G'day!

First things first. Does 9-drive work?
Thank you all for your contributions to the alternative to sprint booster/power commander and the like. Just installed in my 2006 n/A coupé manual XF. I can honestly tell you that the difference is noticeable. Multiple adjustments will make it a perfect fit for any driver. The ECO mode feels like driving a beetle, but racing mode removes ANY lag and the engine response is amazingly fast and thrilling. Remember, no power added, but lagging can be absolutely removed. When in first gear and RACING mode, you have to be super gentle on the clutch or accept screeching wheels as a fact of nature. Many different settings in between to adapt to your foot sensitivity and driving style. Long story short: it works. A fun mod for €28 on AliExpress.

Display placement on dashboard.
I understand that our instinct leads us to try to install the display on the middle console. I've seen members hide it inside the ashtray (fair enough, but awkward to reach as you can change mode settings while driving), on top of the air vents or any small space available among other screens and buttons. I'd like to propose here an alternative that (IMHO) looks flush and convenient to the eye and manipulation. It's this:



If you'd wish to hide the cable more, just stick it a couple of inches to your right. But I found that, by doing so, screen visualization was impaired, and so was my tampering with the buttons. Where it is, I can reach it by a touch of my small finger, and I can see the display without diverting my eyes from the road. The cable can still be seen, but this is a mix between bad design (plug should be at the back of screen) and my unwillingness to drill any holes. Despite not looking "perfect", I guess I can live with it and the center console is not affected.

The install was pretty straightforward: I removed the lateral air vent lid where the beam fuses are and, after exploring its guts with a flashlight, I thrust a wire and carefully pushed inside the panel to reach the back of it:



Once the wire went safely through, I attached the 9-drive iPhone connector to the bottom end of wire (popping out next to clutch) and I pulled back gently up till I got it out at the top again - at the bottom end of this cable you have 9-DRIVE CONTROL BOX, so it would not fit should you install it from the top. I removed the front air vent, gently pushing from behind and pulling from the front with bare fingers, ran the wire on top of the internal vent pipe and pushed the air vent back in. No problems, there's enough room for the connector wire to be squeezed in the seal with no danger of splitting or damaging it.



Then I disassembled the bottom plastic pedal protector (2 Philips screws) and passed the cable behind the pedals, so I could not reach it with my feet.


notice black wire behind pedals

Once I reached the accelerator, and following Heli-Cal Blue's advice, I removed the right kick panel to get access to the throttle control unit behind the pedal (a pain to reach), and, quoting him:

"Seeing that the easiest way to install the SprintBooster was to remove the lower right kick-panel as others have noted - without having to remove the pedal - that worked into my plan as I would be running the SprintBooster control wire through there anyway. I also found that if you remove the lower valence-panel under the drivers side it makes it even easier to remove the kick-panel and access the pedal.

There is no easy cavity or hole large enough around the ash-tray area to run the connector through and I didn't want to drill any holes just to make it easier. However, on the opposite side, around the cigarette lighter, there is plenty of area behind the center dash-face. Rather than also removing the kick panel on that side, I simply fed the wire and connector through and behind the seam that runs from the ash-tray to the cigarette lighter, then down and through the area behind that side. I then used an old membership-card (like a credit card) to guide it down, then push it further through with a dull piece of flat-steel (thin like a hack-saw blade) maneuvering it through the vertical seam. Once through, and I could see it from the removed kick-panel on the driver's side, I merely pulled it back through to the driver's side with a set of Foerster sponge forceps.

After pulling it through I ran it to the pedal, connected it to the SprintBooster, then the SprintBooster module to the pedal, used a few difference sized zip-ties to cinch the wire to the rest of the existing loom, then replaced the kick-panel.

Once in, everything worked beautifully. I noticed when researching how it would go into the Crossfire, there weren't really many photos online of the pedal itself, where the connector can be found, views of the kick-panel removed, etc. - so I made some, and also showed how I ran the connector/controller wire through the center dash face without removing it, to get it to live in the ashtray."

Source: https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...t-booster.html



Once I had the panel removed (2 screws, the one you see and another one underneath) I accessed the original connector AT THE TOP OF THE PEDAL, pushed hard both connector lids in with fingers, pulled it up (please notice it is placed vertically right behind, at the top of the accelerator).



I then installed the 9-drive connector pin in, connected the rounded spare connector to the original I had just unplugged (this can be tricky, because it can be plugged in facing up or down, so if 9-DRIVE does not work, plug it in the other way round). Just squeeze it in, it will eventually fit. In my case, I first plugged it in the position that seemed more natural looking at the plug housing but, guess what, it happened to work the other way round. So I pushed a little harder till I heard a click, turned the engine on and, voilà, it worked.

Your ECU may go crazy the first time you start the engine; in my case, both ENGINE and BAS/ESP lights went on. According to the instructions, starting the engine several times will resolve the issue, but I just disconnected the negative battery terminal for 10 secs, screwed it back in and it did the trick.

Used the car for a few days. No issues at all. Now I have a manual shift XF with an ECO, NORMAL (original engine acceleration settings), SPORT and RACING (wild) modes. I see it as just adding more possibilities to my driving. No placebo effect: holding the throttle in the same position, the engine response varies depending on the mode you choose (in motion).



driver's view

One last thought: thank you to all the contributors that worked on this mod before me. This post does not intend to contradict anyone; I just want to offer another possibility regarding display placement on dash.