OTT Tune Review: Lite vs Mild vs Medium vs Spicy

Sounds like you might as well trade in for the 2024. I don’t think the OTT tune will take you to even close to the same level of performance or feel.
I’ll leave it to someone with a 3rd gen to comment on the shifting under load, but the OTT helps your truck hold gear under load instead of shifting around. It’s going to be a better feeling and predictable driving and towing experience

 

I’m scheduled to get my tune the 28th we’ll see. I guess I’ll have to pick a color if this tune doesn’t do it for me, wife’s got the Solar Octane.

 

Well I got my OTT tune done today! The tune definitely helped the performance of my 2018 (not the same as my wife’s 2024) and shifting smoothness and points. I started with the Lite/Mild tune but could tell I was going to want Mild all the time so I went with Mild/Medium tune which seems to be perfect for me. Really noticed a big difference on the highway, just gets up and goes real smooth, no problem. The Lite tune from stop to accelerate felt better but I didn’t feel like it was much from stock, the Mild tune was little more aggressive which is what I preferred, example coming home at stop light, far right lane, decided I wanted to make a stop which was far left lane, heavy traffic, took off when light turned green and without much effort everyone was in my rear view mirror. The Medium is a little touchy at take off but it’s all about your foot on the accelerator. All-in-all I’m happy with the performance of the 2018 even if it’s not the same as my wife’s 2024. When they come out with a tune for the 2024 I’ll be scheduling a tune to unlock that turbo (turbo shuts off at 107mph), lol. Met some good people today Ragen Herrington, Kentucky Truck Tuning (did the tune, very informative)and Luke Bogner, Specialty 4WD (provided the venue, and very informative) I’m in need of a lift and Luke and I are on the same page. Great day, I guess I’ll keep running my 2018 instead of trading it in on another 2024.

 

Very cool thanks for the update ! Glad you’re enjoying it.

 

Going a bit off topic, but that is a fine looking feline you got there!

 

DON'T LET THE CAT DRIVE! In my experience, they'll just beat the crap out of your Taco! Lol!

 

My certified tuner in Boise states that the only dual setting using the ECT button is the Mild/Medium. I want my setting to be:: mild (ECT off)/spicy(ECT on) settings. He says that the only dual choice is: mild (ECT off)/medium (ECT on). Can anyone clarify this? Thank you.

 

It can be done, it's not a standard "base" file. Have your retailer inquire with OTT for the file.

 

I have a 2023 Pro AT and I have been looking at the OTT Tune. This is a daily driver for me with some very light off-roading. My main objective would be to make the acceleration smoother. The gear hunting is my biggest gripe but don't think I need a lot of extra pop so I'll likely be going with the lite / mild.

Other than cost what are the potential downsides to this tune? Are there warranty implications? (My ToyotaCare is almost up so less of a concern) Fuel efficiency is important for me but it sounds like most people think it is a wash as long as driving habits don't change? This is really outside of my experience so I'm not sure if there are reliability or possible maintenance issue concerns that come along with this?

 

In my experience, thus far, the tune you'll likely be happy with is mild/medium. (I, personally, having gotten mild/medium, spend all my time in medium--but I'm a super-aggressive driver who doesn't off-road, and likes being sideways on a curve on a dirt road. Think wannabe rally car driver. Fun!) I'm going to have my tuner bump me up to medium/spicy. I have encountered NO downsides, unless finally feeling like the truck is eager to go is a downside.

Unless you get an asshole tech who digs too deep into the computer, no one will notice you have a tune. If it's a BIG warranty repair, you can always have your tuner drop you back to stock tune.

 

6MT 21 TRD OR - went Mild. At first I thought it was too much but glad I stuck with it after time. Towing is great now. Every time I drive it I’m happy I did the tune.

 

I just got the OTT tune, I'm currently on lite/mild and am thinking of having it moved to mild/medium but wonder how well mild would perform on snow/ice.

What's folks experience with mild on snow, I've and mud?

I had a throttle controller prior to the tune partially for better throttle response but also so I could dampen the response on snow, ice and mud.

 

While I haven't (yet) driven my tune on snow/ice, I don't think there would be any difficulty even on Medium. The truck still isn't as responsive as an M/T, and is very controlled even on the dirt/mud roads I drive on.

Personally, for me, I think I need my tuned revised to Medium/spicy, and can't imagine medium on ice or snow to be an issue. YMMV.

 

I was able to control the throttle just fine when I had the Medium/spicy flavor, but I noticed in 4hi it was too jumpy while in medium. I ended up going with mild/spicy and it's the perfect blend for me while offroading and on pavement.

 

Are you able to change from lie to mild to spicy yourself or do you have to have the tuner adjust it?

 

If you purchase the “diy” kit, you can change the settings yourself.

 

With the Gen 2 Tacomas is there a way to still use two settings?

Is there a button on the gen 2 that acts similar to the ECT with respect to changing the setting on the fly like the Tacomas with ECT?

Thanks.

 

There is not.

 

Thanks.

 

This is an awesome write up. Much appreciated. Truth is, I am really on the fence about going from stock to the OTT tune. My concerns are having any sort of regrets about longevity of my truck, resale and warranty. What I am trying to solve is this: On my 2023 Tacoma Limited, solve this scenario: In D, from the line, I accelerate as normal, not too aggressively and it begins to shift up through the gears as expected. When it shifts into 3rd, it almost feels like there is a dead spot and as if the truck "falls back" a bit, almost like it loses acceleration, then all of a sudden a small boost in acceleration. Also, if I go up a pretty steep incline and say the speed limit is 35. I press the throttle to get it to 35, and all of a sudden I am at 40 after the downshift. I back off to get it back to 35 and then I am going too slow. I hit the gas and the cycle starts all over again. I also want to be sure that if I decide to pull a travel trailer at some point, I don't regret having done the OTT tune. I use ECT sometimes, and this helps a bit, but I also find that using it causes the truck to be noisier which bugs me. Thoughts? Thanks.