Here's a DTR review from someone who was banned from the forums. They went from an APR stg 1 low tq tune to the DTR on a 7.5 GTI. Everything after this is not my own words:
Mods: DTR turbo swap with apr tune and apr tcu tune (FWD version, because Jesus Christ of course one should pick that in a GTI) AWE track cat back, IE intake, heat range 9 plugs (forgot which ones), neuspeed wheels (dunno the model but its the one 80% of y’all have) and pilot sport 4s’s. and a dope ass fmic.
Received my DTR in mid March (I think) and had it installed in early April (I think). I was holding off on this review till I got my summers back on. Summer wheels and tires (PS4S) went on about first week of May. Ive driven enough on my crappy all seasons and on my summers finally. I think I am ready to share what I think of the turbo, since I am finally able to draw a conclusion.
Build quality of the turbo, outstanding. Especially the included hardware. The tune also doesn’t feel like it was put together by a high school kid. ECU and TCU tune were solid, as expected from APR. I was fortunate enough to come in later, after the early adopters did. No weird strange beta tune experiences.
In my daily drive, I do find myself giving the car maybe 5% more throttle? It’s so slight, I can barely feel I’m giving it more gas but I know I am. To be fair let’s say I’m giving it 5-10% more throttle then? There’s definitely some lag but it really feels as if it’s kinda like an is38. At wide open throttle, the car is making stage 1 type power, then around 3k rpm it feels like stage 2 power and from there on it is its own monster. 4th gear is incredibly fucked, its as if that might be the only gear that doesn’t have boost reductions or boost onset delays. 4th will get you into very illegal speeds very quickly. Imagine walking in on redacted (fuck U bitch) sucking his own dick, like that. That’s how shocking it is.
Gas mileage hasn’t changed. In the city and on the highway. Hasn’t gotten worse or better. It has stayed the same. Frankly I am neutral here. I went into this knowing I was going to lose some mpg, cuz bigger turbo and all that’s required to get to the speed limit. Yet, it didn’t swing that way. Cool.
The tcu tune on the 7 speed is solid as hell. Kicks down quickly, give it enough gas and she will down shift, all the usual stuff you expect. When driving up a steep hill, ill either stab the gas and hold 50-60% so the dsg kicks a gear down, or I’ll pull a paddle and just down shift.
The anti surge features make for this whistling noise and it take me back to when I had a supercharged ion redline. With my ie intake, it whistles loud as shit. I can put a diesel to shame. Folks walking on the side walk can hear it too. I really dig the sound. The part throttle whooshes are gone, but at wide open they make a return. I guess due to the larger hot side, my 7 speed’s dsg farts (still not as cool sounding as the 6 speed dsg’s) are louder and more pronounced.
What’s really cool but immature, when the oil hits 180f (according to lie o meter) I throw the dsg in sport and get a little more aggressive. Acceleration happens with maybe 1-3psi (according to the other lie o meter) and the whistling is crazy as fucking fuck. The drivers next to me seem to be looking for the Cummings truck too.
So how does it do on the street? Extremely well. It wasn’t till I absolutely murdered a stage 2 is38 swapped dsg GTI that I understood why the dtr is only compared to an is38 when it’s on e30. The is38 isn’t a great option, it really only has slightly better top end vs an is20. The R head must make better use of it, assuming that’s why a tuned stock turbo R can hold longer vs a GTI with a is38. Be for real, what do you think will happen between a dtr and is38 when both are on e30 or e50? I never understood why it was fair to compare the is38 on E vs the dtr on pump. Now I get it, it’s because the is38 sucks donkey dick and it’s barely an upgrade. Like I can do what you do but better and meet emissions and make cooler noises. God forbid I swap downpipes and get tuned or something.
Everyone talks about lag and it’s funny how it almost sounds like they know what they’re talking about. The lower rpm’s are only a thing when launching. And if launching, launch control barely gives you boost in lower gears. But I’m the middle and top, the dtr offers a good bit of meat there, where it would absolutely be usable
So who is this for? I’d say any GTI owner who needs to hold onto the stock downpipe due to emissions in their state. I wouldn’t on an R unless emissions was a thing and you’re also going to do the fuel upgrades. Otherwise I think it wouldn’t be a smart move for an R.
If Daks, no. Don’t get the dtr. Love U bro.
Many thanks to the homie Acadia for assisting me with this.