[Official] Valley Tuning Thread

It varies by ECU. Open 04C21, it's got nothing.

Ok, I can breath now. I was either convinced I was crazy or you had a magic version of vF. I've been giving folks disclaimers on their tunes that CC didn't work based on what EROM's are available. Then you posted saying it works on all your tunes so I was frantically searching for an answer and about to drop $$ on Pro.

 

Haha I don't blame you. I wasn't sure what you were getting at until Rich and I had our conversation and he showed me what you meant.

I'm hopeful that any new Pro exclusive features will come up with a fix for this. If it does, I'll definitely let you know. I would assume that since the old pro only features are now included in the regular release, that we will be getting some sort of additional feature set soon. TCU access maybe?

One more set of spare electronics I get to purchase for the shop

 

I think someone on vf forum started the installer still says 1.2.99999 but it actually is 1.3, you may try downloading it again

 

Awesome review very similar to my truck

 

I’ll look at it again this afternoon. Thanks for the info

 

*** Information ***

Hopefully everyone had a good holiday weekend! I want to update y’all on some progress being made behind the scenes and what you can expect in the coming weeks.

We have been steadily progressing towards development of additional tune features along with new and exciting tuning options. Currently, we only offer Valley Runner which is by far the most well rounded daily driving tune available for the 3rd Gen.

Progress towards updating the AT trucks to full Octane Independence (OI) files is slow but moving along. We have just over 1600 unique files currently and will be transitioning to 750 or so after the update. Nonetheless, processing these changes and double checking that they export properly is time consuming. Thank you again for your patience. The first trucks to have their files updated to OI will be the 2021 vehicles (we are working backwards on these updates).

Production of Valley Sport has also begun, picture VR but not daily driver minded. This will be for those who prefer speed and response over general daily use. We are incorporating entirely new torque models and the newly discovered powerband expansion (it will apply to ECT only since at times it gets to be too much). Unfortunately, with all the new additions many more aspects of the tune will need to be redesigned. Thus VS development is roughly 75% complete.

Additional future features/edits have been identified and will be used in later developments once perfected.

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*** Website Updates ***

We are happy to introduce an affiliate program today!

What does this mean?

When you log onto your Valley Tuning account, under the account dashboard there will be an Affiliate Program link. Pressing that will allow you to request access to the program.

Once approved by us, users who are affiliates with Valley Tuning will then be able to re-enter the program dashboard and enter a PayPal email under the Settings tab. You may then generate your own affiliate link to the website!

Sharing this link with others will provide you with a 7.5% kick-back on all purchases they make! You can’t receive the kickback on your own referral however…

How much does that add up? It depends… Some of you may know folks who might purchase the tune itself ($45), others may know somebody who wants the installer pack ($600). 7.5% of all sales would be sent back to you!

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We are close to releasing our apparel section as well! Finding the right provider for these products has been tricky.

Die-Cut stickers will also be available later this month for those interested in the purchase!

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The website has been updated on the back end to provide a faster and more seamless service to you guys and gals. It will only improve once the files are consolidated after the final v2.1 release.

*** Additional Info ***

Development of other vehicles has also been started. 5th Gen 4Runners have been in the development pipeline for a while now, with 2nd Gen Tacomas being right on the horizon.

While we venture into this realm of tuning, it should be noted that we have not lost focus of continuously improving the 3rd Gen trucks.

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As always, thank you for your continued support. Plenty more to come. And updates will always be posted here as well as the website’s updates section.

 

Wonderful news

 

If there's anyone interested in trying out VR in the Vegas area give me a shout - I'll be out there for work for a little under a month some time next week.

 

Awesome products and one of hardest working and smartest people I've ever seen

 

Impressions of 04B33-Reg-VR-2.0.3-34in3.90EX-Standard tune:

Truck notes: see my build page (signature)

I've put 606mi (corrected for tire size) on the truck, 2 tanks of gas (37.68 gallons) and that gives me an average of 16.1 MPG. This is no better than I was getting with my 04B31 @Mooseditty17 Mild+Wild tune from November. I would run the Wild (ECT) option on that tune regularly and see the exact same numbers. Driving conditions have been identical, driving style identical, etc. No mods to the truck.

MPG Verdict: no impact

This is where it gets bad. This truck is an ABSOLUTE DOG to drive now. Throttle response is horrible, shifting schedule is ridiculous and overall linearity of throttle is crap. Sorry to all the fanboys, but this tune doesn't cut it.

Throttle response in the low RPM is extremely laggy, like someone drugged my truck with 10 Benadryl. Very slow, no pep. To get anywhere with the truck I have to put WAY more pedal travel in than I did with the previous tune on either Mild or Wild settings.

If you can get it to rev, the power delivery seems quite lumpy, not smooth and linear as so many on here tout.

Once we get over that, this thing races to 4th gear just like a stock truck. That would be fine if there was more low-end grunt but there just isn't. If you want to get anywhere you have to goose the pedal till it downshifts. This is especially annoying on the highway. It wants to hold 5th gear like its life depended on it. Again, that would be fine if there was any additional torque down low, but there just isn't. Any minor "hill" and I lose speed. To get back up to speed I expect a linear pedal input would cause a downshift. But no, you have to give about 5-6x the expected pedal travel to cause it to downshift to 4th.

I would overlook driveability issues if the gas milage increased, but this is a lose-lose tune for me.

Driveability Verdict: terrible.


Don't even start with me on the "did you go to VR Tuner and complain first?" nonsense. This is a public forum, dissenting opinions should be shared.

 

Unfortunately VR is a daily driver oriented tune. It’s not designed to zip your truck around like a sports car. I developed it with stop and go traffic in mind, too jumpy and it’s not fun to drive.

the throttle is a variant of a linear map, this is why on the very low end you’re still able to fully control the truck. As a result, you won’t get the instant jump off the line you would with more sport oriented tunes.

Yes, it tries to get to 4th and 5th as fast as possible. Stock 4th happens at 22-24mph. Under the Standard tune you will shift into 4 around 28-30 with less than 25% pedal. We’ve had complaints from people about the truck staying in 3rd while in neighborhoods with a 20-25 mph speed limit… To each their own. 5th has been reduced to around 44 with light pedal as a target for smoother shifts.

As for being sluggish, it’s a Tacoma. Weight, wind, road conditions, material the road is paved with, etc. all play factors into how the thing drives/holds gears. Anything above 33s on factory gears will suffer simply due to the rotational mass of tires along with the typical tread patterns on larger size tires (they’re usually not suited for on road performance). This is why 35s do not have a 3.90 option on VR, honestly 34s are pushing it for 3.90s.

We are developing the sport tune specifically to appease the crowd who want a truck to feel like a sports car. It will not solve the issue of heavy vehicles operating with a 3.5l V6, but it’ll help.

 

Fair points, but here are the benefits of the tune per the first post:

"The paid version of Valley Runner sees numerous changes which are not present in the free version below. These changes are:

• Atkinson Cycle compensation
• Direct Injection optimization
• Increased throttle response (no, not even over stock)
• Moderate tip in (moderate=sluggish?)
• V8 style driving with the 2GR (no, absolutely not, not even close, no)
• Improved Shifting
• Improved gear holding at highway speeds (at the expense of ability to control truck properly, such as speed and shifting)
• Smoother idle
• 12% increase in real world fuel economy* (no)
• Additional Smiles per Gallon (upside-down smiles)

There is a huge difference between feeling like a sports car, which this truck will never be able to do, and having a more engaging and responsive driving experience. This truck literally feels like it's numb.

 

Again, to each their own. Large tires with stock gears produce less than desirable results.

Throttle settings compared to stock is drastically different. Reflash to stock if you’d like and see the difference. If you’ve been tuned for a while, we start to forget what the original truck was like.

tip in: (made up term) is moderate compared to other tunes. Definitely not sluggish compared to stock. Also, again tires and gears.

v8 style: truck will hang on the lower gears longer with less pedal. Much like a full size does.

fuel economy depends on many factors. None more than tires and gears.

as for your frown, sorry you’re sad faced.

We’ve never made claims that the tune is improved compared to other options. All the reported changes and improvements are over a stock truck. The vast majority of people who run this tune appreciate that it is an in between of OV2.0 and the more sport oriented tunes.

 

Appreciate the feedback, just disappointed vs all the reviews you have on this tune. Though the price is great (kudos to you!) I still hate wasting money.

I'm not going to argue your points, I agree with them. But, I'm providing my feedback for others to read and help inform their purchase decision.

 

Looking at your build, you have big tires and armor. That may be the root of your issues. A tune can't negate weight and rolling resistance.

 

I don’t expect anything less of people. That’s the reason the forums are here, we can have discussions and disagreements.

I will ask you to reflash to stock and feel it. I did last week because I felt like the tunes weren’t cutting it anymore. Quickly realized why I hated the truck back then.

 

Well, I'm happy & smiling with the tune, picked up about 1mpg. Shift points are good and the only place I "lose proper control" is pulling out of my drive, just a some gravel spin. Stock for the most part. Every one of these trucks seem to have different personalities

 

Before you move on to something else, I recommend you try the premium octane version and turn on ECT. I’ve found it to be much more responsive vs the regular octane tune. Feels like a different tune altogether for me. My truck is on 33 x12.5 m/t tires with stock gears.

 

So have you compared fuel mileage in normal mode vs ect mode ?