15 replies to this topic

[Dan1991]

Rather interesting.....

http://www.madhousem...rmini/index.htm

[koss]

I always new a peugeot 106 engine would fit in a mini.

[mini_surfari]

my brothers got a 106, better get the spanners out lol

[minimarco]

they also have a vw bus running on vegetable oil. my friend went on a road trip with them across america, asking for spare grease along the way

[Dan]

Good for the environment but won't save you much money in this country. The reason fuel is so expensive here is because of road fuel duty which is payable on whatever type of fuel you decide to power the vehicle with. You would have to declare all your biodiesel to Revenue and Customs every quarter and pay the duty. It's much more convenient to have a petrol station pay the duty for you, and by the time you have paid for the conversion it will be costing you quite a bit, especially since Minis are so cheap to run anyway. Still it is a more ecological fuel all the same and interesting.

[bert998]

you dont have to pay duty unless you use more than 2500 litres a year.

I've ran my car unmodified on used cooking oil for 6 months without a hiccup. Im down to about 60/40 mix now it is so cold but I havent had any problems at all, its great only paying 50p a litre in the winter and sod all in the summer

its the future...

Written by John Hornig, who helped start a biodiesel outlet in the U.K, and currently works for Blooming Futures, a non-profit COOP that converts diesel cars so they can use plant oil for fuel.

The big news in the UK at the moment (at least for biofuel lovers) is that if you use less than 2500 liters (about 25,000 miles) of your own biodiesel or straight vegetable oil each year, you no longer have to pay taxes on it. If you make your own fuel - whether that involves a bit of backyard bucket chemistry in the case of biodiesel, or whether you buy straight vegetable oil at the supermarket and ‘produce fuel’ by tipping it into your converted diesel engine — then you previously had to pay a tax on it.

No longer. Though this isn’t due to some shining example of enlightened thinking by the UK taxman. Instead, the tax on the low-volume biofuel producer was dropped due to the high cost of enforcing it: getting each user to register with the tax officials, arrange a visit, pay the full fuel duty, submit a rebate form and finally claim some of the money back (UK biodiesel and straight veggie oil get a 20 pence/liter tax break).

As the number of biofuel micro-producers and users in the UK has increased, so has the administrative burden. And the small amount of revenues from these low volume users is not enough. So they’ve thrown in the towel.

This capitulation spells good news for small scale biofuel use in the UK. No one has any idea how the 2500 liter annual limit will actually be enforced – and none of the users will likely help them out with that one.

With UK biodiesel duty currently standing at 28.35p/liter for anything over 2501 liters each year, the Inland Revenue’s profit margin doesn’t look so good close to the cut off line. The small biodiesel producer making 2501 liters a year, at 28.35p a liter tax, pays an annual tax bill of £709.03. For this, the Inland Revenue need to arrange one site meeting, process 4 forms (one each quarter), and write 4 cheques. Basically it’s not worth their while.

The end of the tax will add encouragement for biodiesel producers and maybe even bring in a new crowd. Even more so it will be a boon for the straight vegetable oil market. The top of the range single-tank conversions on the most economical cars are just now becoming cost efficient for the first time. And Elsbett, the German market leaders in straight vegetable oil conversion technology, have just announced they’re moving to the UK. The end of the tax will add even more incentive to convert to vegetable oil.

So what we’re seeing may be a first - an over-complicated, poorly planned tax concession could actually stimulate some real growth

Edited by bert998, 30 December 2007 - 06:04 PM.

[Dan]

That too is interesting, when did they decide that?

I bet they'll come up with some reason to stop people producing their own fuel at home soon, under the same Euro regs that meant all the petrol stations had to buy new tanks last year.

[bert998]

it was covered on fifth gear at the end of the summer, which is where i saw it.

No doubt they'll do everything they can to stop it.

[Guess-Works.com]

Personally I'd want a letter from HM Customs to be sure.... Having customs knock on your door is not a pleasant thing, as it's pay up or we'll lock you up...

[M44K TS]

i've tried my van on a 50/50 mix of veggie oil

bit rough for the first min or 2 from cold but then is fine, and costs a hell of a lot less!

[M44K TS]

just been thinking about that diesel conversion..

because it's using a Peugeot TU series engine, the mounts will be the same for the petrol variants.....

so.....

Phase 1 106 Rallye 1.3 8v 100bhp engine will slot straight in, as will any other saxo/106 engine, exept maybe 1.6 16v GTi/VTS engine, but if it did fit in a Clubman front, then 130bhp and easily tuneable would be nice

[cap'n crunch]

just been thinking about that diesel conversion..

because it's using a Peugeot TU series engine, the mounts will be the same for the petrol variants.....

so.....

Phase 1 106 Rallye 1.3 8v 100bhp engine will slot straight in, as will any other saxo/106 engine, exept maybe 1.6 16v GTi/VTS engine, but if it did fit in a Clubman front, then 130bhp and easily tuneable would be nice

hmmm i wonder if my brother will notice if i pinch the engine out of his 106 rallye...

[M44K TS]

replace with a 1.5d

[Bungle]

i've always thought my clio van's 1.5 DCI engine would work well in a mini

and they can be chiped to over 100 bhp

[Ethel]

I heard something on the radio about not paying duty on home brew biofuel too. Pretty sure there was an unresolved debate about what constitutes biofuel production with a strong suggestion it didn't mean just filling up with Tesco's veggie oil