Initial review of OV Tune on a '21 DCSB OR Manual 4X4

I met @Stormpeacock about a month ago shortly after I bought my truck and talked with him about the OV Tune. The last 3 vehicles I've had - all turbocharged - I ended up tuning as it was an easy and cheap way to gain 50-75whp on each one. I was unsure about tuning my truck because, well, I had no desire to make it "fast" and the gains seemed to be quite small....on a dyno chart at least.

For $250 I decided it was too cheap to pass up even if it did nothing other than fix the super dead throttle response for the first 75% of it's travel. @Stormpeacock was good enough to meet me close to where I live in a shopping center parking lot and after plugging in his laptop and waiting no more than 5-7 minutes, it was done. I started it up and drove the 4 miles or so home. Wow. What a difference, but not in the way of my other tunes. This truck is still on the "meh" side of power but the initial throttle response, especially in first gear, is night and day. It is not too jumpy like some vehicles I've been in; it feels "just right" and totally OEM. The best way to put it is that this is how the truck SHOULD have come programmed from the factory. Before the tune, taking off in 1st gear even at half throttle was a slow and sometimes choppy feeling. It felt as if the flywheel weighed 10 times what it does. Now, it feels like passenger car manual transmission does, even and smooth. There is a *bit* more power but nothing to write home about. So, the tune is more a subjective feeling rather than a huge increase in hp/tq numbers you can brag about. Don't go thinking your truck will feel like a 6.2L GM V8.

I didn't get over 45-50mph on the way home but the truck definitely felt better in every sense. For $250 this is a no brainer, especially for you automatic gearbox guys that will see an even bigger benefit than I did.

 

I’m loving my premium SFOB 2.0 tune! Really wakes up this 3.5L. Although I had no issues on stock tune, I would never go back to Toyota tune.

 

Appreciate the review for the MT… but where are all the off road reviews of these tunes?
All I read is the on road praise, which is all fine and dandy, but how about extended off pavement driving? Do these tunes impact performance (for better or worse) when it actually matters deep in the back country?
I’d like to see some legit 4LO crawling reviews for ‘em. Especially in the MT.

 

Interesting. In my non-expert opinion I would only think that the sharper throttle response and more linear pedal travel would take some adjustment to your muscle memory to what you had remembered for throttle application especially in 4LO.

 

The truck doesn't hunt for gears in 4lo, but it acts like a spastic on the highway. That's what the tune is for. Who is complaining about the 4lo tune?

 

Makes some sense, but I still have yet to read an actual first hand account. I’m fine with the stock tune on the MT, mostly because I don’t care about on road performance. And I’m not sure how, or if, they would impact off road performance.

I think you should read my post again my dude. Thanks though.

 

Again, while I'm a no kind of expert on this tune, it is so mild that I don't forsee it stressing any internal engine components during off-road driving. I think those types of concerns are valid on say the GM 2.7T 4 cylinder or the Ford EcoBoost where people are cranking the boost way up and not considering the added stress on components that 4LO extended driving may entail.

 

The SFOB tune for 90% of the driving eliminates the “Atkinson cycle”

I mean, in 4lo I would say that the tune won’t be as beneficial as driving on the street IMHO. The low range already multiplies the torque so the stock MT taco is fantastic off road. I had no issues on the stock tune at all, it’s just this OV tune makes this truck way, waay more fun to drive.

 

Idk what tune you are running or your trucks config but my MT has noticeably more power <2500 rpm. Enough so I’d say it’s significant. Makes a huge difference in drivability and towing

 

The stock tune is beautiful in 4 low, drives great. Surprised me quite a few times actually.