I can't speak for a brand new out of the box curado but my e7 from last season really enjoyed the carbotex drag upgrade it received a couple of weeks ago. it is so much smoother than the stock drag - and consistent too. none of that jerky feel at all. but if it's new, I say fish it hard for the war...

Got myself a Curado 201E7 as a backup reel for kayak fishing. I fish mostly Abus and Daiwas and all are using Carbontex washers. I heard that Dartanium is almost similar to a greased carbon washer so I am not sure if there will be an improvement in performance if I replace it with Carbontex. For the...