DTUK
I recently tried out The Pedal Box Pro & TCU+ gearbox tune – and felt it was worth a review.
As a new retirement project I bought myself a beautiful burgundy 2006 Merc CLK 350 cabrio. I’ve always thought these gorgeous,
so as a novice to the restoration & tuning scene I set off. New rims, plates, bodywork, service – and she’s a stunner.
Problem was the naturally aspirated 350 powerplant & gearbox. Whilst no muscle car, this was a really lively sports back in the day.
17yrs later however she felt tired and laggy. My independent specialist recommended a throttle booster for some immediate uplift.
So after research, I finally decided the most modern design was the Pedal Box Pro. Fitted it and whoosh! Instantly better.
I use the immobiliser feature too – well worth it if you don’t have one.
Then onto the gearbox – as so many forums state, there’s often an issue between 1 & 2, It doesn’t drop when you want.
A gearbox reset only had limited results. So again researched this clandestine area & settled on DTUKs offering, partly due to
the good prior experience. Installed, followed instructions religiously, took her for a spirited drive & hey presto – notably sharper.
the good prior experience. Installed, followed instructions religiously, took her for a spirited drive & hey presto – notably sharper.
Most of the lag had gone & the engine engaged better. Comfort mode, flat as a pancake before, suddenly woke up & felt sporty,
and Sport mode was more aggressive.
and Sport mode was more aggressive.
Next an engine map. Most firms providing off the shelf piggy back solutions generally won’t have an offering for naturally aspirated.
They want a turbo or supercharger to speed up, as increasing boost is the most dramatic. A couple of national chains with mature
libraries were selling a dedicated map tho so I went for that, but was oddly rejected at the point of sale. Turns out the tuning world is
libraries were selling a dedicated map tho so I went for that, but was oddly rejected at the point of sale. Turns out the tuning world is
shifting policy to plug n play only, & the yr of my car carried the risk of needing a boot map (taking ecu apart). Hmm. There’s absolutely
nothing wrong with a beautiful modern classic I thought, yet here I am marginalised.
It felt frustrating a business decision by directors, based on shifting mkt share, training costs etc, was holding back my valid project.
Eventually I tracked down a tuner who had good reviews, was older & a qualified tuning instructor. Certainly not scared of a boot map.
As it happened he had several different readers, one of them went straight in anyway, 30min later it was done! Not for the first time what
I had been told as definitive by mainstream turned out to be wrong & serving their needs not mine. The result was a bit more pull & some
growl for the first time in yrs. Being NA the uplift is 8-9% vs 20-25% for turbos, but I knew that & for my goals was happy.Now I have what some chatrooms refer to as the ‘holy trinity’ lol. An engine map, throttle map & gearbox map.
In my case it needed all three & together its transformational. Shes a different car now – back to her sporty self, even scary at times.
Turns out its an apt nickname lol. I’d like to thank DTUK for supplying these modern devices.
As it happened he had several different readers, one of them went straight in anyway, 30min later it was done! Not for the first time what
I had been told as definitive by mainstream turned out to be wrong & serving their needs not mine. The result was a bit more pull & some
growl for the first time in yrs. Being NA the uplift is 8-9% vs 20-25% for turbos, but I knew that & for my goals was happy.Now I have what some chatrooms refer to as the ‘holy trinity’ lol. An engine map, throttle map & gearbox map.
In my case it needed all three & together its transformational. Shes a different car now – back to her sporty self, even scary at times.
Turns out its an apt nickname lol. I’d like to thank DTUK for supplying these modern devices.
On a final note, I was amazed at how dived opinion can be in the forums about these type of products. For every enthusiast there was
a detractor saying they are scams or ineffective. I found I had to educate myself technically & dig deeper to separate out the facts.
Some of the loudest & intemperate later admitted they hadn’t followed install procedures correctly, others hadn’t even tried them at all,
just armchair critics. In a world of dark arts that’s fragmented & little understood at the best of times, widely varying company culture each
singing their own tune (groan) & this social media noise, definitely makes the buying process harder for us newcomers.
Thankfully, my result with DTUK was good & produced the result I wanted – a beautiful car that’s fast & 10+ yrs younger.
If you have anymore wizardry to recommend let me know!Thanks & RegardsMartin