Anyone tuning the T24A-FTS from Lexus platforms?

Having tuned BMWs and MBs in the past, a simple downpipe + midpipe and intake kit or FBOs plus ECU flash usually makes great gains on forced induction systems. On my 2020 M5 going from stock to stage 2 netted me a healthy 250HP on 10% ethanol for less than half the price of the Maggie SC for the 3G. That being said I have zero experience with 4 cylinder turbos let alone a hybrid one.

What kind of gains can we expect on the 4G with full bolt ons? I know this motor and the BMW S63TU are two completely different ballparks but will the T24A-FTS break 400HP on a safe/conservative tune running stock turbos? The biggest question is how will this play with the hybrid system? Does tuning with hybrid motor massively complicate things?

There are no harsh emissions laws where I am so I have no need for catalytic converters and they tend to get stolen all the time so I will most likely be removing them for better flow and to deter the thieves which will most likely require a tune to remove the CEL. Not sure if anyone in the Lexus crowd with this powertrain has done some tuning already?

Given how much aftermarket support the 3G has had I am really excited to see what's ahead for the 4G. I'm sure people will be popping their motors prematurely from over tuning and stress compared to the previous gen as these motors are designed for fuel efficiency and not performance. With turbos the gains will be more drastic as my 3G OVTune only maybe netted an extra 30HP on 91 fuel. Will be interesting to see how the T24A-FTS holds up to some mild tuning as I know Toyota usually over engineers their motors and under powers them for reliability (V8 with 300HP comes to mind).

 

Based off most postings on the 4g...no one is going to buy it because it is too expensive, a 4 banger, a 4 banger with a turbo, it is too expensive, it does not have XX option that the 3g had, it has too many options, it does not have a V8, the Chevy is just as good, it is too expensive, it has seat in the Pro that I don't like even though I can't afford a Pro, insert an excuse here, it does not come in the right color blue, it does not tow as much as a 1 ton, it is more than what I paid for my 2017.....

Honestly I think it is too early to answer your questions as they are not out yet.

 

So you will be removing catalytic converters on a brand new truck that hasn’t even hit anyone’s hands yet because “they get stolen”.

wooow


That said I doubt this 4 banger is any different than others. So probably 40-50hp gain is “safe” but then you’re left running on premium fuel and with a voided warranty

 

At the cost of getting a jump in hp out of the engine, plus that your warranty would now be voided, if you need more power just opt for the hybrid.

 

Reference this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beZNKWIgymM&t=39s

~3:10 mark.

First the good news. There is only one cat. They tucked it way up next to the engine. Much harder for drive-by thievery.

Now the bad news. Good luck wrangling with that. Especially few years down the road when that Owl Gored mandated thing will eventually fail.

 

Thanks for that. Good to see the frame is beefier now. I know that Toyota are conservative on the tow rating. There is no derating of the power and it can tow without tearing up the truck. This does look like a much better vehicle for towing than the 3rd gen. I am looking at the SR5 4WD, rated 6,500 lb. towing, probably enough for my needs, towing a couples camper.

 

The longer wheelbase will help as well.

 

If you actually read the title of this thread and my post you would see that I am asking if anyone who owns a Lexus (i.e. RX350/NX350) with the same T24A-FTS motor has done any tuning hence why the removal of the cats. My current 3G only has the mid pipe cats removed which are the 2 cats down stream, the 2 that are tucked next to the motor are still there because those ones are what will trigger a CEL however the tuning remedies that. I wouldn't be doing it strictly because they get stolen, again if you read my post you would realize that catalytic converters restrictive air flow. Which is why on most forced induction systems just by removing the cats on the downpipes and midpipes you'll see a decent increase in HP on a dyno, they're only there for emission purposes. As for the thieves having nothing to steal is merely a bonus effect besides gaining performance. I've had mine stolen before and it's a breeze for them because it's so easy to crawl underneath a truck vs a car which is why they mostly target trucks/SUV.

 

Good catch, I didn't know that before. That's good there is only 1 set of cats and the best time to wrench that off is when the truck is new vs after rust and many heat cycles. Judging by the video once you have the exhaust off it should still be within reach and since the turbos seem to be on the side vs the top hopefully can still reach the front section through the engine bay.

 

Sorry if my post wasn't clear, my question was regarding the hybrid model that's why I asked if tuning with the hybrid system is even possible as I have zero experience with tuning with hybrid. As for the warranty I'm not too worried, as long as it's a conservative safe tune the motor will still out last your factory warranty period on many cars that are on the road today. All of my current cars are tuned and none of them has had issues making it past the factory 4-5 year/50k mile warranty and still going strong. I just change the fluids earlier to compensate for the extra stress especially on turbo vehicles. A lot of these motors are over built for their application and adding 50-60HP isn't really going to cause you problems unless you really push it. Toyota has the same motor in different vehicles like how the 3.5 V6 in the Camry has 300HP but less in the Tacoma. I'm pretty confident by just removing the cats on the new 2.4 and adding intake, exhaust with a mild tune you can have the V6 power the Tundra has in a Tacoma (think about how fun that would be off-road on the trails). If you run something like a JB4 which is a piggyback system you are not flashing the ECU so if you did have any issues you could just pull off the harness and box before going to the dealer. That being said if Toyota is anything like BMW they will dig deep and check the logs, so if you had a motor failure they'll be able to see what the boost levels were when it failed. Obviously if it was outside of stock parameters they would question you and possibly deny warranty however that is worst case scenario. I have to say over the years I'm on my 3rd Tacoma, first 5G 4Runner, wife has a Camry and mother drives a Corolla, not a single one of them has used the factory warranty they've all been flawless for over a decade when properly maintained. Knock on wood I won't ever have to use it in the future, it's the reason why I keep buying Toyota.

 

Only thing I've come across so far has been for the Highlander using the same motor giving +40HP at the wheels however the Highlander is lower hp stock.

https://burgertuning.com/products/jb4-tuner-for-toyota-highlander

Excited for the flash tunes to come out though perhaps using the VFTuner platform, surely Tundra Turbo V6 performance will be doable on the little 4 banger.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-overland-tailor.759590/page-91#post-30150359

 

This site, the 4g or some auto news I follow corroborated 108,000+ sold as of last month so I don't understand the no one buying. All the Tacomas arriving at the dealer near me still disappear right away. My purchase of a long bed TRD OR against the 5 and 5.5 ft bed light trucks didn't seem expensive at all. My alternatives were all not as good in important ways or more expensive.

For @fullsend604 original point I'd be mindful of the general crackdown on mods though many are diesel going on in the US so software products you might see might also have fewer options to tune the engines. Now that my TRD OR is broken in and doing work often I don't have any desire nor see any need for powertrain modifications. My stock engine and powertrain is really good for off road work I do, and carrying loads to a property we're redeveloping that is 180 mi of freeway driving. I'm totally familiar with the desires and what you can do with the German cars such as one we have but any more spending of money or time will be more about carry, tool and travel stuff.

At 850 to 1200 ft altitude I'm not even finding the price for premium fuel worth it. For my cabin and real estate project 87 octane fuel with a 1500 pound payload holds any speed limit blowing by the prior gen Toyota 4x4s at times screaming in pain.

 

You know you quoted a post from Dec 2023 right that was prior to 107,999 of those tacos being sold....it was also highly sarcastically and a dig at all the turd gen folks who like to stop by and sling mud.

 

Leave it alone & enjoy...
Does great w/o any engine mods....

 

That right there is the best post I’ve ever read on Tacomaworld!

To the OP,

The answer to your question is no. Nobody knows shit about tuning a Tacoma- hybrid or not. Nothing. Zip. Nada.

Granted they are not yet available.

As far as tuning a hybrid is concerned, I’d imagine it would require some different code or whatever they use to achieve these results. But that code would be specific to the hybrid, just as, it would be specific to an auto vs a manual.

I believe if you removed that Cat and had a way to trick the ecu that it was still there, the gains would be huge!

Also, there is a TRD “center pipe” if you search hard enough that I’d imagine has the same effects as everyone else’s down pipe. They have a TRD CAI too that probably pairs real nice with it.

But here again- nobody knows shit about it.

It can be ordered now though- how long it’ll take to get it - who knows!?

The part numbers are there but everyone is too impatient to order them- myself included!

Long story short, Toyota AND the aftermarket are late to the game as there’s 100k trucks out there and K&N doesn’t even have a damn air filter for it yet.


There’s YouTube videos of people doing 0-60 pulls in their minivans that have this motor.

I’m sure it’ll be awesome in a hybrid Tacoma- just hurry up and wait.

 

Check this out from the sister site. They seam to be making some headway.

 

Those tuned numbers are pretty stout. Looks to be more tq than a Magnusson 3rd gen. And I'll bet the turbo makes it drive even better at lower RPMs that a chassis dyno can't really show.

 

You're 100% spot on. The Beta tune that we have on the 4G currently really puts a hurting on a 3G Maggy below 5000RPM.


RED - 3G Maggy Auto
BLUE - 4G Auto w/ "beta" tune

The truck spools a bit quicker with the calibration giving a pretty noticeable bump in torque when pedal input is 'low'. It drives very well (and tows better tuned). We'll have a separate post on this coming soon.