Tacoma - OVTUNE - VFTUNER - Update Info and Original Development

I'm curious if anyone else is noticing the way the tune holds onto 3rd, when accelerating and then holding at moderate speeds. To replicate this, start from a standstill, gently accelerate up to 30 mph (with stock tires, anyway), and then hold that speed. The truck will stay in 3rd gear turning 2K rpm, even if you completely let off the accelerator. If you speed up to ~33-34, it'll shift up into 4th and, if you go real easy on the throttle, into 5th. Then, if you slow back down to 30, it'll stay in that gear and let you cruise at ~1200 rpm. I spend a lot of time on roads with a 25 mph speed limit, and it's really annoying to be forced to cruise at 2k, so I end up having to push it up to 35 and then let it slow back down to get it to let go of 3rd. Once I've done that, it behaves as I would expect - holds onto the tall gear unless I accelerate hard enough that it needs to downshift.

And yes, I get the irony of buying a tune and then wanting it to facilitate driving like a grandma; however, best I can tell, all of the other gears in the shift pattern are well balanced between efficiency and sportiness. So that makes me think this 3rd gear behavior might be a mistake/bug, especially since the behavior only happens in that one specific scenario.

 

How about towing with the OV Tune?

We are near the Mexican border after a trip from Oklahoma City pulling a 3200 lb travel trailer. I have the SSP and ran the first part of the trip in P2. Then went to P3. Much better. The transmission CONSTANTLY shifted from 5-4-5-3-5-4-5-4-5-3. The truck would accelerate to 70 mph in 4 then shift to 5, drop to 67 mph, then shift to 4 and sometimes 3. My wife said it was pushing her over the edge and gave me permission to find another truck before making the agonizing trip home. But both of us love the Taco.

I have read nearly every post about the OVTune and how it has allowed the Tacoma to do what it should do, correcting what it was designed to do by Toyota. We have decided to keep the travel trailer for another year and we tow long distances. I am seriously considering the OVTune.

Has anyone used the OVTune while towing and what differences were there?

 

me to, i have an overwhelming need to mod my truck

 

Yes, I notice this as well - and it's more noticeable to me on the 87 tune vs. the 91 tune FWIW. It's not a deal breaker by any means and it is something I can live with. In some cases I don't mind it holding 3rd like that - for example if I need to hold a steady 25 mph in a residential zone I can keep my skinny pedal steady and maintain the perfect speed throughout and its also generating a bit of engine braking there but in other scenarios I do find myself wanting it to 4th. I feel like holding onto 4th a little longer would be appropriate so likely tweaking of the 3rd-4th and 4th-5th shift points would be helpful at last for those of us on stock tires. The 1st-3rd and 5th-6th is PERFECT IMHO though. Ideally it would naturally drive up to 4th without bogging and then hold onto 4th from like 30-45ish and only shift to 5th and above after 45.

I do feel like some of this will be addressed when Mat gets a set of OEM tires/wheels on his rig.

But to those reading - this isn't something WRONG with the tune. It is a minuscule idiosyncrasy of the tune in the grand scheme of the many erroneous idiosyncrasies in the stock calibration

 

I experienced this issue as well. There is a one mile residential zone (25mph) that I drive daily, truck would hold 3rd until ~33mph. So I am forced to cruise at ~2000RPM between 25 to 30mph. I think @OVTune can modify the shift logic so that under very light load, in 3rd gear, around 28 - 30 mph, it would shift to 4th gear.

edit: 87 tune, stock rims / tires

 

Guess that is an incentive to go to those 265/75's

 

Another fun aside on the 87 tune vs. 91... I had the whine / howl on stock but amidst all of the other issues I was pissed about it wasn't #1 on the list and there wasn't a fix available last summer. On the 91 tunes (run since Aug '17) I never, ever had the whine. On the 87 tune I do have the whine that is outlined in the active TSB. It puzzles me how the tune would change how the diff / leafs howl but I know it can be reproduced and I should qualify for a free replacement set of leafs out of the deal

Again - not tune related whatsoever as this was absolutely present on stock 87 calibration running 87 fuel. I just hadn't thought about it for months b/c it didn't happen when I ran premium on the 91 tune. I guess the additional power in the drivetrain changed the frequency of the resonance somehow such that you don't hear anything at normal speeds.

 

Is this "whine/howl" only related to the leaf springs?

 

No - getting off topic (my fault!) but it's covered in this TSB. it doesn't "bother" me too much at all but it is present and aside from the dampers the TSB does include replacement leafs

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-tsb-whine-noise-from-rear-of-vehicle.532809/

 

Thanks, dakar leaf packs, so I don't have to worry bout this

 

Noticed this as well with the 87 tune. Stock Off Road Double Cab.

 

gears 1,2,3 and gears 4,5,6 use different transmission torque calculation maps for shifting so there will be noticeable differences between the these. It's required this way to disable the transmissions "smart features"

also I could of swore most of you guys asked to setup the shifting to avoid super low rpm lugging it around town? is 2000 rpm too high?

 

3rd gear is right, it’s ment to accelerate you to 4th. The easiest way around it it is to go s mode, up shift and back to d. The truck will hold gear you selected and not upshift when you go back to d. Or accelerate and let off.

 

I know there's been a few that have towed with it, you may need to search this thread or the review thread for 'towing' or 'towed'. that being said, the tune fixes all the dancing I experienced on flat ground completely (though I didn't have as big an issue as most as I tended to sit at 65 rather than 70-75 where the dancing was bad) if you're wondering if the tune is worth it, it's a simple answer... YES. will it fix ALL your issues, not sure, but with the 87 tune you get better shifting, better throttle input, better torque converter lock up, and most have seen an increase in MPG. 91 will give you all of those (save maybe the increased mileage... I'm seeing an ever so slight increase) WITH more power.

$800+ isn't chump change to most of us, and for many will be the by far the largest single purchase for their Tacoma save maybe tires, but IMO... it's easily the best. Even a supercharger, while it would undoubtedly give more power, wouldn't have the drivability improvements that really made the 3.5 feel worse than it is.

 

With the transmission gearing the way it is, I think any tune is going to end up being a trade off in some areas.

Personally, I prefer it does what you are describing over shifting earlier to 4th.....in fact, i think the tune shifts to 4th too early as it stands now in some instances (like accelerating out of a turn). Anything lower than 2k RPM with this engine and there really is no torque to accelerate.

I’ve driven with a SSP for several thousand miles and have become accustomed to driving in a lower gear at times compared to stock “D”, so that plays into my opinion here.

 

I think shifting is just fine. it's 100% better than it was before... even my issue with down shifting in the mountains, was more because it needed more throttle than before, not that it shifted early or late, just that I needed to get used to HOW it shifted.

I drive 20 miles every day on base at the 30 mph speed limit with cruse, and see no issues of it holding a gear too low/high, I'm constantly monitoring my MPG's and the bar is pretty much maxed at "30" when I drive base

 

No - I'd prefer where it is over anything I've seen since and the difference in torque calculation maps makes sense. I'd rather it hold 3rd in those scenarios like it does today vs. the race to 6th it used to do in the same scenario. all. day. long. the 3rd gear thing does feel like it holds onto it "longer" than the other gears which feels a little odd at times but similar to how ECT holds 3rd. if anything having it hold onto 4th longer before upshifting to 5th would be ideal (I think you said on your truck it didn't shift up to 5th until like 45-50 mph or something).

All that said, this shifting you've nailed is 1000% better than stock

 

Definitely do not want it lugging around like it did stock. But I think the engine load vs speed vs RPM logic could be improved. Specifically in 3rd gear, ~30mph, at low load scenario. If I am still accelerating (under mid to high load), I expect it to stay in 3rd until closer to 40 mph. If I stopped accelerating at 25-30mph (low to no load), I expect it to go into 4th. Perhaps those of us on stock tires noticed 3rd gear 30mph issue more than those with bigger tires.

Like many have stated, current OVTuned shifting is so much better than stock, this is minor adjustment that can make it even better!

 

2000 is cool

 

Mine is dead on 31mph it'll change, so I tend to get to 31mph then let it change and slow back down to 25/30 and it'll hold 4th. It's just that little bit too high for me, 29 or 30 would be better.