ShiftSense Pro - transmission shift controller for Gen3 Tacoma

You don't know my wife.

I sure would appreciate the vendor provide a way of disabling any noises.

 

Mine is located under the Qi charger. You have to listen for it. But I have not had anyone riding passenger that has mentioned it. Really not noticeable but again, mine is in the dash.

 

How do you put it under the Qi charger?

 

When you pull up the console to access the plug for installation, just stuff it under it. Plenty of room. It ends up being under the charger and just in front of the cup holders.

 

Right. .....I also taped the "on/off" switch to "on" before I tucked it nicely hidden in there. I can't imagine the switch being bumped to the off position but did not want to leave it to chance.

 

If you pull up the center console enough, there's plenty of room to shove it in there.

 

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I bought my SSP from another TW member and wanted to give it a full week with the time to drive at length and at all speeds before offering up my opinion. All I can say is that I agree with what most everyone here has stated; it is probably the best mod per $ spent I have ever made. I thought it would take some time to get used to remembering to shift to "S" mode but after one week it is second nature. My truck really does drive entirely different and it's so nice to not find myself in 6th gear at 38 mph anymore when I am trying to accelerate to 45-50mph and feel my truck downshift (delayed of course) two gears to get back into a mode of acceleration. To feel a smooth transition from gears 2-5 in both city and freeway driving is such a pleasure.

Now....can we do something about the giant downshift CLUNK that still happens between 7-14mph when coming to a stop. I swear it feels like I just dropped something from the bottom of my truck or hit something in the road every time.

 

THIS! ^^

I too wish we could do something about that clunk. From what I've heard, most Gen3 tacomas do it, mine included (S or D doesn't matter). We've measured it with data-acquisition. Most of the time, when coming to a stop, the OEM programming will downshift directly from 3rd to 1st gear, which is the SMOOTH one. However, once in a while, it will downshift 3-2-1 with a real-quick hold in second gear of about 0.5-1 seconds. This is the harsh sequence that produces the clunk. We can see it in the data, but don't know exactly under what conditions it happens. The SSP performs its last index to S2 after that OEM downshift to 1st is complete, so there is really nothing that it can do to smooth it out. Hopefully Toyota will step up to the plate with that one and provide a TSB to fix it.

 

Hm, ill send this to @OVTune and see if he can change this.

 

@dcz108 Have you considered providing a calibration specifically for users with the ovtune installed? You would probably have a sizable market for this since most users are complaining about the "learning" problems with the transmission. It appears that disabling the transmission learning is not possible through tuning. In my opinion I feel the SSP is shifting a little later than I would like with the tune installed due to some added power and enhanced throttle mapping. I would like to see a little more conservative shift map somewhere inbetween stock and current SSP map.

Also, after the tune shifting in S mode is now crisp (like butter) making SSP much more enjoyable.

 

Have you driven a truck with the latest 1.02B tune? He rewrote the shift maps. The truck shifts near perfectly now.

 

Yes. I just loaded 1.02B last night (Love it so far!). I've got about 30 miles on the tune so I don't have a lot of time with it. My only complaint with the shift map of the tune is how quickly it still shifts into 5th and 6th. I hate being in 6th gear anywhere under 65 mph. The tune does shift smoother which makes the downshifts less aggravating/noticeable.

 

I hear ya. No complaints here!

 

I might get clobbered here, but if I understand it correctly, S mode (shifting manually) is eliminated? I use S mode off road in low-range, and often on the road. Is there a way to get back to S mode (shift to D then back to S)?

 

When you shift D to S it enables the ShiftSensePro. When in S, moving the shift lever forward or backward disables the ShiftSense Pro and you are in "normal" S mode. Move back to D then to S to re-enable ShiftSensePro.

 

Installed my SSP about 1 week ago. So far I am not really impressed with it. My mileage dropped from 21 down to 18.5. Maybe I am using it incorrectly. Keep evaluating it and if I am not impressed it will be going up for sale.

 

My mileage has gone Up! On average my fuel economy is up 1mpg depending on the driving I'm doing. I love this thing!

 

Long-term update...Have been driving with the SSP for about 5k miles. I'm still very pleased with how this gadget rectifies some of the transmission "goofiness".

My only gripe (and it's minor) is the programming for the shift from 4th to 5th. I understand the reasoning for having to lift the throttle just a tad to signal the shift to 5th.....keeps the truck from up shifting while accelerating (or keeps it ready to accelerate). That said, I feel that that I have to lift off the gas way too much....the throttle position requirement for the shift to happen is not to my liking (not sensitive enough?). Sometimes I feel like I almost have to slow down to make the SSP switch to 5th.

When driving on the interstate at 70+ for extended periods, I typically bump the shifter up and keep it in s6 (I.e. Disengage SSP). I've found that the truck does less downshifting to 5th that way in speeds 70-75. In this speed range, the SSP wants to make the downshift to 5th before the truck decides it wants to.

Mileage doesn't seem to be affected much. I estimate that I may have lost an average 1mpg in city driving, but that is a small price to pay for the improvement in drivability.

All in all.....very satisfied with the purchase even with the quirks. Definitely worth the price!

 

I too didn't quite like the higher rpm shift from 3rd gear on to 6th. Especially the 4th to 5th delay. Emailed dz and for a small fee he set up shifts that better fit my driving style. Chip swap was very easy and it's perfect for me now. Great customer service and very fast. Toyota should hire your services Dan.