Self Taught Tuning : By Mooseditty17

This Thread is to help those new to VFTuner understand the path I followed with my tunes.

First off, a HUGE thanks to:
@Shellshock
@tonered
@Toy_taco_trd

Without these 3, I'd still be trying to find my Master Key and update my f*ckin' TSB.
Cheers fellas!

This information is based off of my personal experiences using VFTuner. I will NOT be held accountable for any changes you make based on reading this thread. I'm just trying to explain some of the things that I've done. Why I did them, and what I experienced through thousands of miles and countless hours of trial and error. This is only meant to make a new tuners journey, slightly less difficult than my own. All this information is a combined learning effort of the dedicated explorers of the unknown, that is VF Tuning. A collaboration if you will.


Here's some of the basics, and the reason I did what I did:



First is ACIS High. Find the map with 3650

Many of us have had good luck with 3400. What this map does is changes when the Acoustic Control Induction System is activated. "OVTune" had mentioned in a post, that right around 3400 had best results on the dyno. Many Butt dynos agree! This removes the sudden SURGE of power you feel around 3600 rpm on a stock tune, and spreads that power out. A smooth, but strong pull in a broader range.
Play around a bit, 3200, 3300, 3450, find what your butt dyno prefers. 3400 is a great starting point. Take it from a YZ250 to a CRF450 type powerband.

Next up is your RPM limiters.

These have been safely lifted to 7K and beyond.
This is when your engine will cut fuel to your truck. 6300 is good, 7300 is more funner. Play with at your own risk, but 7-7300 is rather common.

Next is your speed limiter. This is an ABSOLUTE must if you have 5.29 gears and wanna go over mid to upper 80s. For other gearing, this is not really a necessary change.

Crank that bitch up to 275 and feel the full potential of your rig.

Up next is a controversial Airload Control tables. Some say it's a must for a performance based tune, and others say it just chews up your gas mileage. Give both a try and see for yourself. The modified / smoothed out table has been best explained by @dunlap837 on the VFTuner thread.

I quote:
"First off, I don't have any special knowledge, I am stating what I think I understand based off of the map names, labels, and descriptions in vF Tuner.

The map you posted has the peak, so that is the ignition efficiency map . The stock map tells the ECU that advancing ignition is efficient at increasing torque in the area of the peak, so the ECU will only advance ignition a little bit.

You're modified map tells the ECU that advancing the ignition is relatively less efficient at making more torque, so the ECU will advance the ignition further relative to the stock map"

To simplify, more pep with less step. Both the .82193 and .99999 Lambda tables should be the same.

It looks like this:

and can be found and copied in my Signature tune for 04B04 found here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/posts/24430405

A change that goes along with the control airflow is the expected airflow.
Stock:


and Smoothed:


Smoothing out this table seemed to really help with the "dead" pedal feeling, and to my knowledge is only used in conjunction with the modified Control Airflow. This map will also be the same for both Lambda's and can be found on the Mild and Wild tune on the above link.

Next up is Alternator settings. I personally have a Lead Acid battery. There are dedicated threads to this topic and I strongly advise you go to them for solid advice. Just know you can make changes so that you can properly charge an AGM battery with your factory alternator by altering these maps.

Drivetrain Control. Many Tacoma owners run larger than stock tires, and use aftermarket gearing to help out the poorly tuned factory transmission.

The top two maps are your Differential Ratios. Change both to whatever you're running. 3.90, 4.88 and 5.29 are the most popular Auto Diff ratios. This will help your truck shift properly with your shift schedules. Tire size is in RADIUS, not Diameter.

Another popular mod is to the Acceleration Throttle Request to Airload table. This table helps your throttle input seem more responsive. You can go full aggressive by going straight linear:

For many this seems to make the throttle "twitchy" Especially when combined with raised throttle limits. Does seem to add punch right off the line though.

A good way to help understand what this map does is compare the Stock map to the THX map: Raising the values makes for more pep to the step.


Often combined with the linear ATRTAL table is raising this map from 4K to 5K. Seems that doing these two together livens up the hole shot some... Maybe.


Have you ever felt like you punch the throttle, but the throttle is not punching? Raise these bad boys all to 100. That way if you request 100% throttle, the truck can and will give you 100% throttle. No artificial intelligence messing with your foot.

I strongly advise leaving 4 Low alone! WHIPLASH WILL RESULT. Reverse can be left as is too.

Next is the most aggressive way to change tip in. This is pretty much your very own, super programmable Pedal Commander. Raise the values, and your truck moves faster with less input. Going as high as matching the gray values to the lower values results in a crazy fun experience, but mostly undriveable. Map these out on a spreadsheet for best results. Trial and error to find out what you like.

As an extreme example. If you had the first value at 0 and the rest at 100, your throttle would essentially be an on off switch !! Choose wisely.


Next up is Optimal Transmission Torque for shifting:
General rule of thumb is to combine all the maps you have with the exception of 4 low and Sport and make 1 common map. Put them into excel and make a final map that has each cell averaged from the group of maps. You'll end up with something that looks like this:

The logic behind this is now your truck is using the same scenario every time for choosing a shift. AKA more predictable shifting. Here is a brief explanation given by OVTune himself.

"Okay the table works like this >

The value in the table is the "optimal" torque at that speed and throttle for the transmission.
There are internal torque calculations the ECU uses, and then references the 3D tables.

when the value is well below the internal calculation, that means it will be more likely to downshift, so that it meets close to it's internal torque calculation.

Think this way. % torque * gear = Torque calculation.

Torque calculation > = < Optimal torque


Torque calculation > Optimal torque = Downshift
Torque calculation < optimal torque = Upshift
Torque calculation = optimal torque (within a %) = optimal = no shift



it's much easier to understand if you simply do these 3 things:

1. set all tables the same
2. Lower all the values, everywhere. Observe how the transmission will downshift when a feather is on the pedal.
3. Raise all the values, everywhere. Observe how the transmission will upshift as early as possible, even right off idle if you set it too high."

Next up is Primary shifting. The BEST way to figure out when and where you want your truck to shift is to drive around in S Mode, and shift it when you feel it's appropriate. Write it down! Then take that same drive and see where your truck wants to shift. Make the adjustments based on the difference from where it shifted to where you want the shift. The values are NOT 1:1 with reality. Just note: I shifted at 27 mph with 20% accelerator. My truck naturally shifted at 23 mph at 20% throttle. You will raise the speed @ 20% accelerator by 4 and now your truck will shift where you want it. (Close anyways) To fine tune this and catch the areas in-between axis values. Map this out in Excel! Make it visual.

One thing you can do with your shift points is make your truck rev higher. This goes hand in hand with raising the fuel cut off. Here are some examples I run with my truck. Stock gears, and 33s. These upper values yield a "redline shift point" of around 6800 RPM. At first it's scary, but an exciting scary. You'll find you're preferred "limit", this is just a reference point. Values left as is from the 2.0 tunes redline around 6K. Small changes are advised! I went up to 113 KPH for my 3-4 upshift and thought I dropped the transmission. Don't do what I did!



TO BE CONTINUED...

 

Hooyah! Some tutorials.

 

Again, I'm NO PROFESSIONAL. I just like to fiddle. A LOT. Many seem to like what I've done, so I thought I'd share what and how I learned what I did. I have asked SO MANY questions on here, and received SO MANY answers. There's a damn good group of people here on TW!

 

You’ve come a long way

happy to help

 

Mine

 

Thanks for sharing your wisdom...Make me what to tune my own now.

 

BZ AJ...truly an inspiration

 

Here's a bunch of tunes I've shared throughout my journey here on TW.
Feel free to dissect these and ask questions. The only catch is, they are all 04B04.

 

This thread is awesome

 

Agreed. Thanks for sharing @Mooseditty17

 

Well I just learned more about tuning in 5 min than I did in 3 years of following the ovtune/vf tune threads and reading every page. Thanks man. Maybe we’ll get those webinars one day but if not at least we can share knowledge here. I know a ton of time and testing went into this information so thanks again.

 

I did the sweet transmission freeze also at 75 chirped the tires and I died a little on the inside too!

 

Thanks! This really makes sense (finally) how and what these tunes are doing. Keep up the good work. One of these days I’ll tune my Taco.

 

I'm here for the knuckles. Someone told me there would be moose knuckles here.

You awesome, MD!

 

They’re over on the table by the wings? But going fast.

 

Good stuff here. It's like cliff notes of the other VFTuner threads

 

Thanks @Mooseditty17 for this great post! In my opinion all the major development on the tunes started with you sharing the tunes and your knowledge. We would not have seen the recent developments with all the tunes in such a short period of time since OVtune2.0 released. It is great to see what a community can up with.

 

I would 100% apply for MKU (Moose Knuckle University) and sign up for classes.