2.7L Tacoma Overland Torque Tune

I recently got the OTT overland torque tune for my Gen 3 2.7l i4 at 4x4 tacoma. I had looked around the internet for months for reviews about the OTT tune for this particular model but found nothing and even the guy who did the tune had never done an I4, so I felt like I needed to write this up for anyone else who is looking into it.
If you have one of these trucks you know they are borderline dangerously slow. I’ll try to describe the issues I had. When accelerating from a stop mine seemed to shift too early and would just fall on its face going into 2nd and sometimes 3rd too. The only way i found to try to keep it from happening was to press the throttle harder before the shift and hold it even deeper through the shift, but even that didn’t really work great. The early shifting also made it shift harder mostly in lower gears, and that was obviously really annoying. The truck also couldn’t hold the gears right at Highway speeds. Cruise control was just ridiculous with the downshifting and up shifting all the time. Acceleration was pretty bad all over the place. Starting from a stop light it barely kept up with traffic and merging or passing at highway speed felt like the little engine that couldn’t. Last, and this surprised me, it vibrated a little when it was in gear but at a stop. The whole truck just had this slight vibration when at a stop and that was just annoying.
I have been trying to decide if I just made a mistake buying it and if I should trade it in. I love the truck in every other way so I wasn’t excited to trade. Long story short I came across OTT and the decision became “do I spend the money and make the truck what I want or trade?” And I’m very happy with the decision I made.
I ended up starting with the mild/medium tune and ended up at the hot as balls Max tune (whatever they call it). Everything I described above is fixed - surprisingly even the vibration when stopped but in gear. The truck has no problems keeping with traffic, merges and passes great, no gear hunting and is not at all too touchy on the throttle. It’s not some blazing fast race car, but I have a motorcycle and don’t need my truck for that. I would bet that the tuned i4 would beat a stock v6 though. I’ve driven my buddies v6 and it’s also slow.
One of the advantages of having a Tacoma is that it’s one of those vehicles that has a large aftermarket support industry. Kind of like the old 90s civics, mustangs, etc… and it’s great to have a platform like the Tacoma to be able to do these things that a lot of other vehicles don’t hav, to my knowledge anyway. I paid $500 and I think the price is just about perfect. Any more than that I probably wouldn’t have done it and just traded the truck instead. What I got for the money was well worth it imo. Like others have said, this is how the truck should be. I bet it’s even better on the v6 but I have absolutely zero complaints.
5/5. I 100% recommend everyone do this.

 

I have reviewed that tune a bunch its a must have for any tacoma regardless of engine, it may be more reliable but a tuned 2.7 is still significantly slower than the 3.5. Different gearing is why the 2.7 may feel a little more peppy at low speeds, they are both dogs though.

 

How much was it? I’m sure it depends on where you get it/who does it but I’ve heard anywhere from 300-600$. Also how is the after purchase support? And is there any negative effects to having it?

 

I have a 2019 SR access cab 2.7L. When not on the Interstate I push the ECT button and don’t have the issues you describe, performance is adequate and no issues keeping up with traffic. On the interstate I sometimes put it in 5 or 4 if needed and that minimizes the shifting, 70-75 no problem. Gas pedal and higher rpm is your friend in this highly reliable engine.

 

$500. They also evidently took into account my bigger tires and said they would be able to modify the tune if i every did any other modifications that could be further improved with a tune, free of charge.

 

Awesome thanks, I’ll look into where I can get the tune done locally. my gripe is just the same I always feel that the pedal is floating and the truck is taking a second to realize it needs to get up and go.

 

https://overlandtailor.com/retailer-locations/

 

The guy that did mine was great. He didn’t expect payment until after I was happy with the results. After I test drove it I could’ve easily said I didn’t want it and he would’ve put it back to normal. He’s probably never had anyone actually do that though. It really is a huge improvement.

 

So I did end up going yesterday to get it done and set mine to medium/spicy, it’s a huge improvement and I’m super happy with the results. The throttle is very responsive and merging/getting to speed is way better, also I appreciate all the info.

 

After running a tank of gas through it I think I’m getting about .5 mpg more than normal. About 17.8 combined but mostly city.

 

For those that have had the OTT, would you do it again despite the expense of it? Also, what regrets (if any) do you have after doing the OTT?

 

I'm three days into a Medium/Spicy tune on my 2021 (done by John Brewer/Kelly Tuning- excellent experience). It is a definite improvement over stock: mostly with the gear hunting, which was my main complaint. Part of my usual commute is a climb from about 5,300 to 6,300 feet over about 10 miles. I can pull that grade now at 70 mph at around 3,200 rpms in Drive with ECT off with no gear hunting. Prior to the tune that stretch of road was almost constant gear hunting. It feels quite a bit better around town as well. Quicker pick up and better shifting. As others have said, it's a small engine in a sort of heavy truck. It's still underpowered but behavior between the engine and transmission is now what I would describe as normal. All that said, I'm going to give the Spicy/Super Spicy a try. I have an A.R.E. topper that's around 200 lbs. I feel like the Medium/Spicy would be perfect without that extra weight. I'll report back.

 

These trucks feel better with Spicy that is what i use, i still often use s mode but never ect power its not needed. You will enjoy the extra, just takes a little time getting adjusted to the low speed throttle input. The tune will get slightly better once you log some miles and it does its learning. Again like you said the tune is a significant upgrade but it can only do so much to help push an under powered overweight brick.

 

Their is a authorized guy here in Clarksville TN.
After reading this thread and others related to this subject on the site.
Doing Google fu.
Surfing dudes reviews and his site here in town.

I'm gonna go pick this guys brain sometime this week.

See if he is a AR shooter.

Have 1K of M855 in the truck and see if he can do a medium tune on my 2021.
Pay him with ammo....

If not I will just get it done and whip out the bank card.

 

I bought the DIY kit for my 2023 V6.
This was done expressly so I am not tied to a local tuner, his schedule or his availability.
Other than an undocumented SNAFU requiring Win10 or higher, it works as designed.

I have changed tunes 3x until settling on the Spicy/Medium #3 out of 5, IIRC.
The pedal feel is exactly what I wanted.

My 2023 has a most decided dead spot from a dead stop.
Our 2016 does not have this at all, so education of your foot is required.

My other Truck is a 1991 Hilux type, so my 2023 has gobs of get up and go as far as I need.
I had to punch it to make a long stop light, and it gets right up and rolls.

I am 100% delighted with my OTT tune.

 

yep i couldnt stand the truck before the tune. OTT tune is what should have come from factory. that tune and the LCE headers made me love the truck again.

 

Second tank of fuel since the ott tune and it was 19.0 mpg with no effort put into increasing fuel economy through driving style. The first tank was 17.8. I think the only difference has been that the weather here has gotten a lot warmer. I have not had to let the truck heater warm up before I leave in the morning and I haven’t run it while I sit in it during lunch. But still, I’ve tried in the past to get mpg to reach 19 and have never been able to before.

 

Nice it could be warmer weather, less warm up time and they run a little more lean in the hot. i would say i picked up maybe 1 mpg with OTT and i have around 15k-20k on the truck with the tune. My experience is not much of a mpg jump but better driveability. I get 16-18 on short trips and about 19-21 on longer in the cold. Warm is 19-20 on short trips and 21-24 on longer. Which i think is decent considering im lifted, re geared and 6-700lbs heavier than stock. These trucks do ok on MPG if you keep your foot out of it a bit.

 

You wont lose mileage, the tune fixes the shift points and increases pedal feel. It really is a night/day significant difference but dont expect the truck to be any faster these are dogs. Should last the test of time but is tough when my 5.3 silverado gets about the same mpg. The 2.7 power wise is on par with 90s econoboxes, basic, simple, reliable but slow.