SAFARI Industries has released a simple and cost-effective way to substantially enhance performance of modern turbo-diesel vehicles – and it works.

Called the Dtronic, the system is a plug-in black box which is completely sealed for protection and durability and if you’re towing or load-hauling it could be the answer to your prayers for more grunt.

The Dtronic fits neatly under the dash of the vehicle and is claimed to increase power and torque by up to 20 percent depending on the application. The Dtronic works by not only increasing the fuel flow but also adjusting the injection timing of the engine to gain the maximum benefit from the increased flow. Installation takes about 15 minutes and the unit can be pulled out in the same time to leave the vehicle in the same condition the manufacturer intended it.

Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t.

We must admit to being a bit sceptical when we heard about it, but after driving a turbo-diesel 100 Series ‘Cruiser without a Dtronic unit fitted – and then again with it hooked up – our scepticism waned considerably. As the accompanying charts show, the dyno figures for the 1HD-FTE indicate that from 1000 rpm, the Dtronic boosts torque by 23 percent, 95 Nm higher than the standard engine’s peak torque.

According to Safari Industries boss Peter Luxon, this is a product that the buyer can get benefit from every time he or she uses the vehicle: “This isn’t like a winch or even driving lights that you only get benefit from part of the time. Every time you use your vehicle, you are getting the benefit of the Dtronic,” he said.

“It’s a bit like a suspension kit in that every time you drive the vehicle you can feel the benefit of the modification. Similarly, every time you drive a vehicle fitted with the Dtronic system, you can feel it working for you,” he added.