[Official] Valley Tuning Thread

I had the Valley Tuning "Valley Runner" tune installed on my truck yesterday. After very limited testing, the results have been extremely impressive... Major increase in acceleration, no more waiting for the 3k RPM "Power Band" to kick in, solid acceleration begins immediately off the line! The shifting on the highway has been predictable, quick and linear for the first time ever and gas mileage appears to be improving as well, but it's a too early to have a definitive result on MPG. I can't begin to describe how much of a difference there is in acceleration off the line...

I didn't want to commit to making the full investment into the vF Tuner Package without trying it out first, and so I opted to have a local installer install the Valley Runner Tune on my truck for now. Jeff immediately located a local installer in my area to install it for me within a few hours of my contacting him through his website.

Jeff @Valley Tuning (@TermLimits) was very helpful in building a tune customized to my rig's specific parameters since running stock gears with all of the heavy steel gear I have installed, AGM Battery, and 35" tires is fairly unusual. Jeff jumped right in and customized it for me prior to the install, excellent customer first service, I would highly recommend Valley Tuning for anyone considering this upgrade!

Lor Moua @Alfamua (Local Sacramento Area installer) met me at a local store and had everything (Including the latest ECU version flash) installed in a few minutes. Lor was super friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable about installing the software into my truck, I would highly recommend him to any of you looking to have this installed in your trucks here in the Sacramento, CA area.

I will update this post after running a few tanks of gas through the truck and letting the computer re-learn the driving style, etc. It seems like it is only going to get better based on what I have observed so far...

*09/29/21 Update - So after running the Valley Tune for a few months on & off road, this is my updated info...

PRO: Performance and throttle response is still great, and updating the alternator to keep my Group 31 Odyssey AGM Battery charged is awesome!

However: This is Not an alternative for a re-gear of the truck, it does help a lot for throttle response, and making the components work more smoothly together than stock.
Gas mileage, is exactly the same as before the tune (Average of 12.5 mpg daily driving) but I live in the foothills of the Sierras, and running up & down fairly steep grades everyday(YMMV). I can get about 14.5-15 mpg when I am doing freeway only driving down in the flatlands, so not too bad.
Tacomas are definitely NOT known for being mpg friendly, but if that is what you were looking for, you bought the wrong truck and no tune is going to magically fix that.

Bottom Line: If you are looking for a true power increase with big tires (I'm running 35x12.5 KM3s w/4" suspension lift, body mount relocate kit, etc) and a lot of extra weight (full steel high lift bumpers front & rear, full set of steel skids nose to tail, steel sliders, Decked drawer system, 12k winch, Prinsu cab rack, ARB front air locker, CBI Steel bed rack, etc) the solution to that is that I am putting a set of 5.29 Revolution Gear & Axle REM Polished gears in on Monday...

What is amazing is that Valley Tuning and my installer are willing to update my tune for the new gear set at no extra cost, and the customer service and responsiveness from Valley Tuning is second to none! I Highly recommend anyone looking to get their Tacoma tuned to use Valley Tuning.

My 2020 TRD Pro Tacoma is a BEAST off road, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else on the market. It has the all the capability of a Jeep Wrangler off road, except it's reliable, dependable, and is worth much more now than I paid for it brand new... You just can't beat it.

 

not bad for an almost 7k truck with 35’s and a RTT sticking way up in the air.

 

Holy shit the pig cracked 15 mpg

 

Im back and tune has been doing awesome keeping at or close to 20 mpg

 

Has anyone noticed throttle surges at 10 mph, say like your trying to drive slow at storage units.

 

Just curious if anyone has used both VT and KDMax tunes, and can draw any similarities and more importantly differences (good or bad)? If this is the wrong thread for that, please point me in the right direction.

 

I've done both. Both are very similar, similar mpgs in my case, but there are a few nuances that you may like/not like based on your driving habits/terrain/etc.
One will hold gears to death, one prematurely downshifts to 3rd more than another, one can milk the engine to max in some condition, other taps out.

 

I've used both, as well as Kruiser4.0 and MD17Daily. Both KDM and VT were standard tip-in. 33's and stock gearing. Mostly highway and city driving, with a few offroad miles.

They are very similar, yet very different, depending on what type of driving style you have. I found that KDM was a little more aggressive than VT. It was fun for sure, especially coming from Kruiser4.0. Throttle response was very crisp and responsive. Power was amazing. Merging onto highways, it felt like a different truck. It just kept on pulling and pulling, that it surprised me so much, I had to let my foot off the throttle. People were talking about this "woosh" sound at 7200rpm, but I was too scared to bring it up that high. But it definitely felt more power on the butt-dyno.
1st and 2nd held longer, which in some ways, helped me get slightly better mpg. I went from about 16.5mpg on Kruiser4.0 to about 17.5mpg on KDM. (I could be a little off since it's been a while). I was definitely happy with KDM. But I have 2 hills I have to deal with going to and coming from home, so that affected my overall mpg.
I was set on keeping this tune.

Then I saw something in the VT thread about hill climbs that caught my attention and decided to give it a try. Immediately, you'll notice a difference. VT will hold 1st and 2nd depending on your throttle pressure, unlike KDM which held 1st and 2nd longer, regardless of throttle pressure. That made it more calm for daily driving, yet aggressive when needed.
One big difference, is what I call VT's VTEC. It drives normal under 4k-ish rpm, but once throttle is down and rpm's rise, it feels like turbo lag before 4k, and then boost kicks in. It's pretty fun.
The hills I have to deal with are still gas killers, but I've been able to average on 3 tanks, 18.7mpg

Both offroad, are super sensitive on throttle response. I've tried both on light tip-in and went back to standard right away. But that's another story.

TLDR:
VT is calm when needed, wild when needed.
KDM is wild all the time.
Both are awesome.
I'm done spending money on tunes.

 

Are you running the experimental files I sent you or the original v2.0 ones?

 

Great review

 

Perfect insights, thank you!

 

I switched from KDMax to Valley Runner, am happy with my decision. KDMax was a very sporty tune, even with Super Light Tip the pedal was an on off switch. I wasn’t a fan of that and the VR light throttle is much more forgiving and to my liking. KDMax held gears longer in 1/2 which was kinda frustrating around town but great to rip on. VR will hold gears longer if you want it to but is pleasant around town. The power between the 2 wasn’t a more/less for me as much as it was the curve. VR feels much stronger down lower and the kdmax likes to spin. However the biggest thing for me was cruise control on KDMax. It actually seemed stuck in 5/6 and the kickdown for me required too much throttle input. VR in my opinion is a much better balance of holding a higher gear and keeping the motor in its torque curve. Both are good tunes but I vote VR for 90 percent of people.

 

Glad you like it. It was pleasure meeting you. If you need to retune for any reason let me know.

 

Yes, prior to installing the VT Tune when I was driving off-road rock crawling... I'm hoping that is fixed with the light pedal VT Tune! When I have a chance to verify that, I will update my review post in this thread.

 

Still need another '18? 04A61 here, looking for some greener grass.

 

We have all the testers covered. ATs are fully developed at this point and available on the website.

MTs are nearly completed with only minor hiccups remaining

 

I apologize if it’s been asked before, I read through the thread and didn’t see anything so far.

Is this the same as the OV Tune in regards to being “undetectable” by Toyota for warranty purposes? I realize there is always a risk, but would like to minimize that risk if at all possible.

I was looking heavily at the KD Max 6.0 tune, but after reading through this thread it seems that this tune may be a little better about keeping it in 5th/6th over hills and inclines, which is my main goal along with smoother shifting.

Thanks in advance!

 

That was one of my questions before getting the tune installed, and yes I was told it is completely undetectable by the dealer...

 

Just the same as all the other tunes on here, edits are applied to a factory ECU calibration. When Toyota connects to the vehicle, they can still perform all functions like normal. Therefore, it is virtually undetectable.

If a technician drives your truck, they’ll feel the difference. None of them are going to accuse you of a tune or deny service since no proof will be there. Unless they wish to remove your ECU, send it off to Toyota and have it analyzed, you’ll be fine.

 

I have a question; I was on the site and looking at the tunes, and one of the questions is “exhaust mods y/n”. What qualifies as an exhaust mod? I have the TRD Pro CAI and TRD Pro exhaust, is that considered a “mod”?