Tacoma - OVTUNE - VFTUNER - Update Info and Original Development

VR tuning, no. That's what Vivid Racing uses.

VF tuning, however...also no. Not for our trucks anyway. He did do a live stream for Lexus, some stuff may be applicable. No, I do not know where it's at.

 

There is plenty of info in the VFTuner thread about how to adjust the alternator settings, how to adjust the tip in, and how to adjust the ACIS and more. Check out that thread

I've been running 2.0 premium 33 4.88 with the addition of AGM voltage settings since the tune pack dropped and it's been running nicely. Only took me About 4 minutes to find out what to do

 

2004 Honda Odyssey that I inherited from my dad. If it would’ve had better clearance and AWD, I would still have it. Interestingly my taco gets better mileage - just made a run to Ohiopyle with a WW boat up top and got 20mpg both ways. That’s impressive for a true 4x4 truck. Van similarly loaded would have gotten maybe 17. BTW, the shift map Mat implemented for the ECT button in 2.0 base final is perfect for steep mountain back roads.

Before the Odyssey, I had a V-8 crew cab F-150. That thing drove great, but it was a gas hog and even harder to park than my DCLB Taco.

In terms of overall driving experience, I agree with Mat. My Taco with the tune is a pleasure to drive in most situations. It had a lot of issues pre-tune, some of which were dangerous (like traction control cutting throttle when making a 90 degree turn onto a 4 lane highway), others that were just annoying (downshifting constantly on the highway, yet refusing to downshift when coming out of a turn at city driving speeds; throttle either not responding at all or way too much when trying to park.) The tune fixed all of those issues.

Only real complaint I still have is the shitty cruise control algorithm. I've owned a lot of vehicles with cruise over the years, and this 3rd gen Taco is the only one that gets poorer highway mileage when using cruise versus just driving with my foot. This has been an issue since stock. The tune helps, but it still seems bizarre that the truck will double-downshift and turn 5k RPM on a moderate hill at 70 mph when using cruise, yet on that same hill at the same speed with my foot, it'll single-downshift and hold just fine at 3k RPM.

 

2 vehicles ago I had a 4 cyl manual wrangler, so I am familiar with driving slow vehicles.
Last vehicle was a wrx so I recognize thats not a good comparison.
I drove my brothers 2nd gen 4.0 AT for 5 weeks before I bought my 2018 to see if I’d like dailying a truck, and thats where I tried to set my expectations at. The stock 2018 just felt like I was beating a mule at times to convince it to get up and go. Never got that feeling in the second gen.

 

Our last cars were a Saab 9-3 SE 5MT Convertible, a Volvo V70 T5 5MT, and the wife's Forester XT. The engines in the Saab and Forester are torque monsters. The wrong Swede went out of business. If the power were going to the rear wheels, we'd probably still have the Saab. Torque steer was fun, but the lack of traction of FWD cars got old.

I have been mainly on bikes for the last 15yrs, though. Ducati ST4 with almost 100k in the saddle of that one. I sold a 2013 Ural for the Taco. Talk about slow (and completely unreliable). LoL!

The Taco is my first RWD since HS and first truck. The Ural gave me the offroad bug, the Taco fulfills it.

The tunes and some other TW mods make it a real sweet ride.

 

I used these settings, except it was running at 14.8-14.9 on my truck.....so I changed the ECT to 95 from 30 and up. Now I'm getting 14.6. Doesn't take long to make the changes, flash it, and see what the new settings are, then make more adjustments.

 

Lets see...
'71 Ford LTD
'85 Honda Civic
'85 Toyota P/U (22r, manual)
'88 Toyota 4-runner (22re, manual)
'86 Suzuki Samurai
'90 Toyota P/U (3.0 V6, manual)
'98 Plymouth Voyager (don't judge me)
'99 Jeep Cherokee
'04 Jeep GC
'05 Jeep GC (Hemi )
And now my '17 Tacoma, which I love. OV made it better, but to be honest the engine and transmission never really bugged me THAT much. Maybe because my previous Toyota trucks (aside from the '90) all had 4-bangers and were the very definition of slow, and coming from the Hemi GC I fully expected a slower ride than I'd been used to.

 

2005 STi on it's 3rd motor and a big turbo. (sold)
2012 S1000RR (sold, ruined going fast in anything for me. nothing compares)
2013 Accord (sold, a solid commuter)
2016 Forester XT (wife has now, I miss the paddles for engine breaking in traffic)

 

1988 4Runner
1996 Tacoma (I really miss that truck, and shouldn't have sold it)
1999.5 Jetta TDI (Tuned, larger turbo, injectors, EGR Delete, etc... thing was a monster and still got almost 1000kms to a tank)
2003 Pathfinder (A dark moment in my life... I don't want to talk about it)

I still say that this tune has been a huge improvement from stock, and without it I probably would have sold the truck long ago. I do agree with the statement about highway driving. It is the only weak point. However, on the latest 2.0, running 94 octane makes a huge improvement which I definitely notice over 91 octane fuel. Sometimes the truck actually surprises me with the amount of power it has!

 

Hahaha. We've all had one of those in our driveway.

 

How would you compare the Jew Gladiator to either the Christian or Muslim Gladiators? Better off-road capability? Low-end torque?

 

I agree that the CC is just not that useful unless you are on flat, windless terrain. Its not smart enough and lacks the fine throttle resolution you can get with your own brain (and foot). Whenever I approach even the slightest of inclines I switch it off momentarily.

 

that might be my worst auto-correct ever....

 

2013 WRX sti that was pro-tuned and would haul some ass. Damn I miss that thing.

 

Looks like I may be looking into a new tuning laptop. Anyone have any recommendations of good brands or brands to stay away from? Also not trying to spend a ton of money on it since it's basically just for vFtuner and flashing. Thanks in advance.

 

I’m in the same boat. If I decide on getting this, that means I also have to invest in a new laptop.

 

I have a Acer aspire I use for logging that are like $300 new. Battery lasts for 6+ hours too.

If you're looking for affordable.

Also I will be unavailable from the 10th to 13th.
Rafael will still be available

 

Anyone have a ballpark on how long it takes to get a computer re-registered after an unwanted Windows update? Sent my ticket into Zendesk yesterday.

 

I too am on 04b04 and don’t think I’ve noticed any relearning issues