3rd Gen Tacoma 2.7L ECU Tuning

If this is an April fools joke...

 

What about 18?

 

So it seems like OVTune is out of the tuning business. They've even discontinued the 3.5L tunes. My guess is that they're saving them selves from a lawsuit from the EPA since they've started to come down on companies making tunes. They now sell a software that lets you get into the ECU and do your own tunes. I think myself and others following this thread are/were expecting OVTune to release a 2.7L tune, but from my research it seems like that wont be the case. You can buy the software from there website and do your own tune but that's about all you can expect. Just thought I'd share this so we can all have real expectations. It appears they have unlocked the 3rd gen 2TR ECU which is a major step forward, but either someone has to come up with a tune they're willing to share/sell to everyone has to make their own. For the guys asking if 2017, 2018, etc are covered, realistically even though they have confirmed 2016, the way economies of scale works if a company commits to a certain design and orders in the 10s if not 100s of thousands of units to reduce costs. Chances are all 2.7 ECU manual ECUs are the same, I'd only be concerned if you have a 4th gen Taco years down the road. Auto & manual ECUs could be different though, it seems like theyve only tested the 2016 manual ECU so bear that in mind. I'm too lazy to personally do this, but you can always compare ECU part numbers between the different years to see if they're the same on one of the toyota OEM parts websites.

 

I had a feeling this was going to happen. I’m ok with making my own tune, there’s a few options by me as far as tuners go

 

@Sep1911 That I understand, the EPA seems to really only be going after Diesel tuners, mostly because their tunes involve defeating emissions control devices, unless you've heard otherwise.

 

They are going after everyone. Diesel tuners get hit the hardest because they specifically advertise delete systems.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but for those of us looking for more power from our 2.7L, unless we have tuning experience we're out of luck?

 

Really really sorry to hear this. Hopefully this business and product restructuring works out. I'm sure the community will find a way to make it work and continue to support y'alls efforts to benefit all parties involved

 

From what I gathered, once they release the final “2.0” flash files for the 3.5, that will be the last of the tunes that come from OV. That doesn’t mean we’re screwed, the VF-Tuner from OV will be a cable which lets us view, modify, and log all the parameters within our ECMs. Making the tune file itself is going to be at the discretion of a tuner or yourself, or any of us willing to help share with everyone.

Tuning modern or any vehicles is very tricky stuff. You could take 2 exact vehicles and have differences in the tune to extract 100% from them both.

Once the VF tuner comes out (and we have 2.7 support, I hope) I’d love to just clean up the files, get rid of that annoying lag in the pedal, etc

 

Sorta, but I’m sure it will be posted here or elsewhere, someone who will share a file that has worked well for them, etc. Tuning will be more open source.

There’s also other ways of getting better performance too. You could run the LCE or DT header, maybe a drop-in panel air filter (stock air box is best) etc, keep up on maintaining it, lose some weight from lightweight wheels/tires, etc

 

I've done the drop in filter and I'm a huge advocate of preventative maintenance, so my tune ups and fluids are usually done before they are needed. I'm working on the lightweight wheels and tires. I want to get more life out of what I'm running. A free flowing cat back is kinda off the table for me as I'm not fond of the racket a 4 cylinder makes. However I've looked into the header. The LCE is on my list but as I live in Southern California I'm not sure I want to remove it every 2 years for a smog check. That leaves me with the C.A.R.B. approved DT, which I'm not convinced is worth the money. The LCE looks like it frees up power in a more usable rpm range. I've yet to see someone compare both headers on the same truck and same Dyno, so it's a bit difficult to invest $400+ on something I'm not sure will benefit my driving application. Unless you guys on here have some insight on that issue.

While this truck is almost perfect for my needs, I do feel like Toyota left quite a bit on the table with these engines. I had my Silverado custom tuned a few years ago, while I don't think I gained much power, I did gain driveability from it. When I saw that there was some development in a tune for these trucks, I was tickled pink. I guess I'll have to wait for someone to build a file that the majority of members here seem to like. I just wish my simple brain could grasp tuning an ecu.

 

Honestly this whole thing is very unfortunate. I’m surprised Toyota put out a truck with these issues, I’m surprised the dealers are telling us they don’t see anything wrong, and I’m surprised Toyota is dragging ass coming up with a fix

 

You can blame the strict EPA regulations for all this hah... why on earth would anyone want such a deep overdrive... at all?! My older cars (Scirocco, Jetta VR6, BRZ, etc) all used to hum along at nearly 3k at highway speeds... everything these days is geared sooo damn tallll. In theory, if you had the power/aero, some of these modern cars would be able to hit like 250mph haha

 

I'm trying to clarify based on reading this thread.

I understand there are two separate things:
a. the OVTuner software
b. and there are Tunes that do certain things for certain trucks according to their unique variables (for instance, cat-backs, headers, different octane, etc).

Is the support for the 3rdGen 2.7L the specific tune, or is it the software that will interface with the ECU? or Both?

For instance, does the existing OvTuner software tune the ECU in the 2.7 truck? So that if the user knew what specific variables to change they could tune a 2.7 truck?

 

As far as I know, theres no specific tune available for the 2.7 guys, but the OVTuner software MAY read and write to our ECUs allowing the end user to make changes to the ECU map. Not super sure when thats going to become available just yet though.

 

This is really the question.

 

OV tune just announced a 2016 2.7L beta on their facebook.

A 2017 ECU has been ordered.

 

He posted it in the vF thread also.

 

If for whatever reason the tuner does not come out, would any of you suggest going with the pedal commander?