ShiftSense Pro - transmission shift controller for Gen3 Tacoma

Installed! I'm not going to do a big review. I'll say this though.

I drove back to work 6-7 miles. A mix of surface streets and freeway.

I had three major complaints with my auto. Keep in mind I have 35's wnd stock gearing which makes this transmission even worse. I'm only comparing this to D. Not me manually shifting.

1. Shifting way too soon
2. Constantly shifting gears even with mild throttle input
3. Not staying in a gear for just a slight speed increase. Meaning I want to gradually increase 5-10 mph. I'm sitting at 2-3k rpm and it'll still downshift to get me there.

This little box pretty much resolved all three of those. I'd even say this is a huge improvement over manayally shifting the thing as well.

If anyone is on the fence about this it really makes a significant change in how the transmission shifts. It's not magic, I still sometimes wish I had a manual. But this makes the auto 10x better and is well worth the 200 bucks.

 

I don't see that anyone is looking at this for increased MPG. Did I miss something?

 

Stop quoting on here and install the damn thing, dammit!

 

Heading out to pick it up right now. Will share thoughts in about 1.5 hours.

 

Someone take video of the tach while driving please!! I'd be curious to see the rpms at the shift points

 

Sure, why not.


Ordered.

 

TW is killing my bank account- order done

 

Ok. Here's where it is right now. I run a Bmx track and we've got gate practice tonight so a permanent install is on the horizon. It's really not that big as you can see. Second shot is where it'll go.

 

So if I combine this with a pedal commander will my Tacoma drive like a race car?

 

Better than mine. I ran out of time and just tucked into my floor mat. Haha


Oh duh. That's what you did.

 

Oh also that beep people were complaining about. It's really mild so you don't notice it. Way quieter than the trucks beeps.

 

Sure - I'm in. Ordered.

 

Looks like i get mine tomorrow! I cant believe how many have theirs but haven't installed yet! Lets get them installed and get some reviews out!

 

Alright, picked mine up and temporarily stuck it between my WeatherTech liner and the carpet:



There's enough slack to mount it above/under the dash, hidden out of view. The beeping is fairly quiet and not too intrusive, but I'd still suggest getting rid of it in new/next units.

I drove a route that I drive at least a few times per month, so I have a pretty good idea of how the truck behaves along this route. Unfortunately I hit it at peak rush hour traffic, so I spent a ton more time in stop & go than I expected.

So, quick review of first impressions...

First five minutes in slow, city driving: truck was holding 3rd quite nicely, whereas it would normally shift into 4th, bog down, then jump back down into 3rd, then repeat the cycle. Much better.

Next came about 15 minutes of highway: I sped up to 110kph and enabled cruise control. The road here was level, or perhaps with a very, very slight incline. The truck held 4th gear the entire time; I would have proffered 5th here. Once the road turned downhill, the truck shifted up to 5th and held this gear until about 130kph (I disabled cruise control after the shift to 5th and accelerated), which is when it finally went into 6th. Further down the road I noticed something interesting: I slowed down from 130kph to about 110kph (went from 6th to 5th), then gave it a bit of gas to pass traffic (down to 4th), and after I passed I stopped accelerating at about 115-120kph, and the truck went into 6th (much earlier than the 130kph I noticed the first time). Almost as if the truck "remembered" that I was cruising in 6th and went back to that gear after my pass. Probably just some random occurrence.

Then I sat in grid lock for another 20 minutes of driving.

Overall I'd say there's quite an improvement. The truck generally feels much more responsive (because it's keeping the RPMs much closer to the powerband than before), and I didn't experience any of the (otherwise common) bogging down (as the truck tries to accelerate from 1500RPM). Downshifts definitely happen quicker than before, which is a big improvement. The benefits are noticeable in both city and highway driving.

Whole new truck? No.
Worth the $175? Definitely.

 

Arriving tomorrow - will install asap!

 

@dcz108 man i don't want to bother you but when do you think you're going to have your product for 2.7?

 

4th at 110kph seems too low a gear. I'd be interested to know if you see am improvement in km/litre.

 

I agree, it should have been in 5th. But I also saw it go up to 5th by that speed at other times, so I think it was a one-off. Probably due to the very slight incline of the road.

I'm also very interested to see how my fuel economy changes. When I normally drive this very route (no traffic), I get around 13.5L/100km. Best I've seen on this route was 12.7L/100km. Today that route included a good 20-30 minutes of very heavy (stop & go) traffic, and faster than normal driving on the highway. I was expecting to see much worse than the 15.8L/100km I saw when I turned the truck off.

 

Lol thanks bro. I mean, $200 is a fair price, and it sounds like an improvement. I'm eagerly waiting to try it out, myself!

 

Post up the results. I'm waiting for more reviews before pulling trigger. I get the concept, but I'm not entirely sure that someone else's shift points are the same as what I would choose.