Tacoma - OVTUNE - VFTUNER - Update Info and Original Development

what ended up being the issue? just in case others have the problem in the future?

 

My wife has a brand new 2018 4runner SR5 4x4 that I can pull data if you still need volunteers.

 

I flashed the truck last night for the first time and have roughly 100 miles on it. Went with the 87 tune (premium is $.60 more here....nope). So far I’m pretty pleased with how the truck drives. I have been using a Shift Sense Pro since last spring when they were first introduced....so I haven’t driven in “D” mode for many months. Impressions so far......

Things I’m THRILLED with:
- throttle response
- smooth gear changes
- holds 6th gear beautifully, even at speeds below 60. Wow! I’m totally impressed with this!
- with downshifts to 5th that are necessary, 5th actually provides some acceleration (unlike stock when it has to further downshift to 4th to accelerate any amount at all).

Not so thrilled with (so far...maybe it will improve?):
- there’s still some “D” mode weirdness....for example, the truck will sometimes shift to 5th gear at speeds as low as 38 or so with light throttle and the result is some bogging or a need to downshift. With the SSP, I’m used to shifts to 5th happening at aroun 45-48 which seems spot on where it should be. IMO, this truck has no business at all shifting to 5th under 45mph ever.....even with the improved performance of the tune. When it does upshift early, it’s obviously better than it used to be by a long shot and the truck can maintain speed, but if you want to accelerate any amount, an immediate downshift is usually necessary. I had hoped this tune would fix stuff like this. Again, maybe it will settle in and get better with time?

I will say that the use of my SSP with the tune is pretty impressive. With those programmed shift points and the altered TC lockup of the tune in S-mode, it drives great. It may be that my happy place is using both together. Time will tell.

Thanks to @OVTune for offering a great product! Very pleased overall with the investment.

 

it was my open port driver. i had thought i downloaded it but i didn't.
Matt helped me.
far all of you reading this i was very impressed with Matts responsive support while i was struggling to flash my truck
usually within 5 minutes he answered my question and i'm sure he was juggling a million others. kudos to Matt!!

 

Do you currently own the 3.5 tune kit?

 

Just got my tracking number, now only to wait about 2 weeks to get it.
Then it's time to roll

 

Are you stock tire / wheels? If so I know Mat mentioned he's getting his hands on a set of OEM wheels / tires to do some refinements there. Those of us on stock tires see the shifts sooner than Mat does on his test truck. It's still miles better than stock and I don't necessarily mind it since I've adapted but I too was driving in S-4 even tuned until the last release so it's taking some getting used to. At least the downshifts are quick and smooth though!

 

Reminder - newly tuned Tacos. When you're ready, get your full review in the thread. Lots of recent flashes and some it looks like have voted but your reviews are really helpful to folks who don't have a month off work to read 14,000 posts in our OVTune BS ....er Alpha thread

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/poll-ovtune-reviews-3rd-gen.535928/

 

ooof so tempting...

 

Yes, I’m still on stock whees/tires (17 TRD Sport). I’m going to keep driving in “D” for a while and see if I can get used to it.

Some of the annoyances that prompted me to buy the Shift Sense in the first place are back, albeit in a milder and more tolerable form. Another example....in city driving, I might make a right turn on a green light. As I turn, I give it light gas to return to speed......the truck up shifts to 4th as I’m trying to gain speed. Before the tune, it would do this and then would have to shift back down to 3rd immediately.....now it holds 4th, but it lugs a bit in that 35-42mph range.

My biggest gripe about the stock tune was highway driving, honestly. The slightest headwind or even rain on the road caused the 5th/6th gear dance. Now, 6th holds rock solid. That fix alone makes me ABSOLUTELY OVERJOYED.

I’ll be sure to go and post on your review page.....I want to give it some more miles before, though.

 

I noticed there's a tune for the crawl control too, is that required to use crawl.control while this tune is being used? Or does that just help crawl control with torque maps and such?

 

@OVTune

 

I have these same questions about Crawl control, sent an email early yesterday morning to OV...just waiting on a reply.

 

I was just thinking about how fun its going to be for him to tune that turbo with the atkinson cycle and the engine switching between the two modes on boost

 

Doubt there will be two modes with the TT. I'll bet its a full otto tune.

 

It is arriving Friday order #2540.

 

Somebody keeps a nice stable. Just need a blue one now for the trifecta.

 

As someone who is overall very satisfied with the tune (1,000+ miles on 87, still need to try 91), and a former SSP user, these are two things that would be my criticisms if I had to name any.

I feel like it it does hit 5th too early. In many around-town situations, I find it going into 5th around 35ish MPH due to the low throttle input (required because there’s traffic). Then it almost immediately needs to drop back to 4th because traffic sped up slightly, and I’d like to keep up with it.

I’ve also experienced the making a 90 degree right hand, go accelrate, and it upshifts and lugs slightly, but I want to accelerate just a bit faster (what I would consider normal, not really heavy footed at all), so it has to downshift again, a little harshly.

But just to restate, overall very impressed with the tune. You can definitely feel the power. Highway driving is dramatically improved.

EDIT: was referring to the 2 posts made by IndyFastlane

 

It was my understanding that aside from crawl control programing, the tunes are exactly the same. Mat has stated from the beginning that if you own a TRD OR you select TRD OR, otherwise it is non TRD OR. The process has changed slightly since then, and you now select your ECM code from the drop down menu in flash manager. Mat can clarify if needed, but for all intensive purposes the tunes are the same.

 

Speaking of Crawl Control... wonder if Matt can make it not sound like the fucking truck is going to destroy itself!? lol I will probably never use crawl control anyways... but the time I tested it, I shut it off after a half a second because it sounded horrible!