KDMAX OR OVERLANDER TUNE ?!?!

Since this is becoming a tune comparison thread, I thought I'd add some summary data that I feel is important to help understand the differences between some of the top tunes available. All of these tunes will be a significant improvement over stock, no doubt about that.

One of the biggest issues of the 3.5L Tacoma is the poor low-end torque below 4000 rpm. Having better TQ and HP below 4000 rpm will help the truck in many ways, for drive-ability, for towing, improves cruise control (adaptive and reg), etc... When I ask 3GT Tacoma owners how often they want to be above 5000 rpm, the most common answer is "I rarely want to be over 5000 rpm". People don't want to hear their engine screaming all the time to be in the power band. Some folks do like bouncing off the rev limiter/fuel cut, and for them, there are tunes that make more TQ/HP on the top end. But if you are like most 3GT (and 2GT and Tundra, and T4R...) owners I talk to, people want the power down low.

So here is a quick comparison of published dyno data from OTT, KDMax Pro-XT, and Yotawerks/Nexus Blackhawk at ~3250 rpm. Horizontal green lines are there to help folks reference the scaling on the left. BlackHawk data didn't have the dyno summary at 3250 so I estimated it from the axis lines.


Dyno data is not the end-all summary for how a tune performs. It is a quantifiable measure that can be used to compare tunes, so it has significant value. There is more to tuning than just going for TQ and HP, and each of these tunes will have differences in driveability that may work better or worse for each customers preferences. However, all the tunes are focused on addressing gear hunting and increasing throttle response in addition to improving TQ/HP, so again, all will be an improvement over stock.

Long story short, pick a tune and be a dick about it

 

Well Said

 

Only thing i would like to note is don't you want the hp & trq curve to be smooth as possibly?

 

Don't forget, your Dyno graph is invalid because the RPM's do not align.

Better luck next time though!

 

Depends on what your goals are. Everything is a compromise. You can have a smooth curve but give up power or a less smooth curve and get as much power as you can. With ACIS on the 3.5, there is no clear way to both smooth it and have max power at the current time.

 

Explain that for the class please.

 

Once you introduce real driving conditions, all pictures go out of the window...

 

And yet, that power can be distributed elsewhere, resulting in a smoother pull that yields superior usable power throughout the rpm band without jarring dips and bumps that are perceived by the driver as uneven power distribution.

 

Fair enough.

 

This is why I like the XT curve...a nice smith increase from 2k-3200. That's where my tach is when my truck is "working." I would give up peak numbers for a flat torque curve any day in a truck.

Also, the Blackhawk appears to be the only one that requires 93. The XT was run on 87 and I don't know about the OTT.

 

This specific dynograph for the Blackhawk was for the premium fuel specific tune.

We're trying to coordinate a dyno day for the regular fuel tune.

 

Essentially, you're measuring TQ and HP at 2 separate RPM's as if they were the same RPM. If that were me, I'd scrap my runs entirely because they are invalid and misleading. But, I won't tell you how to run your business.

Post can be found here.

 

You know, I've been saying for a long time that the community would benefit significantly from a full testing of all of the tunes available, with a thorough review of them. All in one place. Could be a TacomaWorld thread, or a video linked in a new thread dedicated to discussion of the results, etc.

This person CANNOT (and frankly will not, because it'd be unacceptable) be anyone who is a VFPro tuner or who offers tune services through another software, because there is already an inherent bias there due to profit.

An ideal tester would be someone who genuinely just wants to assist the community by outlining various benefits, provide all relevant info, and review the tunes appropriately. Even more ideal is someone with VF who has only edited their own stock or VF2.0 tunes at most, meaning they are not a current customer of any of ours, but this is obviously significantly harder to come by/arrange.

Anyone discovered of privately messaging or other means of conversing with this tester or testers to sweeten the pot and initiate bribery, essentially, should have it publicly noted in the relevant threads so that people are aware that the subsequent review is corrupted. After all, anyone who is genuinely interested in seeing such a thorough review and comparison study conducted won't care about "winning".

@PapaRee @TWTaco @BortisYeltzen @ktbell444 @Mooseditty17 @Kevinpd325

EDIT: tagging @JustDSM and @Boltripper

 

Here is the summary of the run from @JustDSM. They had MT 3GT, AT 3GT, and Tundra runs to do in a whole day on the dyno. Lots of work, as I’m sure you are aware.

“Since we were unable to get the inductive clamp working for RPM pickup, and the operator not having an optical sensor to pick up RPM from the crank or similar, we used drum speed to infer RPM.

This is standard practice and outlined in the Dynojet setup manual for configuring the dyno for use. See: https://dynojet.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004181233-How-to-configure-dyno-for-use-

2:39-2:51 on this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd6OlSsY0Ds

There is a slight error induced due to tire growth as RPM increases.”

If you want to pretend like the OTT run didn’t happen and was made up, go for it. The rpm error shifts the data left and right.

Like I said, pick a tune, and be a dick about it…

 

It’s @JustDSM amd @Boltripper game for OTT.

 

Honestly haven’t noticed any big difference between the two tunes, though my tuner (that flashes both) says the overland is his recommendation. On KDMax, I (and others) also experienced times where the truck would briefly accelerate on its own at low speeds, though not everyone seems to have experienced it, nor do some people think it’s tune related, but since switching when overland came out I haven’t had any issues

 

Ah. Your wording in your various posts implies significant involvement in the development process and editing of the tune, sorry

 

"Slight" error of 400 to 500 RPM's. Nah. And it should have been the same vehicle, so tire size is less of a factor.

 

An important life skill is to understand one’s limitations, and figure out who the smart folks are. Either be the best, or work with the best so you can learn from the best. I’m perfectly comfortable saying I don’t have all the answers and am learning a ton from the OTT folks.

 

I edited my post to tag them