HELP! LPG/Spare Tyre combo

[JoshSinner]

Hey,

Have just signed up to the site as am thinking about getting a 2003 Cooper over the weekend. However, I live in London, and the biggest threat to my MINI Adventure is the fact that petrol is now a wallet-wilting 1.20/l at the garage round the corner from me. Since I'll be doing the majority of my inefficient miles in the Big Smoke I really, really need a viable alternative to 16mpg of petrol.

I was thinking seriously about an LPG conversion, with a toriodal (donut?) shaped tank in the spare wheel well, only to discover - the damn thing doesn't have a spare tyre, let alone the well! The pictures I've seen on here of LPG conversions in the boot don't suit me at all - halving my boot space is just not practical.

Sooo... What I'm seeing is two birds with one stone. The nearest LPG garage to me is some 5mi (a long way in the city) BUT I'm told that LPGniks can keep a massive canister in their garden for 200 quid a year for personal refills. Is this true? If it is, I don't need a 70l monster tank, even a tiddly 38l one would be fine as I can fill the car pretty much every night if need be (not that I do 200mi a day!). I know the cost is high, but I've done the maths and it does seem to add up.

So... the $64,000 question is - can I sling the tank UNDER the boot in the same place the space-saver-spare can go? Or will it catch a bouncing stone on the M25 and perform a credible impression of a Space Shuttle launch? Any advice much appreciated - I did look to see if this question had been answered, but nothing directly...

[SoggyCornFlakes]

I'd use the tube in London and save the MINI for fun driving out of town

[AlexBRGCooper]

Is there no way to utilise the spare wheel compartment outside underneath your boot? Look for the plastic cover on the near side opposite your exhaust. This was where the spare wheel was originally intended to be before BMW decided to use ROF's.

[MartinH32]

You will need to take your mini to an LPG conversion specialist and get him to measure the clearance if a tank is underslung. It has to be within certain criteria (but don't ask me what that is).

I lost my boot space!!! but, 20,000 miles on LPG and it's running great and at 54p a litre cannot complain!