Performance Testing

WARNING This post will trigger many but here it goes........
Ok first off no I didn't buy a Tacoma to drag race but I also hate the idea of some old man in a stock ecoboost Ranger sucking the doors off my Tacoma at a bottle neck getting on the interstate so I allowed my drag racing and tuning side to take over to show what a proper tune can do for these trucks
All my performance testing was done at a drag strip or with a Dragy (if you dont know what that is the google it) or with both at the same time.
Much of this endeavor can be seen on my Youtube channel Tech1302
All of my testing was done while trying to tune my Tacoma so while I have plenty of "stock tune" passes I don't have any completely stock passes recorded as I already had a few mods when I began this testing.
My truck is a 2020 Trd offroad with No lift, Stock tires, and Stock gears.

My first testing was done at Silver Dollar drag strip in Reynolds Ga.
Race weight was 4800lbs
My mods were
1. Jones muffler welded in place of stock
2. Hps intake tube with K&N filter, trd airflow accelerator, and removal of silencer
3. D3 performance nGauge
I ran two almost identical passes
2.480 2.486 60ft
10.233 10.239 1/8th mile
70.97 70.96 1/8 mph
15.761 15.777 1/4 mile
89.03 88.97 1/4 mph
Another pass with a less aggressive TPS vs APP ratio
2.8 60ft
10.838 1/8 mile
70.54 1/8 mph
16.401 1/4 mile
88.88 1/4 mph
We see that the mph was good but the et suffered greatly from the lazy throttle
and this is something you can feel on the street.
I learned one key thing
The TPS vs APP is very critical in the tune. The faster you can open the throttle blade makes a big difference in et but not in mph.

2nd time out at the same track which was only two weeks later and in similar conditions
I got to the track late so I was only able to make two runs
1st run was
2.383 60ft
10.113 1/8 mile
71.19 1/8 mph
15.628 1/4 mile
89.03 1/4 mph
This was a different tune from the previous time but seemed to run a bit better
2nd run was
2.439 60ft actually spun lol
10.074 1/8 mile
71.88 1/8 mph
15.513 1/4 mile
90.45 1/4 mph
This run was with a tune that had a change in base exhaust cam angle which was something I had been struggling with.. Now I saw what it wanted. Even with the spinning it ran quicker and faster(yes sometimes spinning will yield a higher mph but not a quicker et)
I was finally getting some where. Cam angles are very important and now I knew which direction to go.

Then the biggest breakthrough.... I got a Dragy which made the world my dragstip.
Now I could tune and test as much as I wanted
I really went after the tune at this point. I have a video on my Youtube of me going
9.79 1/8 mile
72.41 1/8 mph
15.19 1/4 mile
91.49 1/4 mph
and yes it was a validated run and yes a Dragy is highly accurate
So we can begin to see that I have went from
a 16.401@88.88 to a 15.19@91.49 from nothing more that tuning.
All of this was done in the Fall/Winter in Georgia so I did have a decent DA and Temperature was good as well. DA and temp really effect N/A engines as I have seen up to 3 tenths and 1-2 mph lose when the temps get around 100 and DA 3000+

My next mod was a y pipe of my own design and making. After correcting the tune for the y pipe I was rewarded with a 14 second 1/4 mile
2.32 60ft
9.73 1/8 mile
73.64 MPH !!!
14.99 1/4 mile
93.86 1/4 mph !!!
While I only gained a tenth or two of et the mph went up nicely from before.
You can really feel the y pipe helping at the higher rpm especially after the 2-3 shift.
I was pleased with the gains for the time spent building it.

Now fast forward to May
I had changed to a Borla s type catback because the muffler I had was a bit too loud after the y pipe and since this is my family car I needed to tone it down.
I can say the change made no difference in any type of performance

I decided to take it to the track on a Friday night test n tune
The weather was not that great as it was 80 degrees and the DA was 1800
I did go a bit overboard as i wanted to hit a good number and pulled about 300lbs of weight out of it so my race weight was 4500lbs this time
I also used a set of drag radials because my street tires are getting weak and it will spin quite bad with them. The radidals are 26.5 inches tall so I also got a cheap "gear" upgrade as the the rpms come out to be the same as running 4.30 gears with a stock tire.

Now for the bad.....
while I did a few 1/8 mile runs on the street with the shorter drag radials and saw 2-3 tenths improvement I didn't do a full 1/4 run. What I would find out is my speed limiter was about to come into play as well as the dreaded hard 3-4 shift which has made itself known from time to time especially when you try to run it past a certain speed before commanding that shift.

Now for the good....
I outran a Hemi Charger through the 1/8mile.
I have the run on video but my good ness the quality is worse than a early 90s camcorder.
It went a
2.15 60 ft
9.36 1/8 mile
75.17 1/8 mph
14.65 1/4 mile
92.62 1/4 mph
0-60 was 6.25
The truck pulled better than ever and i was pleased with how it did.
After the hard 3-4 shift I let out a bit and then noticed it nosed over about the 1000ft mark.
On the way home I confirmed top speed was what it trapped the 1/4 mile at. I have since moved the speed limiter up so no worries about that anymore.
I did try to fix the speed limiter at the track but couldn't find it and also after I reflashed it it ran 2 tenths slower so yes letting these trucks learn the tune is a MUST.
I have no doubt that on a good winter day I can run a low 14 and if I can get my 4.30 gears and e fan done I would almost bet a 13 is not out of the question.

Well that's all I have to say about that.

 

ok.....got it. Curious. What was your cost to gain 3.5 mph in the 1/4 mile?

O one more question for curiosity sakes.....
How many knots do you need to tie shorten your condom?

As an observation....
Your truck is heavy. My stock '06 with me in it tips the scales at 4460 lbs. You may be able to improve your performance with a weight reduction.

 

Well done! Dragy is an amazing tool, very accurate. I have used mine at the track and was surprised just how close it was. Post a pic of the y pipe.

 

Great info, thank you!


TW needs more of this.


(Hopefully all the info is correct that is)

 

numbers substantiate a credible endeavor

how much did it cost to gain at best 4 mph

no doudt it ‘ felt ‘ faster................butt dyno dont lie !!

side by side Taco vs Taco result manufacturing tolerances

1 will trounce the other

my SR is 800 pounds lighter = free HP

92mph top end im thinkin im runnin U out the box !!

 

Now you need to go get the super charger and twin turbo kit and report back

 

Whatever happened w the TT kits? They finally nailed down?

 

U say U have drag race experience & Ud give up 800 lbs

no less U dont know what ‘ running U out the Box ‘ is ..........................

still would like to know co$t$

 

Since y'all are asking how much it cost to gain that 3-4 mph, which is quite accurate as I can go flash a stock tune in pretty much any weather go drive the truck let it learn and then make a Dragy pass. It will run around 68-70 mph in the 1/8 mile.
I can then reflash my tune and it will go consistently 3-4mph faster in the exact same weather.
The difference in ET is even more dramatic but we can stick with mph.

That 3-4mph cost me a 550.00 tune and countless hours of my time but since I enjoy tuning it wasn't that bad.

Ok
1. 3-4 mph is quite a bit in drag racing and would be quite evident on the street.
We are taking about several car lengths and it will continue to get worse for the slower car the faster you go.
It's not like comparing two equal trucks in that a faster "stock" truck or a factory "freak" that just runs better
2. Yes your 2wd SR is much lighter and will be much faster "stock" than my truck.
I have seen a time slip for a stock Crew Cab 2wd run a 15.40@91(33 inch tires was the only mod)
This example if what I am saying is true is only a tune away from a 14.
The guy who owns this got a KDmax tune recently and is trying to return to the track for a update which I am anxious to see.
3. If you read carefully the 92mph was due to shorter tires and not removing the speed limiter. This has since been corrected. It can go faster than that now.

### I would love to run any Tacoma for testing purposes. I don't care if they are stock, tuned, geared, 2wd, 4wd, Access cab, or whatever#####
I have made several call outs for other tuned Tacomas in various locations but never a truck has shown up.

I feel like I have shown that tuning these trucks produces a real world gain that is well worth the money. I have shown some of my data but I have much more than this

I haven't even went into 0-60 times yet
Stock tune in this hot weather 7.80-8.10
Tuned on the same day. 7.05-7.30

Now again the truck has went 6.50 in great weather and a 6.25 at the track but we are comparing similar conditions.

.70 tenths difference in 0-60 times is not a "butt dyno" situation it is a tested and verified "wow" that is way faster situation.

 

Don't stop there. Set it up for methanol, and nitrous.

 

Some have shipped. Some changes / updates are being made.

last I knew they are struggling to get fuel pump controllers made due to the chip shortage.

 

Did you fix the shitty shifting for highway cruising when trying to hold 75+ mph on hilly roads and with headwinds? WOT pulls mean little when it comes to the crappy stock drive-ability issues of the Tacoma.

 

Yes of course.
That is the first thing that drove me to tune then I started trying to see what I could gain with it.
Also since it is well known that tuning fixes these things this post wasn't meant to address that issue. I am showing the Performance gains a Tacoma can see from a proper tune.

Again if you will go to my YouTube I have videos of me climbing hills on the interstate at speed showing the drivability of the tune.

 

https://youtu.be/ATXtO27brww

 

You have the data to back it up but I have a hard time wrapping my head around you dropping 1 second in ET with a tune, y pipe and drag radials. Figure .4 at most from the 60' but .6 improvement from a tune and y pipe are really big gains. Nice work.

 

Thanks and yes the actual gain is a lot but shows how detuned these trucks are stock.
If you relate it in this way it makes sense.
We have the same engine as a is350 albeit with more weight but not enough extra weight to account for the extreme reduction in performance.
With this mindset I went after trying to make our engine make the same power as a is350 and I believe that is what I did.
There is still more in it and my goal is a 13 second 1/4 mile.