2TR-FE Performance Thread

Well I swapped back to the stock 180* thermostat and i got 15.5 mpg for the first time in months. Im guessing the 2TR has the same issue as the 1GR with running cooler thermostats and not adjusting the tuning/compensations for it. The truck ran great, but i was consistently getting 12-13 mpgs with the 170* tstat in there. Turns out Ive been throwing a lot of money away at the pump

 

That's good to know, I never would've thought of that

 

Yeah im a little disappointed to be honest. The truck ran a good bit cooler with the 170*. Maybe there is a higher flow 180* out there that would be an upgrade without wreaking havoc on the gas mileage. ill have to do some research

 

Ill start off with this, VERY NICE THREAD! Huge props to everyone who contributed. Massive amount of time/info dumped into a 25pg read.

Im curious what kind of elevation everyones lives at thats running a stage 2 URD kit. Im at 500ft down in a valley. Im pulling a solid consistent 12.3psi of boost near stock rev limit of ~5700. I called Gadget and he was surprised the boost was that high. He was expecting what most people claim which is ~10.5psi

I thought my PLX gauge was junk and giving me bad readings, so i bought the wifi retrofit kit and logged the MapEcu3 data which is so not user friendly lol.

Both totally separate gauges read identical MapEcu3/PLX record the same and even though i regularly see 12.3psi i defintely have almost hit 14psi on a 80mm pulley. 13.4psi with stock air intake and Wix dry filter. After installing the AFE Pro dry drop in filter after having issues with dust bypassing the Wix i now record 13.7psi if you hold your nuggets and the dubai bang pop sets in revv banging 3rd gear @76mph

 

Truck is an 05 285k on the chassis, engine is an 09 2TR ~100k on it. The thought keeps cycling in my head that maybe somehow the engine is restricted and maybe its just making more boost cuz the head cant flow it????

dont get me wrong.. she screams like a banshee and feels like 13psi. Just dont know why. I forgot to check peak boost when i was up in the mountains to give a high elevation reading so we can confirm it isnt just an elevation thing

 

I havent had any fueling issues with the provided DW100 pump Gadget puts in his kits now. I did have to up the 5th injector a skosh to fix the WOT 4500rpm and up AFR. She was happy in the 12.0 range and then would creep back up to 13afr near redline. 5th injector was only 65% duty so i just gave her a little extra sauce and now its happy

 

I ran over something, as I cannot remember it, with my truck, as year or two ago. The aluminum exhaust didn't take the hit well. Directed the turn down to the rear wiring loom by the bumper. Nearly melted through the shielding by the time I had checked it out.

I feel your troubles.

 

Going farther with the stock block build i already have all the components in hand to go to a limited stage 3 boost level (75mm) you can safely run a 75mm and stay below the Rotrex rpm claimed ceiling of 10,500rpm input rpm. I Did some solid calcs and did find the 70mm is safe as long as your willing to limit your engine rpm. I wasnt as i spend a lot of time revv banging in the dunes. https://rotrex.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Rotrex-Technical-Datasheet-C30-Range.pdf

So with the pulleys ive already run i logged the following
85mm pulley - 9.7-10.1psi boost
80mm pulley - average 12s initially peaked 13.7psi
75mm pulley - expecting... appx 17psi

I really like the idea of having stock block reliability/replacement. i run the tar out of it regularly and i have a Toyota specific junk yard next door to me..... so i like the idea of being able to swap one for one in an afternoon if my wheeler DD takes a crap on me for some reason. 2TR engines are coming down in price latwly too.

plan is to get the truck on the Dyno and see what its making just as it sits.. then you install stage 3 which is a 75mm pulley and a 928 motorsports boost limiting valve to cap the boost at my now known “safe” level. Thatll net my 13psi way earlier than before. As of current at cruise speeds on the freeway in 5th im pulling 2.5-3psi at 2700rpm. Thats the real number i want to boost.
https://928motorsports.com/parts/boostlimitervalve.php

 

Coolant temp fueling enrichment. Has to be the case.

 

We had to do the same on my friend's truck.

 

I'd really like to see what yours makes on the dyno. Make sure that they change the filter to SAE smoothing. Not STD.

Not sure how strong the rods and pistons are on the 2TR, but as a reference, the 3rz hp limit was around 300-350. That'll need clarification.

 

@BassAckwards im not sure i remember what exactly you have done on your build, But that mileage is terrible. 12mpg and i would of just settled for a 4.0L. I did drop a solid 2mpg to 15.5mpg after i boosted on stage 2. But like some others tuned it back to 17mpg

 

Good to know on the smoothing. Ive never had anything dynod before so this is a learning curve for me. Had one i should of dynod

Im really curious about the numbers... cuz Gadget claims 248rwhp on his stage 2 which he said should be ~10psi. I know for fact my stage 2 is bigger than his stage 2. For some reason i have more boost 13psi. And instead of a stock exhaust manifold an LCE header. Instead of running the URD down pipe cat delete i ripped it all out and had a full mandrel bent 3piece v-banded 2.5” exhaust made with a custom bed exit. Uses a flowmaster laminar flow resonator and a magna flow muffler.


This is the one that should of got some numbers recorded. I built a stroked 4.6 I6 @9.6:1 compression so i could turbo it later. Every piece was dialed for torque. You could lug 5th gear all the way down to 35mph on the summit passes. And it would chug until you romped on it and youll pull right back up to 70mph and cruise

 

In case anyone is thinking about exhaust options for the future... i went 2.5” because i was prepping for a SC and knew with the way i drive... things are gonna start glowing red if i dont get that heat out. But i did note a significant torque loss ditching the cats and upping the diameter from toyotas ~2.25” to the 2.5” tubing. The LCE header and just ditching the stock rotted out muffler with a new one was a way better performer while N/A. Were talking straight butt dyno loss like back to shifting again instead of cruise controlling. N/A this was with a URD MAF calibration box as well. The MAF calibration box is actually up for sell of anyone is interested. I made a custom comm patch cable for it to route your access point into the cabin so you dont have to open the hood every dang time you want to make a tune adjustment. I was not a fan of a USB cable out the window pinched in the hood seam scenario railing WOT pulls at 70 on the highway

 

Maybe compression related? Squeezing the gas/air mix is a good bit of what makes it go boom and these engines are relatively low compression. Iirc i seen someone mention the 1gr is possibly even lower than stated from factory. So maybe the engine relies on warm running temps a little more to make combustion happen

 

Im curious what the main benefit of running the colder thermostat was. I know in the URD kit he briefly talked about changing the thermostat but the kit didnt include one so i left the stocker in. Is the main reason for adding a couple degrees of timing back into the mix or is it becuase it just runs so much hotter when its boosted?

The reason i wonder is that im on a stock single core radiator/clutch fan with what im pretty sure is a 185degree thermostat installed. Coolant temp on the logger shows 194 after a pull.

 

That's interesting, i think i remember seeing a little over 10lbs on the stage one pulley myself. I've never really paid attention, but i bet im close to the 12-13lb range now too. I am gonna have to go bang it off the limiter now haha. I set mine at 5500 because the tune URD sent me had it set to 9000 lol. I only noticed it after i revved it to 5800ish one day and i was wondering why it didnt hit the limiter

This sounds strikingly similar to mine. 276k on the chassis on my 09 but i have a motor and trans in it with roughly 110k.

Ahhh man murphy's law at work! Mine was self inflicted i cut the tailpipe off bc it was rubbing the bumper and then it all went down hill from there. I melted alot of the shielding and the socket for the license plate light had to be completely replaced. It also made my trailer wiring harness short out so when i hit the brakes the right turn signal would pop on. Good times

Ive done a few things but yeah the gas mileage was really bad. It was consistently in the 13s around town and would be in the 12's on the hwy. You could practically watch the fuel needle move

Here's what im running
- URD S/C w/ stage 2 pulley
- LCE header
- URD midpipe
- 5.29 gears w/ Detroit TrueTrac
- SPEC stage 2+ clutch
- LCE lightweight steel flywheel
- AEM 340LPH
- Mildly ported throttle body
- Stock catback exhaust
- 295/70/17s

I love that exhaust exit! i've been wanting to do something similar. Do you have any more pics of how they routed it up through there?

Are you running the stock 4.10 gears?

That's probably right on the money as to how toyota designed it. I'd think that hotter operating temps would be better for emissions..

I just installed it bc i went boosted with the stock radiator and the Texas heat is a killer during the summer. I never adjusted the tune or anything i just liked lowering the operating temps from the mid 190s to the mid 180s so that was my main motivation for running it. Looks like it wasn't the best choice in hind sight

 

We basically have the same engine build.
- URD S/C w/stage 2 pulley
- LCE header
- 2.5” cat delete midpipe
- 5.29 gears w/ rear Detroit locker
- ARB front locker
- SPEC stage 2+ clutch
- Stock flywheel
- DeatschWerks DW100 fuel pump
- PLX AFR/ SM-pro boost sensor module
- 2.5” Flomaster resonator
- 2.5” Magnaflow 18” muffler
- 2.5” Bed exit exhaust
- 315/75r16 Patagonia MT on Methods
- Fox 2.5” DSC reservoir coilovers
- Hypertech speedo calibrator
- Bed side mount Twin ARB compressor
- 4x innovations DOM rock sliders

 

I did run into my first tune issue so far. The MapEcu3 allows me to tune the closed loop for good economy during cruise
- 14.3AFR cruise 15.5mpg
- 14.6AFR cruise 16.5mpg
- 14.9AFR cruise 17.3mpg

at 14.9 cruise the bank 1 sensor 2 gets pissy and throws a fault after 3 drive cycle. I was kinda sad when i read on @OVTune site that it wasnt a patch to allow emissions bypass. Cuz thats kinda what i need to do with the dummy second o2 sensor.

Best i can figure is the B1S1 is altered far enough out of line with the actual reading via the AFR calibration box that the separation is too much. Havent pinned it down yet i just started seeing it after the last cruise adjustments. Who knows those sensors could be original.. maybe we should freshen those up before i think to hard about a 285k sensor still reading perfect lol