the best.

An informative article dearest hellbound...

Seeing the cylinder at the back of the car reminds of the incident that had fired up the 70s.Literally.Ford produced a car called the Pinto, upon being rear-ended, if the impact was strong enought the car would burst into flames.

2004: gas tank at the back of the car.I dont know mashallah ive never been rear ended but would happen if the local minibus rams right into you say at about 50kms/h+

Scary scenario.But then again its just my opinion.
adios.