Tacoma - OVTUNE - VFTUNER - Update Info and Original Development

The new Camry has 301hp with, what I am guessing, is the same engine.

I have feeling Toyota is killing off the Atkinson cycle. Reduced Low end power and overall power reduction is main drawback of the Atkinson cycle.

 

From the other thread:

Oh and BTW,



lol

 

This! I hope this tune fixes this weird characteristic.

 

Does the car switch from Atkinson cycle to normal via an electronic mechanism?

 

Yes the ECM

 

Turn that bullshyt off and I am fine. I will pre order the OV tune

 

The ECM get data from the engine ground speed load on the engine and all kinds of parameters so it can't just be turned off the computer uses the best way to save fuel and any given time based on load-speed fuel needs and uses the best way to save fuel

 

How does it modify the valve timing according to the current engine load, throttle input and speed? Are there electronic actuators on the timing belts? Are there timing belts still? I am lost with these modern engines.

 

Google search

http://jalopnik.com/how-variable-valve-timing-works-500056093

 

Cam phaser controlled by computer

 

I'd just ask that before you go stating anything I wrote is weak evidence, consider that I didn't present it as legitimate evidence. Part of this is irrelevant in that it's Ford-related, but it is relevant in that nobody knows for sure if Toyota does keep a flash counter.

Here's what was happening. There is an app called Forscan for Ford that allows you to connect to the OBD port and change bytes in the various ECU/BCM/APIM/etc.. modules to enable or disable various things. Very similar to the Carista app but it isn't as pretty. You're pretty much byte flipping. Then the question came up whether or not Ford could detect if you made changes to the "as-built" values. The group consensus was no big deal since these aren't tune related, just feature related. There was a Ford Tech that had access to some data and was porting the byte strings between Fusion's, Mustang's and F-150's. Some overlapped, some didn't line up. Anyway, it got the conversation going and then another Ford Tech chimed in and said these changes we were doing didn't increment the flash counter since the modules weren't being flashed, only changing settings Ford didn't expose through the dash cluster or SYNC menus. But that's when it took on a life of it's own. It came out that there was (ostensibly) a flash counter. This revelation really got the guys worked up that were loading tunes. They figured that reverting the tune back to OE was "erasing their tracks" so-to-speak.

So no, there was no statement made about Ford declining warranty claims. I assume they were backing the tunes out before taking their rigs in just as a precaution, just like some have mentioned in this thread. Even OP himself made it clear you can back it out/reload it repeatedly.

All I was trying to impart was that if Ford may be tracking flash counts that means Toyota may be, too. That's not a stretch to believe, is it? And since OP stated he's in the ECU...

That he'd be the most qualified to determine if Toyota does this. And to this he says...

I just raised a question that I don't think OP has enough confidence or information to answer definitively. Wouldn't it just suck to have Toyota decline coverage for something because they claimed they could prove you had a tune loaded? And all you had in your back pocket was "but

 

This for sure. Premium is easily $0.20 or more per gallon where I live. I don't want to have to pay for the tune and have to pay an additional +/-$4 per fuel stop for another +/-200,000 miles. Just in fuel costs, that's 200,000 miles / 20 mpg (being conservative cost wise) = 10,000 gallons. 10,000 gal x $0.20 = $2,000. I don't want to spend +/-$2,000 extra in operating costs for sure.

That said, OP, great job on this. It's definitely much needed and I look forward to your finished product.

 

As many others here have echoed, I don't want or need a more POWERFUL truck, I want a more DRIVEABLE truck. Please make the throttle mapping more linear, and reduce the tendency of the transmission to lug the engine...that's all I ask!

 

Sorry Jake! I wasn't clear with what I wrote.

I was intending to say flash counts would be weak evidence for Ford to deny warranty claims. In other words, if Ford was using flash counts to deny warranty work, but had no other evidence of tampering, then that's pretty weak and, in my opinion, would be hard for Ford to justify.

I wasn't disagreeing with you or trying to call you out. I agree that they probably have some mechanism to validate the ECU hasn't been tampered with. BUT if ovtune has complete access to change the checksum value then they probably have complete control and visibility into the ECU to see if there are counters.

 

Well, seeing as you guys are attempting to understand something overly complicated, why not take some time here and do the same for us (less complicated) boosted 2nd gens? We run pig rich as it is and could use some AFR cleanup across the spectrum.

 

Let's say you are driving 20,000 miles per year.
200,000 miles = 20,000 x 10 years
10 years = 12 x 10 = 120 months
Extra Monthly Fuel Cost = $2,000/120 months = $16.67/mo.

I'm willing to pay that extra $16.67 every month and ENJOY the extra power/torque from the new tune.
That's way better than suffering for next 10 years after spending $36,000 (my OTD V6 4x4) on a new truck because of Toyota's sucky oem ECU tuning!

 

Are they doing this in Texas now? Part of the state inspection?

 

Lol. All good.


My thought on the checksum portion is they've figured out the formula for the checksum, and calculate it for their tune code. Hard to know if Taco checks the checksum at upload or at runtime, or both. The other thing to think about are separate memory spaces. There may be another memory bank that stores this "other" data that is separate from the ECU runtime memory bank. It's pretty easy to hide 8 or 16 bits of data.

 

I agree. $16-20/month is better than the loss I'd take by getting a 2018 tundra.

Or do I buy a 2018 tundra?

 

I'd run premium right now if it made a difference, the biggest perk of this tune is optimizing premium fuel.