Long term review- OVTUNE + 5.29s for 5k miles - meh to ok

The Tacoma still sucks. It does. It sucks less than stock but it's still 5/10. I didn't really have perspective until I rented a new Wrangler with the 2.0L! turbo. This thing drives SO much better; any throttle, any speed, it is SO SMOOTH, and the torque from the turbo down low is so nice. No throttle bucking, no awkward gear shifting, just predictable driving. It reminded me of what a nice driving drivetrain feels like.

I've been driving the Tacoma for 3 years and 60k miles. I have learned to be 'ok' with the Tacoma's manners. I thought OVTUNE and 5.29s (after 35s) would be the smoking gun. It wasn't. A soft pedal is ok, and WOT is ok, but it still hunts and bucks around between 50% and WOT. It still gear hunts on the freeway and holds 4th too long when 5th is more than adequate. Gear hold helps, but the damn thing still goes into 4th when it shouldn't. Toyota must have programmed cruise control to hold 4th gear by any means necessary. There are so many times when it holds 4th for no damn reason whatsoever.

I have just learned to go easy on the pedal, no rapid pedal changes, sport mode and gear lock pretty much exclusively and it's tolerable; cruise control is still off the table. I have to hold speed manually to prevent excessive shifting.

I just wanted to set others' expectations. These things help but they don't make it pleasant by any means. Not gonna sell the Tacoma, I'm too deep into it now, but man, it just doesn't shift or drive that great overall.

 

I have Cooper Maxx 33's and installed 5.29's a few weeks ago and to me, the truck is finally nice to drive on the freeway. It FINALLY holds 6th gear on the freeway in cruise and never downshifts to 5th unless it's a fairly steep hill. Even my wife drove it a few times and she kept talking about how much nicer it is to drive now.

That said, the shifting between 2nd and 5th is janky, I totally agree. The transmission tune itself is to blame, it's just suuuuuuper lazy and herky jerky when it doesn't need to be. The constant desire for it to stay below 1100 rpm's drives me nuts. Probably the worst automatic I've ever driven.

 

Give the KDMax tune a try. i dont have gears but the throttle and shift logic is pretty good.

i was on OVtune 2.0 for 10k miles. before trying the KDMax

 

So those jeeps with their small factory tires do go like stink with that 4cyl turbo. I think they have a hybrid electric motor assist. I would bet if you stuck 35" tires on that little jeep motor, you would not care for it either though. My Rubicon V6 ran well until I went to big tires and then it was a dog on 35" tires. I am happy with how my Taco runs in stock form, so when I go to 33" tires and 4.88's, I should be better off.

 

82k miles here and 100% agree as far as driving experience, this is only fun off road. On the pavement especially in traffic, this thing doesn't know which gear to be in.

 

There are much better tunes than the 2.0 released by Matt. They are not perfect either, but pretty good improvement over the base 2.0 file. Give them a try. Tunes with gearlock are my favorite for freeway long distance trips.

 

Send @PapaRee a PM on here. I was on 2.0 as well with 5.29's and 33's. Wasn't super stoked especially after dumping $3,600 into gears and tune. I now love how this truck drives with his KDMax 6.0 Tune.

 

This doesn’t bode well for my plans of larger tires, gears and a tune

 

I was really surprised how the Jeep drove compared to the taco .our trucks are definitely not street machines . They are are awesome off road and can’t beat how well they hold their value .

 

That's the big drawback of going big wheels and tires.

I ran 3 1/4 mi passes at 15.5 @ 91mph stock with 700 miles on the odo. I cant wait to see what it'll run now with a 3" lift and 34's.

 

That is just the fact of HP turbos. They punch well above their weight.


What tire size are you running in the tune? If 35, try upping the radius to 18.0 or 18.5. That should settle the AT down.

 

One tip for cruise control is when you see you're going to be on a fairly flat surface and it won't upshift, to just tap the gas pedal and it'll get the hint. That helps a lot, but it's still annoying you have to do that. I'm on 4.88's, 33's, OVTune 2.0

 

35s and a tune and complaining? Lol. My stock truck is fine for what it is. Coming from an 3.5 eco boost in my f150. I don't drive fast and if I need to hit the gas it works

 

That's a cool story.

 

Doesn't any Tacoma owners just wake up and just simply fucking drive? Gods honest serious question. People "bro" the fuck out of these basic "meat" movers even though they hate em. Why did you purchase in the first place, cause they "look" cool? Because of reputation?

These nummmers spend money on different tires, wheels, gears all sorts of weird bolt on shit, tunes etc... and just bitch. Does no one get a vehicle because they need it?

You all have too much time and food.

 

I mean he's got a point. Putting tires with a nearly 4" larger diameter, probably at least 20lbs heavier and complaining that it drives like whale shit... Look in the mirror to see who's responsible.

 

Problem solved.

 

Might as well go all-out and pony up for the supercharger.

 

Sorry, these "sally go-rottens" get under my skin...