KDMax-Pro Tuning--NOW YotaWerx Tuning

Got my KDMax tune this morning. I live in Fort Worth TX. Dealt with Alex @A_Tacoma01. I have not even had the tune for 24hrs but am already impressed with the results. If you have been on the fence about this do it. If you live in the DFW area reach out Alex, he was professional and on time early Sunday morning, in bad weather to boot. I can’t say good enough things about the tune or about Alex. Do it you won’t regret it.

 

Glad to here it! Thanks for the feedback.
Alex is a pro and a great guy!

 

I have a manual 2020 and just recently posted up a review from when I drove out to Vegas from Indianapolis, then back to Tennessee. Should be decently recent within a few pages or so

 

I have KDMax Pro on an MT on a 2020 (also had a few of the earlier versions as well). 'bout time for a quick update from my first impressions anyway.

'Worth it' is still fairly subjective, but personally, I've seen notable improvements in driveability.

Mostly, I'll echo that the biggest benefit is improved consistency from gear to gear. On the stock tune, it seemed like every gear had a unique (and not always ideal) power curve. The KD tunes have a good gear to gear power response.

The throttle curve also feels like it ramps up a bit earlier in the throttle position, I can come off the clutch with just over a touch of throttle and and the truck steps out quite nicely. This is me mostly going by feel, I haven't done any back and forth comparisons since I flashed the first KDMax, but the feel is good.

As of now, I've put about 2 and a bit tanks on this tune (not quite 500 miles). Vast majority of my driving at the moment is fairly short city driving, maybe 5 - 20 miles max on a given trip. I have had one longish trip (100 miles each way), just over a week ago. Tune feels good overall, I figure it's getting pretty well settled in.

I am seeing a small uptick in MPG, not anything I can definitively state is tune related (I'm seeing about 1 more MPG on average for the city trips, from about 13.5 ish to around 14.4 plus or minus). I did get up to almost 21 on the 100 mile run on a quiet freeway. As mentioned in a previous post, my driving style is not really suited to max MPG anyway, my friends like to tell me I'm driving the truck like I used to drive my 350Z

All in all, this has been a pretty good tune for me. The improved consistency and power onset are notable improvements in the day to day short stop and go driving I mostly do at the moment.

 

Ill take some info too!

 

sent

 

this review reflects my thoughts too! kdmax pro on a 2021 mt. i have about 500 miles on the tune. at first, i didn't notice a difference. maybe i was expecting a drastic power difference like on a tune on a turbocharged engine. biggest changes are the throttle curve is more sensitive and the drivability is more consistent.

 

Got my truck tuned Saturday with the KDMax Pro Sport throttle, only have about 200 miles on it so far but here's my initial feedback on the tune.

Around town (50mph and under) the truck drives great, huge improvement over stock. The sport throttle isn't nearly as aggressive as I expected it to be based on other reviews. From a stop the throttle comes on a lot quicker (but not overly aggressive, still very easy to control), but once you're moving the throttle doesn't seem any different than stock when you give it gas. Shifting is also a lot better with much better power and acceleration at lower speeds as the truck holds gears longer. The upshift too soon and then have to downshift again to hold speed gearhunting issue is gone as well.

On the freeway has been a different story, as for me it's been a bit worse than stock so far. Seems like everyone has said it has more power and holds speed much better up hills but it's been quite the opposite for me. My commute to work is about 38 miles down the 5 with lots of rolling hills/slight inclines and one slightly steeper one. Stock it would downshift to 5th on most of the smaller inclines and the steeper one. After installing the 33's it would still downshift only to 5th on the smaller inclines and downshift to 4th on the steeper hill. On the drive to work today after the tune, it tried to hold 6th too long when it should have just downshifted to 5th instead. On nearly every one of the smaller hills/inclines it would try to hold 6th instead of just downshifting to 5th and just continue to lose speed. I would keep pressing the gas pedal farther and farther as it was losing speed while continuing to hold 6th, but it's like there was a dead spot in the pedal and there was no response to me giving it more throttle, and then finally after losing enough speed it would have to shift all the way down to 4th to regain speed.

It also doesn't seem to pull nearly as hard under full throttle as it did stock. Before the tune the truck had a ton of passing power. When I would step on it stock it would hit hard and go, but it just doesn't have that hard pull anymore with the tune. I travel a lot for work and much of my driving is on smaller hilly highways so that hard hit and quick passing power is a must for getting around semi's and slower cars in short passing areas, and it just doesn't seem to be there anymore.

Has anyone else had any issues like this and did they work themselves out as the truck learns the tune? Maybe my expectations were too high with all the positive reviews I've read on here or maybe the tune just doesn't work well with my intake/exhaust, but I'm a little disappointed so far. Really hoping the truck just needs to learn the tune more and that things will get better. Around town it's great and a huge improvement, but I drive a lot and 90% of my driving is on the highway/freeway where (so far) this tune just doesn't seem to work as well as stock. Not trying to discredit the tune at all, it seems to work very well for most people. Really hoping the truck just needs to learn it better and the freeway driving will improve.

I was hoping to get it on the dyno this Friday before I head out of town for work next week, but I decided I'm going to hold off for now to give it a little more time to hopefully figure out the tune a little better.

 

Absolutely

 

I don't think tc is unlocking in 5th and 6th under freeway speeds. TC stays fully locked, unless you remove the foot of the pedal.

I'm on a stock Drivetrain/tires and 6 to 5 downshift is a spot on for me on inclines.
However, the tune milks 5th on inclines ( since Kruiser4 version).

I have exhaust and intake and currently on 87 Sport. I did not notice any lack of acceleration during passing, overtaking .

 

Good to hear this. I like my throttle a lot from 0-50%, past that it just seems to fall off. But 99% of driving on the new tune has been highway so far

 

The 5th and 6th gear topic interests me. I am hoping to get tuned this coming weekend or next. I travel a fair amount of highway for work as well as weekends headed to the mountains. Most people speak about the 1 thru 4th improvements. Maine's highway is all rolling hills, but sometimes it feels like its uphill all the time, no matter which direction you are headed. Hoping to be able to hold 5th or 6th regularly, but also downshift if needed. My SR5 came with 245 75 r16s. Went up to 265 75 r16s. Since then, truck seems ruined. Not much increase in size, but lost 25% mpg, and constant gear hunting.

 

Been driving my 2020 for ~15k miles before electing to go with a tune to ensure I really experienced it as-is from the factory with all types of driving. I just got the KD Max Pro (Lite Throttle) tune done yesterday, and even on the fairly short 10 mile drive home noticed a considerable difference. Look forward to testing it out more, but in short here is what I can say:

1. The truck feels notably faster. Pulls harder to redline for sure. Not a placebo effect - it's definitely pulls harder than stock.
2. The 1st gear WOT acceleration shudder is GONE. I couldn't stand this about the factory truck... had a shudder when gunning it in first gear in mid/high RPMs. Completely gone with the tune.
3. Gear hunting is largely reduced on the gradual inclines. There is actually power in 5th / 6th gear... allowing the truck to accelerate up these grades without downshifting. So basically it now drives how a normal vehicle drives...
4. Toggling on ECT really amps up the throttle response. The tuner put it this way... The Lite Throttle tune + ECT = Roughly somewhere in between Normal and Sport.

Also to note - The only airflow modification I have is the TRD Intake with a stock paper filter, so largely stock. Also only running 265/70/17.

Will update more once I have a chance to drive more, and into the mountains. Previously, before the tune, I had to use the gear limiter set to 4th gear to gain speed up mountain grades on i70. It was terrible. Hoping that changes dramatically. Even so, overall I feel great about it right now. Easily the most impactful change I've made to the truck to-date.

 

I opted out to stay on 245 75 WPs. Traded sexy looks for the left lane driving.
Driving hills is all about your hardware and the allowed speeds.
In my area we have miles long inclines with various grade. If I stay 60-65 mph, I can be in 6th all the way to the top. Close to 70 and past, 6th is not appropriate. On a very long incline and speeds close to 75+, the 5th gear will tap out around ~2500 and you would want 4th anyway.
Climbing 3-5k passes, only 4th can doing across all tunes.

 

I spoke with with Derek this morning about his issue. It is not normal his shifting issue. This has happened to a couple trucks and a simple reflash has fixed the issue. Derek only has a couple hundred miles on the tune at this point. We are working with him to clear up the shifting issue.

 

Dereks setup is unique he has URD Y pipe and removed secondary cats with AFE intake and exhaust. Not your normal everyday setup.

 

In the 5 years i've owned my truck, i can say i've never felt the need to redline or accelerate under WOT. I got the truck with the expectation that its a truck and will drive like a truck...am I in the minority here?

 

Your right where I am. I have fast cars, and my truck is not one of them. I am still interested in this tune, but not for more power. Drivability and increase in MPG would be my goals.

 

I would tend to agree, but since the 3rd gen taco only has a useful power band of 4-6k rpm. Sometimes it seems that there isn't much choice.

 

Same, I would like a smoother power band but since its a manual, i really don't know if i want to justify the cost of the tune for a smoother power band, and MPG savings, wheres the break even on cost of tune vs fuel savings. I'm sure it'd be roughly 5 years lol