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Two good Low running cost and petrol-like performance

Therefore, the significance of having a diesel model in any car’s line-up of products is a wise move. To present a cost-effective product to the market, the Hindustan Motors’ Mitsubishi Cedia will now come factory-fitted with a LPG kit.

Even though an LPG kit isn’t a diesel motor, the running costs will fall considerably given the fact that petrol is priced at Rs. 48.38 a litre (Mumbai) and LPG costs Rs. 27.1 per litre (Mumbai). So, the Cedia will come with the super combination of low diesel running costs and petrol-like performance. Hopefully, this should give the Cedia a boost as it always has been a well-built car and a decent performer.

The only limiting factor is that LPG isn’t as easily available as petrol. However, using technology, HM has managed to make the LPG system on the Cedia the most advanced that we have experienced until now. Besides the sheet metal brackets that hold the tank in place and the components in the storage tank, all parts are imported and the kit has been made by BRC of Italy. In addition, the kit is also quite safe. The LPG tank has been double-walled and to prevent any gas leakage, the system uses corrugated wiring harnesses and copper tubes and if there is any kind of accident the fuel supply is cut off by a solenoid valve. For extra safety, there is also a fire-extinguisher strapped under the front passenger’s seat. Even though power does drop whether one is in petrol or LPG mode, we couldn’t really tell when the Cedia was running on petrol and when it was running on LPG during normal driving. The shift between both modes can be made via a button that is mounted ahead of the gear lever.

The 48-litre LPG tank is kept stored in the Cedia’s boot and it is from here, via a regulator through the pressure reducer that the LPG is sent to the injectors, which are controlled by a 16-bit processor. This sequential injection system for delivering fuel to the Cedia’s 1999cc, four-cylinder engine is one of the most key components of the car.

The LPG version has two ECUs, one for the petrol mode and the other ECU acts as a piggyback for the LPG. The petrol ECU sends information from the oxygen sensor, the manifold-absolute pressure sensor and the engine rpm sensor to the LPG ECU, so an extra set of sensors isn’t required.

There is a bit of a performance drop in the Cedia LPG as compared to the petrol version, thanks to the extra weight, however, the 2.0-litre engine is refined and smooth. The ride and handling combination of the Cedia has always been brilliant as special attention was given to these characteristics when the car was first launched. The interiors remain the same as the petrol version except for the switch that shifts between petrol and LPG.

The Cedia LPG variant costs Rs. 8.6 lakh and is available on only the Select trim. A Blaupunkt CD player, 15-inch alloy wheels, remote locking, power mirrors and power windows, two airbags, ABS and EBD come with the car as well. The Mitsubishi Cedia LPG rides well, is well-built and is one of the most efficient gas-powered cars we ever drove.

Price from Rs 8.60 lakh

(ex-showroom, all India)

Engine size 2.0 LPG/Petrol

Power 110bhp/100bhp

0-100kph

12.84sec/12.64sec

Fuel economy7-8kpl

(city)/ 11-12kpl (highway)

(In LPG mode)

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