Opel ZAFIRA 1.6 Instructions Manual
Opel Special Vehicles GmbH, Marketing, August 2002. For internal use only.
Marketing
Printed on environmentally friendly, non-chlorine bleached paper. Matthias Schneider GmbH, Frankfurt.
Product Information August 2002
Zafira 1.6 CNG monovalent
plus
The Natural Gas Alternative
Natural gas as energy source:
The most successful formulas tend to be very simple.
The constructive preconditions:
Why the Zafira is the ideal natural gas vehicle.
High performance and high torque with natural gas:
What makes economic and ecological sense
should also be fun.
Two answers to the question of range:
The only monovalent natural gas vehicle
that can also use gasoline.
The subject of safety:
Why natural gas in the Zafira 1.6 CNG
is a particularly safe fuel.
The Flex7®seating system:
Because natural gas customers have practical minds,
the Zafira is the first choice.
Assessing the Zafira 1.6 CNG in terms of cost-effectiveness:
High-mileage drivers drive half-price. Or for less.
Natural gas infrastructure and natural gas filling stations:
German network is growing faster than the Internet.
Technical data Zafira 1.6 CNG.
Zafira 1.6 CNG and the competition.
2
OSV – Opel Special Vehicles – is a subsidiary of
Adam Opel AG. It concentrates on producing special
vehicles and fitting special equipment on new Opel
vehicles.
Together with the engineers at Adam Opel AG’s
International Technical Development Center (ITDC),
OSV has developed a natural gas concept for the
Zafira 1.6 CNG which, in the sum of its advantages
and characteristics, has a unique market profile.
The “monovalent
plus
” concept of the Zafira 1.6 CNG
represents:
• Significant operating cost benefits
• Undercutting the most stringent exhaust standards
by up to 80 %
• Unrestricted use of passenger compartment and
luggage area
• Full functionality of the Flex7
®
system
• Nearly same engine performance as the gasolineoperated version of the Zafira 1.6 16V
• Range of over 350 km in natural gas operation
• Reserve gasoline tank with approx.
150 km additional range
• In spite of its ability to run on gasoline, the
Zafira 1.6 CNG is classed as a monovalent natural
gas vehicle, and is correspondingly encouraged
and subsidised
• High operating security with natural gas
• Full Opel warranty on all vehicle components
Because of these characteristics, the Zafira 1.6 CNG
has a unique market position. It is for this reason
that it has generated strong advance interest from
commercial customers, as well as from environmentally conscious private customers keen to cut
their transport costs.
The following pages contain information not just
about a new vehicle with unique benefits, but also
about a new business sector that offers you unique
opportunities.
Opel
Special
Vehicles
Contents
Pages
4–5
6–7
8–9
10 – 11
12 –13
14 – 15
16 – 17
18 – 19
20 – 21
22 – 23
5
Natural gas – as the formula clearly
demonstrates – has a much lower
carbon (C) content than diesel or gasoline. For this reason, combustion of
natural gas generates significantly lower
quantities of carbon monoxide (CO)
and carbon dioxide (CO
2
) than in the
case of diesel or gasoline. It also produces very substantially lower levels of
nitric oxides (NO
X
), which leads to a
significant reduction in the formation
of low-level ozone.
The formation of sulphur dioxide, soot
and other particle emissions is almost
wholly prevented. This can be impressively demonstrated by examining the
exhaust pipe of a vehicle which operates
on compressed natural gas; even after
having clocked up a large mileage, there
are still no visible deposits. This can be
verified with ease at any time.
The number of natural gas vehicles
around the world has risen strongly
in recent years. At the current time,
over 1.5 million vehicles are registered.
The largest proportion of these are
to be found in Argentina and in Italy,
where efficient distribution networks
are already in place. Natural gas is also
steadily gaining in popularity in the
USA, Brazil and Germany. Germany currently has approx.12,000 vehicles operating on natural gas – a figure which
will increase rapidly as new models
become available and the infrastructure
for natural gas improves.
4
Natural gas as energy source:
The most successful formulas tend to be very simple.
The term CNG (compressed natural gas)
stands for natural gas which is kept at
a pressure of 200 bar. Natural gas (CH
4
)
is one of the simplest chemical formulas.
In contrast to diesel or gasoline, which
are derived from mineral oil in highly
energy-intensive processes, natural
gas can be found naturally in more or
less pure form – depending upon the
particular location. Furthermore, it requires a far less complex process to
transform natural gas into fuel. Known
stocks of natural gas will last – based
on current consumption levels – for at
least 160 years. Natural gas production
is environmentally friendly. The same is
true when it comes to transporting gas
through a network of underground pipelines. In Germany the total length of
these pipelines is currently more than
365,000 kilometres.
In accordance with the German Calibration Act, compressed natural gas
(CNG) must not be sold at filling stations
in litres, but instead by weight. In order
to draw effective comparisons withgasoline or diesel fuel, it is therefore necessary to determine the energy content:
one kilogram of natural gas has an
energy content of 13.16 kWh (kilowatt
hours), one litre of diesel 9.86 kWh and
one litre of gasoline 8.77 kWh. This
means 1 kg CNG contains the energy
of 1.33 l diesel or 1.5 l gasoline.
At an average price of € 0.66 per kilogram CNG, in the case of an automobile
with 71 kW (97 hp), this results in fuel
costs of € 3.50 per 100 kilometres. The
corresponding vehicle with a gasoline
engine needs € 7.90 to cover the same
distance, with a diesel engine € 5.22
(on the basis of fuel prices of € 1.00 and
€ 0.80 per litre respectively).
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
H
H
H
H
C
H H H H H H H H H H
H H H H H H H H H H
C C C C C C C C C CH H
Molecular structure
Comparison energy content
Fuel costs per 100 km
Natural gas
(methane)
Diesel
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
10 0
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
450000
500000
600000
700000
Reduction in harmful emissions in case of natural gas vehicles in
percentage terms (comparative basis gasoline vehicle =100%)
Reduction in harmful emissions in case of natural gas vehicles
in percentage terms (comparative basis diesel vehicle =100%)
International Vehicle Park
Emissions comparison
Gasoline Diesel Natural gas
Natural gas Diesel Gasoline
8.77
5.22
3.50
7. 90
9.86
13 .16
• Supplies of natural gas are
guaranteed for decades.
• Significant price advantage
through preferential tax treatment up to the end of 2009.
• Drastic reduction in emissions,
significantly below all existing
and planned emission standards.
• High growth potential.
kWh
€
Argentina Italy USA Brazil Venezuela Russia Egypt
630,548
370,000
83,000
80,000
32,000
31,000
24,115
Vehicle Park
CO NO
x
HC CO
2
7
Variability and the optimum use of
interior space are essential strengths
of the Opel brand. These are again
demonstrated in the Zafira 1.6 CNG.
The Zafira’s ultra compact rear axle
consists of just three components:
2 hollow-cast axle brackets, which are
connected to the hydro-formed axle
shaft, and which at the same time take
on the function of the stabiliser.Thanks
to this space-saving construction, sufficient room exists beneath the vehicle’s
floorpan to locate two large capacity
CNG tanks in front of and behind the
axle – plus a reserve tank for gasoline.
This means that, by virtue of its structural configuration, the Zafira not
merely has an advantage over vehicles
with rear-wheel drive (where the tanks
need to be located either in the luggage
area or in the passenger compartment),
but also relative to the majority of vehicles with front-wheel drive, such as e.g.
from VW or Ford. This is because the
latters’ rear axle construction takes up
significantly more space.
6
The constructive preconditions:
Why the Zafira is the ideal natural gas vehicle.
• Ultra-compact rear axle
construction is ideal for
locating the gas tanks below
the floorpan.
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