Tacoma - OVTUNE - VFTUNER - Update Info and Original Development

Not entirely true lol... Extreme throttle lag and rev hang are nice little OEM gifts for us M/T types.

 

Oh trust me I know... Lol. .

 

Here's my initial (1.01b) review - only have about 50 miles on the tune at present, so learning has not yet completed. In those 50 miles, I've driven country roads, stop/go traffic, open interstate - so a good mix.

Vibrations: Something you don't hear a lot of others commenting on, and perhaps its isolated, but my truck has never run as smooth as it does now (battery reset or not...and I've done plenty of those). Many of us have experienced that "normal characteristic" these trucks have with vibes in the 2k RPM range. While cruising around 65 mph on the interstate this morning, I was enjoying the total lack of vibes so much and glanced down to see I was cruising at 2k and felt NOTHING in my floor/pedal for the first time ever. Steering vibes weren't really vibes either... more like a distant engine rumble that's almost pleasant vs. annoying. This alone would be worth the cost for many who are frustrated with vibes if they have similar results.

Power: As others have stated, not a ton to notice in terms of power delivery out of the gates. I did do a test on a rural, hilly road that includes lots of tights curves and acceleration. I intentionally let myself slooooow down at the bottom so I could WOT it up - that was FUN. So if you're in the mid/higher end of the RPMs you'll feel the difference but for most day-to-day it's very similar in terms of power, just more linear as others have noted.

Throttle: This was funny initially to me, and it made me reflect on how much the truck has been teaching me how to drive vs. the other way round. I realized I had become used to the feeling of sitting your foot on the gas and it rarely giving it any more fuel until you punch it real good. Not true w/ the tune - if I touch the throttle, it goes and doesn't seem to hesitate and think "maybe he didn't really want to accelerate even though he's trying to apply more throttle." I was worried ECT with the tune may be too aggressive based on other reports, but not true - its more aggressive for sure, but also more linear and smoother. Makes the old ECT feel more unrefined and choppy if that makes sense.

Efficiency: MPGs seem to be unchanged post-tune even with me driving it a bit more aggressively (such as in S+ECT). I'm still getting around 19-20 in hilly middle tennessee on an OR package with ~5-600lbs of accessories bolted on and load in the bed.

Shifting: Yes, smoother shifting for sure with the more linear power delivery, but still not much to write home about here. Shifting still sucks and requires you to use S-mode if you want to keep it out of 6th at 40mph... I haven't noticed the delayed downshift when coming to a stop (yet) since the flash so we'll see if that returns.

Definitely a good taste of things to come, and worth the investment. Subtle in nature overall, which was a smart way to start. Most of us didn't buy these trucks to be racers and many more bought these trucks to run them for many years, haul expensive toys and equipment, and do it all in a variety of environments, so I for one am appreciative of the crawl, walk, run approach @OVTune is taking to the tunes with incremental gains over time. He's on the right track, and my truck is more enjoyable to drive in the meantime thanks to 1.01b

 

Anyone else that has the tune notice an improvement in vibes? Mine has vibes at 2200 rpm (usually notice @75 mph in 5th).

 

Yes - see above

 

I surely have. I thought it was my tires, but alas, it is not...

 

Now is your truck on the 91 octane tune, or are these comparisons running the same fuel such as 87 Octane?

 

Edited:
My truck is now on it's 3rd consecutive tank of 93 octane (2 being before I flashed). Indeed there are improvements to be had on the stock tune purely by shifting to premium, regardless of the naysayers. Vibes do decrease and it's smoother with the stock tune, but my review above is in comparison to 93 on stock vs. 93 with tune. Good question I had before the tune as well though b/c I did wonder whether some people were giving credit to the tune for some improvements that could be had just by switching to premium....

 

Roger that, thanks for the quick reply. I'm more interested in this tune for the driveability improvements alone, especially since I tow. I would hope these same improvements are present with their 87 Octane tune, which is why I asked about yours.

 

Okay folks I have gone through and looked through all shipped orders, pending orders, etc.

As of currently time-line we are looking at >
#1961/62 tracking is not updating. if there is no difference by wednesday I will be sending out replacement kits. My guess is when you drop off 50+ packages at once something might get misplaced at the post office.

there are x13 pending kits (yet to be shipped).

I expect our final dongle batch to arrive this friday. This batch will clear ALL pending orders and we will finally have EXTRA in stock. wheew.

We are working now on scheduling the second part for 1.02 (auto transmission).
I have a list of everything I am working on for 1.02. it will all be detailed once finalized.

Thank you guys I am glad to read everyone is testing out enjoying the 1.01 flash

 

Mine shakes slightly at stop to hard accelerate at 1900 rpm in 1st. I think it's some traction control or torque converter thing. I'm waiting to see if 1.02 gets rid of it

 

Most of the reviews I have read were for the Auto trans. Perhaps I missed one, but any reviews for the Manual with the 4:30 gears? As OVTune said tuning for the manual was easier.

 

I know I keep asking but up to what order number did you ship? Earlier post says into the 1980's however my #1980 has not been received/no shipping email.

 

Great updates! I work in software, so I know go-lives are always "targets" and often shift based on testing results... but if you had to guess do you think you're a week out? a month out? for 1.02?

 

This is something I cannot wait for!

Thanks for your hard work @OVTune

 

1977 here with no updates.

 

I said I believed it wad to 1980s, but we got to early 70s.

Any order left gets all out in the next round of shipping. That's including any orders going in this week

 

plenty of MT feedback. i have the 4.30 MT setup and if you don't like the stock throttle & power behavior then i suggest you buy this now. if you want more reasons then browse back in this thread, it's all in here.

 

Understood, thanks.

 

@OVTune be like