"Personal Review Of DTUK CRD2 (09)"

13th Apr 08 Car 2006 Zafira B 150bhp engine Ok, I promised to write a review of my recent purchase of the CRD2 unit from DTUK. The main reason for this, is that when I was looking into purchasing this unit there was not many detailed personal views other than general comments in the forum, and months before I became a member of the AON I was visiting the site and was intrigued by the comments about this performance product that was a diy and safe to use. However, I still was quite sceptical about wether it would do what it claimed. Purchasing: Ok, this was fairly straightforward. After making an email enquiry to purchase, Andy from DTUK was very quick to reply to my initial interest. We discussed what programme would be most suitable for my car and driving style. I explained that I was not necessarily interested in top speed but more torque for overtaking through the gears. The Mickie programme was recommended for this application. Paying via paypal and the goods arrived exactly when they were promised. Products was well packed and the packaging of the unit and instructions were straightforward looking. The unit itself is the size of a fag packet and looks well sturdy enough. The unit comes with a cable t section which looked pretty much factory issue. Fitting: Ok, I am a complete mechanical numpty when it comes to doing anything with my car, however, the fitting was very simple. The instructions show exactly what you need to do and it is all very straightforward. The only problem I had was fitting the engine cover back on! Had not realised that you have to take the rubber grommets off the engine and stick them back on to cover before fitting. All you need to fit it, is a flat head screwdriver to aid the loosening of the common rail terminal and a spanner to loosen the battery terminal The whole process takes about 10 minutes ( taking it easy! ) and I have removed it before visiting my local dealer in around 5 minutes….it’s that easy, so do not be intimated that you are messing around with things you shouldn’t be touching…I would compare it to fitting a bigger version of a scart socket for a tv or dvd player…it is that simple! Driving: Well, this is the good bit! Straight away the car revs much more freely. In the pre installed Mickie programme The car seems to breath at little more easily. Taking off, there is no sudden “surge” as you may expect. It is only when you pass through the normal torquey part of the rev range that you say to yourself ” Hang on a minute” things are starting to happen here! The engine seems to be much quicker. In third and fourth gear especially, there is a noticeable difference in power and this is evident when you are trying to overtake on A roads or pulling onto the motorway. In fifth and sixth crusing on the motorway you also feel that car has more “horses” and overtaking in these gears is much more pleasurable and quicker as a result. In this Mickie mode the car is very liveable…there’s no flatspots or chugging at normal speeds, I mentioned earlier on the forum, when I first stuck it on the Zafira, that it felt like I had been driving previously with the handbrake on! Fuel consumption appears to have improved as well, although there is is too much of temptation to drive a bit quicker with it on as a result! I would say that the unit has transformed the driving experience from previously pretty standard drive into a a lot more fun! So far, I have not been disappointed either with the service from DTUK or the unit itself and I have been transformed from a sceptic to a true believer in this product. I hope this has been of some use to any would be buyers and please feel free to contact me if you have questions or queries relating to the above. Cheers MM http://forum.astraownersnetwork.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39956