Did ECM Tuning Save Your Relationship? (Attn: 6MT)

The problem is..the engine does not seem to want to rev. I’ve had engines that seem like they want to be up in their powerband, but a stock 3.5 isn’t one of them..it just seems noisy and reluctant to do anything; actually, is this the perfect truck for millennials?

On a serious note, keeping the revs up sure seems dramatic in the cab. Does it make as much racket outside of the cab? Does it actually sound like I am trying to reenact Fast and Furious scenes when just pulling out in to traffic and attempting to not get rear ended?

While at the end of the day it is unlikely to change my mind, I think I am just gonna do it. I’ll want to know I tried everything before throwing in the towel.

 

No matter who you go with you wouldn't regret it, trust me

 

The tune made a difference for me. I also have the 6MT and wasn't really impressed with the 3.5 either. It's just flat under 3300-3400RPM at 1/4-1/3 throttle, then above that it pulls well. I got the OTT tune for it's advertised torque hoping it would help pulling my camper. It did that for me and made the truck a lot more fun to drive, pulling or not. Light to moderate throttle acceleration is like I would expect it to be, not that flat, don't want to go anywhere in any hurry feeling that it has stock. I hope you get the same results that I did.

 

A year ago today I drug this moldy looking TRD home with me. Today’s the day - I’m going in.

Was going to just wake up and get to it this morning but I am going to try and quantify some things and maybe settle a bit of the placebo debate or not. Being a manual, I’ve decided that especially without the torque converter in the mix, accelerometer data can serve as a fairly reliable butt dyno mythbuster for the off idle characteristics a conventional dyno won’t capture.

Test plan is currently logging data from 1st through 3rd, repeating each 2-3 times. Throttle application I am debating, I don’t want to just stab it, but rolling it on slowly would be hard to keep consistent. I might do something like foot-off idle to full throttle over a half second or so. From there, I will back up my inclined driveway (~160’), clutch out and foot off the gas. In stock form, it will do it, but it’s not really thrilled about it to say the least. From there I will tune, drive 50 miles or something, repeat the test plan; then after a full tank or so, do it all again.

 

Automatic here it definitely improves it for me around town driving. Early years have a huge noticeable difference. Out on the interstate it still doesn’t have what it needs (the truck not the tune). Especially if ya have any kind of hills or headwind. Double overdrive with wrong gearing and no torque just don’t add up. Probably re-gearing would fix the problem and would pair nicely with the tune. I’m not taking a brand new truck and going through all that though. Have a new truck being built end of February next year.

 

First impressions:

OH MY GOD! NIGHT AND DAY TRANSFO....ahhhhh haha just kidding, I wish. I need to get some miles on as I just did a quick ~12 mile test run last night, and there are some noticeable improvements/changes, but a couple things may have actually gotten worse (the most glaring of which being the 3000 RPM surge). Will try and get out some more today.

 

I like that you didn’t just create another thread asking whether or not you should get your truck tuned, but you’re actually helping by adding info to TW and talking about your experience. So many people come here and ask if they should get their truck tuned and then are never heard from again.

FWIW, my Tacoma has been tuned for almost 2 years now (KDMaxx) and it’s the best money I’ve spent on the truck. I have an automatic trans and it was a night and day difference for me.

 

I figure I might as well try to add some value to the noise..

Got about 100 miles in yesterday, was scouting some properties so the driving was widely varied but mostly on secondary roads. Had the wife and pup with me so it was pretty mild-mannered driving, but I did get a couple on ramps and even a little stretch of rough, soggy maintenance road. I do think the "learning" has been playing catch-up, and maybe some adjusting going on behind the wheel at the same time. I think I'll just wait until the end of this tank until really going in to any detail.

 

What tune did you get?

 

^This, but 3-4k is the sweet spot unless you’re lugging down the freeway.

 

My main complaint on stock tune was inconsistent throttle response. Wasn’t a huge fan of accumulator either.

Did the ADM, thanks to TW and it made a huge difference. Truck drove great, I’ve always used 91E0 since new.

About a year or so later I decided to try premium SFOB, quite a few guys were raving about it on TW. Made a big difference especially at lower RPMs, but can also feel added power throughout the RPM range. Using chevron 94E0.

I would have still gladly kept my truck with stock ECU tune, but the tune made it much more fun to drive. I tow heavy at times and laugh when guys say this truck lacks “low end torque”.

 

I have similar details. My tuners told me just drive the truck normally as I would everyday. Don’t be shy to experiment with it but just drive it as I do everyday because it’s learning my drive style and let me tell you, it’s been getting better each day. I don’t know how much or fast it’s learning but it impresses me daily so far. Tuner said the first 2k miles will be all or most of the learning. I’m about maybe 300 miles in at the moment so still have a ways to go as I don’t drive the truck everyday also.

 

do you think the manifold spacer is worth it? Ive been on the fence about getting one

 

In my opinion, no. It’s such a slight difference. Not worth the money in my opinion. If you are ok with spending that much money and questioning if maybe it’s a little bit better, then go for it.

 

I think so the power curve shift is nice especially with a manual. The install is fast too and the torque is more where it should be.

 

ok, yea, it would be nice to have the torque come in a bit earlier. with 285/70-17 tires, the truck struggles in situations like 2nd gear any lower than 15mph. theres too many situations where I feel like I shouldnt have to downshift, but I have to beause the power just isnt there

 

Same I'm running 285/75/16 E rated and it was an improvement.

 

It’s a truck not a race car . Drives like a truck handles like a truck .a tune isn’t going to make a huge difference to the characteristic of the truck . The Tacoma isn’t for everyone from the sound of it I think u would be happy with a tundra .

 

...anyway...

An update I don't think anyone was asking for. This is the YotaWerx Blackhawk tune, whichever their mild/daily driver flavor is, regular gas. I run Mobil 89 typically, and have in the past opted for 93 and/or 91 rec gas. I'm one of those whack jobs that thought it did run a little better on the good stuff, but unfortunately not enough to be worth the...premium. But at this point I am curious enough to try it again I think after I get acquainted here, especially with gas being down at the moment.

I'm probably somewhere around 230 miles in now (was not driving over the holidays). This has definitely changed the character of the truck. It's a weird...noticeable in a passively dramatic way. It didn't turn hate to Disney-grade love, but it's tolerable now. I'm not constantly underwhelmed, feeling like I have to nag the truck to go. I just kind of drive it and don't have to actively think about it.

• My signature move, rolling stops for right hand turns, is now no longer the constant debate of leave it in 2nd and fall flat on its face, or downshift to first...now it will roll with that punch acceptably. Not great, I don't get an adrenaline rush out of it, but it's somewhere bewixt not bad and OK.
• Overall throttle response is improved, it wants to rev now - almost too much, I now have to consciously keep the RPM's down. There are some acceleration scenarios where I am rolling on the gas and it feels like the throttle almost runs away or gets ahead of itself a little bit, almost a little like turbo lag. This may be just something that continues to get worked out with the learned values.
• The 3000 RPM surge that caught me off guard has smoothed out dramatically; and behavior in reverse has now gone from worse to a noticeable improvement. These too must have been LV reset quirks.
• Fuel economy seems about normal, maybe even a tick improved. About the worst time of year to evaluate MPG's here, but no drastic change either way for tank #1. I do notice I'll drop 1-2 reported on a trip if I'm not keeping the RPM's in check, which hopefully surprises no one, but may be a bit of a MT-emphasized trait. I keep moderately detailed fuel logs so I'm looking forward to seeing if there's any trends (toss up if this is actually something I am enjoying studying, or if I am finally looking at a possible first practical use for these logs I've kept over the years).
• Again, I have already established I am completely off my rocker, but whatever has happened here has also helped it just be a nicer shifting truck. RPM hang? A little more low end? Better throttle response yielding easier clutch modulation? I still have yet to do the ADM, for whatever that is worth.

Is this going to save it for me? It just might. The pit in my stomach wondering if I made a big mistake with this is (I think) gone and I'm somewhere in this limbo land of re-evaluation of everything. I'm going to go another tank or two before seeing if the accelerometer data backs the butt dyno, hopefully conditions stay OK here but I have doubts I'll be re-testing in 55 degree weather here anytime soon. Was hoping to do this back to back, but I criminally underestimated the affect of resetting the values and it would not have been fair; although it would have been an interesting data point, sort of an in-between value of before and after.

 

3ish Month Update:

I got a little curious a month or so ago and apparently had money burning a hole in my pocket so I decided to give OTT a shot. Started with running Spicy, then Medium, then Mild for a day or two. Stuck with Mild for two weeks, but went back to Medium over the weekend. Overall, current state, I prefer the OTT - and the CARB thing is also a factor as I hope to someday get back to a more scenic state, which will probably mean I leave the great state of “you can register a rusted out coal ship with a pile of flaming tires and a leaking tank of PFOS on the deck, as long as you pay the SOS.”

MPG’s seem largely unchanged still. Winter is a hard one to judge during though, and getting used to driving the ‘new engine’ so to speak..well, and it’s fun now so I am driving a little differently in that sense too. Last tank was 17.4 MPG (17.6 per the truck’s reporting). It’s been cold and windy lately so I am not tooooo sad about that number, last years logs said I averaged a little over 18 over the season (all stock).

I do hope to eventually get my accelerometer data comparison still, but I will have a 3rd player in the game as well now. Will see what spring brings us!