Any way to tell if truck has a tune?

Hey folks, just picked up my 21 TRD Off Road 2 weeks ago. Bought preowned with 12k miles. The truck has a surprising amount of pep. I was at first thinking that maybe reviews are off when they say the truck lacks power. I have a DC 5' bed with a color match fiberglass ARE cap and the truck runs great.

I've already done an intake, and just ordered an exhaust. I've checked the accelerator for a sprint booster and it doesn't have one installed. So my question is this: Is there any way on this vehicle to tell if it has a tune--without buying a tune to test this question? I am never left wanting for power, and I don't experience the shift wandering issues I've read about here on the forums.

Thoughts?

 

I say the same thing about my 2020, it rocks. My 2018 had those issues you describe.

 

Folks that say Tacoma “lacks power” are comparing it to a sports car, v8s, or Ferd eco boost engines.

Tacoma has plenty of power for normal everyday driving.

FWIW intake and exhaust will only add noise, zero performance gains.

 

The factory tune was noticeably improved starting with the 2020 model year minor refresh. What year were the reviews you read?

 

OP, what were you driving before? I came from a Subaru Legacy 3.6R which was super-quick off the line and you could take corners ...however…fast. Lol. I love my Tacoma but there definitely was a learning curve.

 

If you like it and have no issues then enjoy it and don't worry about it. If you need to know then you would have to take it to a tuner and they could probably tell you.

 

My weekend car is a built 335i xdrive 6mt with about 375 awhp. My old truck was a 5.4 3v f150 with a 6266 single turbo that made 500 4whp. I'm very happy with the punchy Toyota. I've had a hard on for Tacomas since Marty Mcfly drove one. Not my first Toyota though. This will be a glorified mall crawler. No mods other than intake and exhaust. Maybe a roof rack down the road. Perfect to get me and the fam and all our gear up to camp in the Adirondaks and back.

I know intake and exhaust add nothing. They add nothing to any modern direct injected vehicle, until they are tuned, and even then its spotty. But Tacomas are supposed to sound like 1985 in my opinion, so I put on my old acid wash jeans, pumped up my reeboks, and bought the noisemakers.

Thanks for all the responses. Nice to know about the factory tune changing a bit over the years. Stands to good reason.

 

You can check if it has an ECU tune using any obd code reader that has mode 9 functions.

Mode 9 will display the calibration ID plus the calibration verification number. The verification number is like a checksum. Compare the verification number to someone with a stock flash of that same calibration ID.

 

@tonered is the above correct?

 

Sure. You could do that, but locating someone and doing that is not going to be an easy task.

The easier solution is to try Read ECU. If it doesn't read, then it is tuned. If it reads, let it finish. A stock 3rd Gen read is not worth anything other than figuring out if the Taco is tuned.

 

Even after a tune, the Tacoma is still a dog.

Of course, it's all relative on what your truck shares the garage with.

 

Someone that has been driving a stock taco for a small length of time would immediately notice a KDMax tune. There's a pretty big almost violent surge stepping on the gas.

 

I have that and I'm not a fan of it. Overall, I prefer the tune over stock though.

 

I went from a 300K miles Land Cruiser to a 2018 tacoma and felt like I had 1000hp! I also think people that put big heavy tires and lifts of their trucks expect 0 power loss, but you know, physics.

 

Tacoma Stockholm Syndrome is real, y'all.

It's not unreasonable to expect power from a truck, most other midsize trucks drive way sportier than Tacomas.

 

My daily is a Tacoma TRD OR.

Weekends are a 911 Turbo.

The Tacoma has plenty of power for what it is.

 

If you have a tune with the Sport throttle setting and you are aggressive on the gas then I can see it surging. There are two tip-in settings below that.....lite and normal. Have your tuner flash one of those and see if you like it better.

 

I noticed this with all their tunes except the Lite tip-in. The Lite comes on the smoothest and gets rid of that popped-clutch feeling that all the other ones have. Am liking the Lite very much - it's still more responsive than the OV with the enhanced throttle response option.

 

Hear that OP? Just let one of us drive it for a week. We will report back.

 

I have the Valley Runner tune on my 2017. Once when I started it up or had accessory only on ( I havent been able to repeat it), the words "Valley Runner tuned" briefly appeared on the radio screen. I've yet to get confirmation on when and how and why that showed up...