Let’s Talk Tunes

Well, we all know tunes have been out quite some time for 4Runners and 3rd Gens.
From what I’ve seen it hasn’t really been since the last year or so that “efficient” tunes have really come out for the 2nd Gen 4.0

What I wanted to bring up for discussion is the following:
1. With so many of the average Tacoma owner not knowing anything about mapping and the ins and out of an ecu, is there really a difference on these trucks…

2: it seems like every few months, a new Company comes out with a new tune or a new name or whatever.

What tune are you running and why?
How did you pick that exact company or tuner? Did you have experience with any other tunes?

3: Lastly, what is the going rate for a tune accords the board.

Having reheated, intake spacer, and cam gear is there really that big of a difference from a tune?

share your thoughts, please!

 

I too would like to know what tune is best or if pedal commander is best.
It would be nice to have an actually normal throttle map in the ECU.

I know in the Audi world you pick big brand reputable names backed by independent shops that have been around for a long time, like APR; but some like GIAC are likely no longer around.

or after APR came Motoza offering tunes with success, popularity, and customer support.
Similar probably applies to BMW (Dinan, etc) Benz AMG’s, so on and so forth
Well established household names

in the Tacoma world seeing random weird sounding tune names I’ve never heard of, that may not be that popular or have been around a long time, makes me question their legitimacy
Which is sketchy, for something as important as proper operation of an engine. For one, not being tuned wrong in a way that damages it.

If you can find a good one, it seems worth it. Probably slightly more power and MPG, better throttle maps

intake spacer is probably useless. It does not get that hot. Lengthening the intake tract with a spacer increases low end torque by letting incoming air have more momentum. But it probably is already long enough, and with enough momentum, stock. The V6 is also designed from factory to have instant low end torque, whatever small amount it has.

being a basic, cheap engine, it doesn’t have a lot of power to unlock.
Anything more than a slight difference would mean forced induction or a different better engine.

 

I mean, I’ve heard good things about the KDMaxx tube, but it seems like a year ago, there was some other tune that was “the best”

And then someone in my area just advertised a Nexus tune.

It seems like there are so many different options I have no idea where to start.

i know the pedal commander only fixes the throttle lag, whereas a tune supposedly fixes the shift points, etc

But hopefully a few other will respond to this to really show and explain their experiences etc.

i know on a 3rd gen, there is a hell of a difference but idk if I’m convinced in this second gen

 

PedalCommander isn't an engine tune. All it does is remap the footpedal-to-throttle response curve. A one-trick pony.

An actual tune adjusts 10s to 100s of individual real-world in-engine paramaters to provide a dyno-measurable increase in power & torque.

In my opinion this is probably the leading well-known, widely-used, & well-tested Tacoma tune. Available for 2nd & 3rd gens. Suggest reading the entire thread before asking too many questions, they're likely already answered in the thread itself.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/overland-torque-tune-ott-by-overland-tailor.759590/

Regarding the disappointed-and-skeptical-sounding comment:

No, a good tune actually fixes the shift points, at least for 3rd gen auto transmissions. It's not a gimmick, it's legit adjustment of the original factory automatic shifting logic away from Toyota's lame attempt at extracting every last bit of fuel economy, towards normal, sensible, predictable automatic shifts.

I'm not so sure about 2nd gen auto transmissions. I have a manual transmission anyway, but my understanding from reading TW posts is that the 2nd gen autos don't really need a major overhaul to their automatic gear logic. And/or maybe the 2nd gen ECU just doesn't give the level of fine control over the transmission that the 3rd gen ECU + trans pair does.

 

@PapaRee

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kdmax-pro-9-0-tune-by-paparee-and-twtaco.713699/

 

I wasn't trying to be Skeptic. Currently there are from what I see, 3 current tunes available for these trucks.
1. Overland Torque Tune
2. KDMax Tune
3. And Lastly, the newly scene Nexus Tune

From my research it seems like KDMAX is the only tune that has actually shown a Dyno sheet showing the difference in performance from before and after. What I am trying to figure out is ultimately which tune is more beneficial.
I understand that they essentially are custom EFI and ECU Mappings so they are each going to have differences etc. But with so many "Tuners" in big city area, how does one make the write decision. Generally they cost anywhere from $400-$600 so it would suck to purchase one tune and have a little jump in performance VS another. Just looking for real world experience with the different tunes out

 

There are several different dyno test results of OTT (Overland Torque Tune,) for both 2nd gens & 3rd gens. The results start right on the first page of the thread. If you read through the entire thread I believe there are additional updated dyno tests for variant configurations, etc.

If you care about engine durability I would be extremely cautious about picking a tune based merely on which shows the bigger, badder dyno results. @JustDSM (the primary creator/maintainer of OTT) emphasizes that he has taken great care to ensure that the extra power & torque unlocked by OTT doesn't excessively tax the engine in ways that may significantly shorten its lifetime.

 

Performance gains on an NA'd 4.0L are minimal (relatively speaking) regardless of tune. What is huge is the drivability gains from the auto transmission side as well as various other things once can change for drivability improvements

 

I'm not sure that "minimal" is the right adjective to apply to a 7-10% torque & power gain, consistently across most of the RPM band, on a stock 2nd gen NA 4.0L. I'd say it's $300-$400 very well spent for a well-designed and increasingly-well-tested (by the customer base) no-wrench modification.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-ott-by-overland-tailor.759590/#post-27076556 (Scroll down for 2nd gen 4.0L stock/NA dyno results.)

 

on premium fuel. 99% of the users on here dont run premium. I am very VERY well aware of what is capable with HPTuners tune.... hell I was one of the first adopters and quickly became the automatic transmission tune go to guy. Gains CAN be had but pure numbers performance gains are not drastic as some might expect.

Definitely NOT saying that OTT and JustDSM's tunes are bad, they 100% are amazing, hell im running one, just dont want to get anyones hopes up to think that by slapping on a tune without doing anything else they are going to make a powerhouse burnout machine.

Needless to say, OP, hit up OTT/JustDSM for a tune, hes been the most active in the 2nd gen taco tuning community.

 

This Weekend I will be getting a custom Tune by @moddedbyphil On instagram and Im excited to see how it performs and the difference over stock. After talking to Phil, I was given some great points and really what to expect. I will keep you updated.

 

What are your thoughts on getting the Overland tailor torque tuning (OTT) for my 2009 Tacoma that’s an MT 6-speed with 165k miles? Do they make a good difference in drivability? I have a K&N air filter in the stock box, the OME 2.5” lift and 265-75-16 tires. I live at 6200’ elevation and spend a lot of time hunting, forest road low-speed cruising, light off-roading, sometimes pull a small 14' aluminum boat, and there’s tons of snow half the year. Does it affect MPG’s? Thanks for any insight as I’m debating getting it tomorrow from a guy down in Blackfoot, Idaho according to the service map on the site! Thanks.

Scott
Jackson, Wy