New owner, Ibiza 1.0 TGI FR EcoPlus (compressed gas hybrid)

[alpineSi]

Hi, I've just joined up after reading through a few of your threads on OBD2 mods and aftermarket parts.

My gf and I live in northern Spain and recently took delivery of a 1.0 TGI. It's full FR trim with some extra toys thrown in, and looks like any other FR but the boot is smaller inside because it has a massive gas canister underneath. It's pretty slow 0-60 with only a 3 cylinder 1.0l but being so small it shifts well enough when it gets going (I'm coming from a diesel 4x4 anyway).

There aren't really many of these compressed gas stations in Spain yet but it runs on 95RON too, and the promotion with this engine included a lot of high-level spec thrown in much cheaper than with conventional engines - there are also tax breaks etc here because it counts as a low emissions vehicle.

You can read about the technical stuff: https://www.seat-mediacenter.com/ne...e-new-Ibiza-TGI-the-best-ECO-alternative.html

Cheers,
Si

 

[Legojon]

Hi and welcome. Thanks for the link. I'll have a read up. Compressed gas hybrid is not something I've heard of. But glad your enjoying the car. You'll have to post up some pics for us.

 

[alpineSi]

Thanks for the welcome! Obviously LPG is much more well-known in the UK but compressed gas (GNC) doesn't have any of the issues such as being banned from underground car parks. It's just the same as your house gas, and there are companies developing devices to let users install a pump in their garage that taps into the house supply (estimated price €2,000). Safety-wise, the gas is lighter than air (LPG is heavier) so in the event of an accident it should all dissipate upwards. There is a video of a TGI catching fire on youtube, but I'm not sure if the gas was a factor - enough cars do that anyway...

The engine is normal except for a small pump for the gas, and reinforced pistons but it also has a lighter turbo so in theory responds faster than the TSIs. I'll try to get photos one day. MOTs are normal except that every four years the canisters have to be specially inspected. We're not sure on the difference in cost of insurance yet because of the first year being included.

As I said, the main points for us in getting this particular model were (1) that it comes with almost every extra on the options list. We didn't bother with Beats Audio, KESSY or an Alarm), and (2) following dieselgate it's becoming pretty hard to even get into some cities with a normal car, and this one gets the ECO (environmentally friendly sticker) so can go in even if it's actually just running on normal petrol.

SEAT withdrew it from the market just after we ordered ours to make amendments so it will pass WLTP as an eco car, making the gas canisters bigger but the fuel tank smaller. I'm glad we got ours before that because there just aren't enough GNC stations yet to fill it up on a regular basis and stopping all the time for petrol is easier but obviously annoying. Apparently the EU is putting €20m into building a 'corridor' of gas stations down through France to the south or Spain. We'll see. Obviously not coming to Britain any time soon though, but hey...

 

[sctyfn]

Hello and welcome.

 

[alpineSi]

Thanks.

Now added photos to the thread here.

 

[seatcaner]

Hello. Welcome to aboard. ^^