OV Tunes vs Regearing

I have a 2020 TRD Off Road and would like to get a bit more performance out of the engine. I added 33" tires and a 3" lift. Which option would be best? I'm not looking to turn it into a sports car but a little more "umph" when I hit the gas pedal would be nice.

 

You may be able to find someone locally who will OV Tune your truck for $250 so it’s a lot less expensive than regearing.

 

Both. They compliment each other perfectly. Seems like a lot to spend, but it will be worth it in so many ways.

This thread should help https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/is-5-29-gears-too-much.698999/page-3#post-24752941

 

as said look for someone near you to do the Tune first - then if that does not cut it look for gears.

 

I did the opposite of what GoldenBrew said...did the gears first, had them for about 9 months, then did ovtune.

 

I did gears then the tune too - just always wondered after the fact if I should have gone the other direction!

 

Is there a list or reference in any thread of folks who do the OV tune installs around the country? I live in western North Carolina, and would like to find somebody that does this service. I don't feel the need to purchase the entire kit, but just want a simple configuration change, nothing custom.

 

I'd recommend getting TSB 0092 done before putting up cash on OVTune. TSB does 90% of what OVTune does, and it's free

Edit: As Mrtacomaman88 pointed out, similarity between the two probably depends on what tune from OV you're using. TSB 0092 does fix alot of the shifting, lag and torque issues you feel in the stock tune but OVTune may drive better for some folks.

 

I wouldnt say 90%, IMO more like 20%?

Ov tune and TSB ECU flash is night and day difference. Are you tuned?

 

My 2020 TRD Off Road seems to find 6th gear just fine when I am driving on straightaway highway, as compared what others have written about their issues with the "phantom gear". Right now I have a Leer cap on the truck, and get about 16 - 17 around town, and 18-20 on the highway with 6,700 total miles on the truck. That has me wondering if the 2020's (or my particular vehicle from the dealership) were fixed before going out the door. Anyways, I would do the OV tune first, and then the gears (probably 4.88's - Not going to 35's or heavy armor) in that order depending where I go with the build out. Anyways, it would be nice to know if anyone is installing the OV Tune as a service for a fee near where I live.

 

Did the same. You need to do both. Re-gear to 5.29s and get a tune. Initially I only did 5.29's but lost top end speed/performance. So then got a tune. Both not cheap.
But thats' the cost of small gains on tacoma's unfortunately. Alternative was to sell and buy another more expensive performance truck, so I had to settle and pay for meager gains.
Welcome to TW.

 

Definitely not the same. With OVT you've got options based on tire size, performance considerations, and fuel type. I'm sure the tsb helps with some of the erratic shifting, but OVT completely remaps the power bands.

 

Fair question - My buddy is tuned and I test drove his truck pretty extensively to see if I wanted to buy it. I was really impressed with it at the time but didn’t know about TSB 0092. In hindsight, the difference between his and my TSB flashed truck is pretty minor. I’d say his shifts a little faster?

What sucks is I had already purchased OVTune before I had the TSB done, so now I’m out the cash for that and have been waiting (for 2 months now...) for Mat to activate my ECU.

Some people might like OVTune but I most definitely would not have bought it had I had my truck been flashed w/ TSB 0092 before hand. $0.02 of opinion of course.

 

Tuning doesn't change physics. Go for the gears. Do it right.

 

Tonered will tune you up. Great results too!

 

They are two different things. Nothing will overcome bad gearing except re-gearing, and 33s with stock gears is not very optimal, but also not massively out of whack like 35s. In saying that the change in performance from OVT will “mask” the bad gearing 33 give you, but it’s a bandaid and not fixing the actual issue. But OVT will also fix a lot of other issues as has been suggested above. So personally I wouldn’t look at it as either / or, look at it as fixing 2 separate issues, and fix the issue that’s most important to you first.

 

Interesting. I guess because on the manual, there is a SFOB tune(full otto performance tune) and its night and day compared to stock. Feels like truck has 20% more power, especially down low. It turns this 3.5 into an animal.

 

Ya I imagine that would be pretty awesome. To be fair, I don't think I've had the opportunity to try a full Otto cycle based tune from OV - I think the version I tried was 2.0.

 

My SFOB is 2.0 as well, but its not offered for ATs unfortunately.

Its a fantastic tune man, big difference over stock tune.