Tacoma - OVTUNE - VFTUNER - Update Info and Original Development

Understood but I'm going to try it anyway. If the truck doesn't perform right on the 91 tune with 89 gas + booster I'll just reload the 87 tune.
Actually, STP doesn't list a claimed octane boost so that one definitely a crap shoot but that's what I'm going to try 1st.
I will post my results for those interested.

 

I was very pleasantly surprised this morning after my first miles on the highway post 87 tune. I've got a 2017 AC Off Road, automatic. Steel rock sliders, 265/70 KO2s, steel bed rack, roof top tent, 1.5" suspension lift. My morning commute is a rolly highway drive and pretty regularly (same drive in this truck for 16 months now) hit around 18.5 miles per gallon. And tons of gear-hunting up the hills. The drive this morning was actually pleasant and dare I say fun. The truck only found 5th on one hill, it never ended up using 4th. Typically I see 4th gear on three of them. This is pretty awesome. Oh and I got 21.5 miles per gallon. I've never seen that number on this drive. The drive home loses a bit of elevation and I do get around that so we'll see if there is any fuel efficiency gain on the drive home. I will write a more in-depth review after more miles but wanted to share my first impression.





Elevation change of the 21.5 mile drive:

 

Yessir he did!
The very next file he sent me (after a full logging session to his specifications) got rid of the stutters on my truck. Man, so happy with that! We'll see if they stay gone in the long term after the truck has "learned" all it needs to.

There are just a few very small issues with throttle left now (at least for me):
- Mild double bump surge on feathering throttle (transitioning from on the gas to feather, not quite full lift)
- Coarse throttle tip in from idle to 1000 rpm - a VERY light touch is required to get resolution in this range. Remember, my truck is M/T so I need good throttle control at low speeds.
- Intermittent rpm blips when holding the throttle steady at 1000-1400 rpm. They are small, but in 4lo 1st gear they get somewhat annoying.

 

Sweet, I just skimmed over the manual thread, it had been a week or two. Looks like you got a whole gaggle logging over there. Sweeeeeet.
I am super glad Matt got most of the problems improved and didn't have to wait until his logging solution. Sorry I didn't mention it sooner.
Just curious, do you have any idea what kind of data rate you were getting with that many variables?

 

Yeah man the M/T guys really pulled it together over the weekend and helped Mat sort some stuff out. I mean, without a M/T R&D truck, this is pretty much our only option. There's no way IMO Mat could've collected that much varied data from one truck that he borrowed for a day of dyno/street testing. Plus you get many different eyes/ears and butts evaluating each iteration of test tune. Geeky as it sounds, I found the experience very enjoyable

No idea on the data rate, but there were a crapton of PIDs being monitored as per Mat's list. It seems the data rate is sufficient for his purposes, so it's all good.

Happy camper here

Edit: I will say though, that another M/T dyno day wouldn't hurt as some ppl want to see the numbers. For me it's always been about driveability first.. but the extra power is good too lol

 

I know what you mean, on working together. Its really satisfying and can feel pretty unusual. Not only varied vehicles and drivers, but varied outside temps too.

Pretty impressed that Techstream could work with as many PIDs as Matt requested with logs for that long. Techstream is a bit wonky, but getting more impressed with it.

Go M/T boys, Go.

 

I must have overlooked somthing so sorry of it was answered, but why not just skip the octane booster and go straight to 91 octane

 

I think he said something about it being more cost effective to use a booster than 91, if it works out.

That being said, I'm skeptical. I've always been under the impression that boosters dont work or aren't worth the money

 

OVTune, can you explain this for us mere mortals? What do the X and Y axis represent? What are the red and blue lines? And what's your professional synopsis of this?

 

OVTune, would it be smart to attach a 5000 lb trailer to your own truck, pull it around for a while and perform some diagnostics? I'm curious (and slightly concerned) about how well the tune will hold up during hauling - is this a valid concern? Thoughts?

 

the graph represents the amount of ignition at full throttle at each rpm, comparing 87 to 91. It just shows the difference in ignition with 91 octane.

There have been people who have tested hauling / towing already. It's a few pages back in here

 

If you've towed with the tune, please ensure you have a review (or edit with some pictures and towing experience) in the review thread. I know one guy towed a Jeep and didn't have any issues w/ load/temps and I think he was on the 87 tune which didn't even max out the power.... In general so long as you're monitoring your trans temps which you should be doing anyway if towing very much I doubt there will be issues. I'll be buying a travel trailer later this summer and won't hesitate to use my OVTuned truck for the task (monitoring data, of course!)

 

I get that but I don't get the graph because I don't understand the variables. So the y axis represents engine RPMs but what does the x axis represent? And what do these tell you? Is 91 octane the way to go?

Yes, but what's your take? For liability purposes wouldn't it be smart to do some R&D yourself? Couldn't more advanced timing became an issue under heavy load (hauling uphill floored)?

Sorry for the NOOB questions and thanks for any explanations you have!

 

next month (mid april) I will be towing a vehicle about 1100 miles and testing everything on the R&D Truck. I just have not had anything to test tow before

if anyone does have any issues at all towing please let me know right away, but I do not expect any issues.

on the left side of the graph you can see the top is RPM, the bottom is ignition
the graph is just a basic example of the differences between the two.

on most cars more advance = more torque.

 

Some folks were saying that the cost difference between regular and high octane gas could be a $12/tank difference +/-.
I was just looking into an alternative. If the STP works that's only $4/tank increase.
The cost difference in my area would cost me roughly $7.50/tank and I would not mind paying that.

 

I wouldn’t recommend octane boosters. Stop being a bunch of cheap skates and just pump some 91 or higher octane. Otherwise OVTune has a nice 87 file for everyone.

 

I'm paying almost $11.00 more per tank but addicted to the 91 tune. I was set on doing gears as even on the prior tune the truck felt heavy again due to the bigger/taller tires. Truck now feels faster with these tires than it did with the older tune and stock tires. I also usually ran mid grade in mine prior tune anyway as it just seemed to run better than low grade especially in the summer. Not as big a hit between mid and premium.

 

There are lots of ways to look at this... I filled up in CA few week ago and the price delta between regular and premium was $.20 which was 6% difference = no brainer! In TX premium is $.60 more which is a 28% difference and hard to swallow! Ultimately $2.85 a gallon (TX premium) is still a lot more affordable than $3.35 a gallon (CA regular) so I'm going to try to think of it that way...

 

I did a thing... just filled up the tank with the cheap stuff for the first time in 8-9 months and flashed to 87 tune. Only drove a couple of miles so I'll reserve my judgment until I get a full tank in. I'm actually really surprised how well it still drives though... last summer before I was tuned when I put 87 in my truck it ran like garbage which is why I started premium before I was even tuned... low-end power difference was somewhat noticeable but I was in a residential area so not really the place to test power

More to come, edits to review in a couple of weeks.

 

nice, look forward to hearing more dude