Tacoma - OVTUNE - VFTUNER - Update Info and Original Development

Nothing yet as I don’t necessarily need anything at the moment. I have another commuter car that I use on daily bases.
Though should I need a truck, I was looking at 2018+ F-150’s, but may also wait for new tundra.
Biggest complaint about Tacoma was space constraint with 3 kids, as well as crap drive train that tune can’t fix.

 

Have you tried thx ?

 

Have not. I was an early adopter of OVTune (September 2017), but I'm always slow to update to newer versions. I waited and watched this time around, and saw many people not liking THX (especially on the freeway) whereas many seemed to prefer non-THX. I had been running build 16012 before, and it had perfect throttle response for me at takeoff, but sometimes would "rocketship" when I gave it a bit more gas on the interstate. The current 2.0 that I'm running shifts better than 16012, and it hasn't done the rocketship thing on the interstate, but it just needs a pinch more of throttle in relation to foot pressure and pedal travel at takeoff.

 

So he was reason that delayed 2.0.
Time to get out the ol' pitchfork.

 

I'm trying to search back in the threads, but I can't seem to find the real difference between thx vs non thx. Anyone have some insite? I'm at about 400ish miles on premium stock. Notice a tiny difference in the shifting, but seems to be a bit more sluggish vs stock.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...lopment-thread.495735/page-3309#post-23630726

 

I've been eyeballing a Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, *maybe* a 2500. I got the access cab Tacoma specifically because I didn't want to haul people, but I keep getting stuck doing it anyways via family and now work, so I at least need a bigger cab, and I seem to consistently find this truck lacking in pretty much every aspect of power I need. Towing friend's broke down cars up mountain roads, towing trailers, etc. I'm sure part of this is me "growing", but I never ever felt like I was pushing things or that the truck came up short with my old 08' MT Tacoma. I just keep reading so many reviews and stories about trucks from other manufacturers going tits up within weeks or months of purchase, or conveniently juuuuuust after all the warranties expire. So, I feel like I'm stuck hanging on to a "dependable" lemon with an awful driving experience with the Tacoma, or risk it big with a different manufacturer and take my chances. How OVTune made this truck behave was essentially going to be the make or break, but I'm not exactly thrilled with how things get done with that either. Because I feel that I shouldn't have to buy a tune and a re-gear to make this thing drive like it should have from the factory, getting another Tacoma with a bigger cab or a Tundra is pretty much out of the question.

 

THX is a bit more sensitive throttle at higher speed if I recall. Mines a bit sluggish shifting vs stock too. Like there is a large kitchen sponge on the pedal lol. Just a min ago I was trying to pull up a bit in a parking space. Tapped the throttle three times and nothing happened. Put truck in park and the throttle responds perfectly. I don’t get it.

 

@OVTune is the trans learning completely eradicated or are there still remnants left? Did anyone see if he replied. I was slammed at work yesterday and could've missed the reply.

 

I know, been here for his shit show before, don't need the continuous alerts for the next few days.

 

I remember reading a long time ago that it was eradicated, and that’s when I started to save for the tune. Have not heard him confirm it recently, though. Nor do I believe learning was entirely removed Based on my usage.

 

I can completely relate to “dependable lemon” sentiment. Most everyone in my family/relatives either drives Toyota or a Lexus, because it’s a dependable brand, but I feel like Tacoma is in a league of its own when it comes to driveability, it’s terrible.
My brother in law though, has 16 ram eco diesel, keeps telling me to buy one as 4 years 153k miles later he has had zero problems. Says just does oil/tire changes And that’s it. Full disclosure, he did def delete because that can cause issues. Be that as it may, I was surprised.
As for tune, I’m not bashing or hating on OV, they’re doing some great work with their turbo kit. With that said, no amount of tuning will fix this drivetrain. Having being an early adopter of OV tune myself, I gotta say the most frustrating part of the experience is that novelty on tune wears of quick. You flash it, month later truck re-learns it’s behavior and you’re back to square one with its “hurry-up-and-wait” throttle response.
If you’re thinking to sell I would. The market will never be as hot for used Tacoma as it is now. If you need something right away, get a tundra if you want to be in Toyota’s reliability/dependability eco-system. Yea it sucks gas, but it’s a worthwhile trade off(I think).
As a reference, I sold mine for 36k(17 DCLB sport a/t with tech/JBL and almost 44k miles) to a local Chevy dealer, no games no nothing, they’re just desperate for used inventory. The same day I sold it, I had two other dealer lined up trying to take it off my hands for my asking price, Chevy dealer ended up giving me 1k over my asking price.
Good luck

 

Exactly my same experience. The tune is cool at first then it relearns and it's frustrating as fuck. It's almost more frustrating then if u just learned to accept stock. On top of that, at least stock has ECT.

 

All trans maps have been condensed and combined. That's been for a while.

ECT should work perfectly fine on 2.0.

 

Just to confirm ^^, it does.

 

Mines still bad enough I’m pondering if the accelerator pedal can be faulty without throwing a cel... it’s like it turns into a bowl of mashed potatoes whenever it wants even with the tune. Literally just does not respond at all sometimes. Not even a bog. I hope it’s just my recalled fuel pump but once again.. there would be a cel... I’m not afraid to get the revs up either. 04A61

Edit: my ECT works fine, but I never use it. I know it works because I’m in 3rd gear at 58kmh with it on and in normal D that would be 5th gear huffing along at 1050rpm

 

I'm trying to get my house remodeled and sold before November, whether or not I jump ship is probably gonna depend largely on how much I get for the house, and how much I could get for the Tacoma with all the superficial damage (hail, minor dings, scratches). On top of the driving problems, this truck has been a literal bad luck magnet; more accidents and damage in 2 years than on my old truck in 10. I keep hearing such good things about re-gearing, but I hate to put any more money in this damn thing, especially if I need more passenger space anyways. I'm so mad at Toyota (and myself) about this truck that I'm very, VERY loathe to ever buy another vehicle from them again. And all those other problems aside, the mpg on the Tundra is a complete dealbreaker for me.

 

So the trans will not "relearn" in order to extend mpgs like the stock tune does?

 

Not trying to convince you to reconsider a tundra, but my tacoma and tundra both get about the same on the highway.
City driving though... maybe 10mpg out of the tundra.

no it doesn't relearn in that way.

It still has algorithms that it uses that can...not sure how to explain.
Value A - actual map.
Value A as axis of internal algo
result as axis of secondary internal algo
result vs learned torque


so it's not actually a result of any transmission learning anymore, it's a result of controlled torque.
It's ingrained in everything.
The only way I know of shutting it off is Turning off the bits (setting 0) and literally shutting off portions of the code.

Like setting bit 0 to turn port direct injectors off completely.
setting bit 0 to disable Power enrichment
setting bit 0 to disable closed loop.

these are more diagnostic bits to test systems.

 

I’m bringing my manual 2020 Tacoma into the dealership for a creeky/squeaky clutch pedal how can I flash it back to stock like which file would that be using the VF tuner. Thanks. Also could I just leave the tune? do you think they would notice?