The TRD Tune - This would solve everything

Firstly, I have mostly dumb ideas but the odd good one, so feel free to judge.

In the past, you could buy an official TRD supercharger and mechanically “tune” your engine at the expense of fuel economy. This was with Toyota’s blessing.

Presently you can press your ECT button or shift into S5 and “Tune” your 3rd gen transmission and engine for stronger performance at the expense of fuel economy, but we all know those options kinda suck.

Here is the idea:

Why doesn’t Toyota actually revive the custom performance aspect of the TRD “Toyota Racing Development” moniker and offer legit TRD ECU tunes for a price? Like, in some ways, this is the modern equivalent of that old TRD supercharger. They could charge you for the performance upgrade and make it legit. Maybe even offer you some hardware or software to allow you to switch between “Tune” and “Economy”.

I see this idea as a way to use the ‘TRD’ team logo in way that is meaningful. They could have you “sign off” on the decrease in MPGs, and you could revert to stock tune if you changed your mind. It also saves Toyota from trying to “fix” something that isn’t really broken with the existing trucks. In stock form, they just have a languid ECU tune to achieve good economy. If you don’t like it, TRD is waiting to take your money for a “TRD” upgrade to your tune, just like they have an exhaust upgrade or performance intake. Simple.

They could even offer you a “Tuned By TRD” decal for your bedside or tailgate.

Anyways. I think it would be a huge success. Dissenting opinions welcome.

 

Judging by the tune that is on the truck stock from Toyota I’d be scared AF to run a performance tune from them. Even if they did hit one outta the ballpark with a good tune OV already made a performance tune that gives me better fuel economy than the stock tune.
I’m sure there would be a buttload if customers that would love an official TRD tune. To have an official Toyota approved performance tune would be great for the average Joe customer depending on price point. No worries about updates or if Toyota is going to deny your warranty when something breaks because it was “tuned” would be a nice comfort for the average customer that doesn't mod the truck much.
For the group of us that want the ability to custom tune for our modified trucks though TRD would probably be a let down. Personally I’d skip it

 

I really don't understand all the complaints on the way the truck drives. You knew what it was when you purchased it didn't you? The power is there if you need it, and the rest of the time the mpg's are really good.

 

See, that’s the thing, most people DIDNT know how it would drive months down the road since it’s a learned process. It starts out driving good (test drive time) and 300 miles down the road it starts changing and by 1000 miles it’s driving like a bipolar Xwife. That isn’t opinion or speculation either, that is a known fact that it changes driving maps so no, it doesn’t drive the same as the day it was bought. That is another part of the reason I’d go with OV all day, he’s effectively disabled the learning mode so it drives pretty much like the day you flash it. Even the new TSB that was everyone’s darling when it first came out has evolved and many people say it’s learned itself back to its old bad habits.

 

I thought TRD stood for------the real decal----that seems to be the only TRD stuff they put on the truck.

 

It's a good idea. However, the reason Toyota does not offer any true performance upgrades is simple: There is almost zero demand. Sure, 20 guys on a forum want it, along with 20 other guys who want rubber floors and mechanical 4WD levers, along with 20 other guys who want rear disc brakes. But, 20 out of 250,000 is not really a demand lol.
The normal consumer wants a "look" that screams performance of some type, speed, off road, etc but does not really care if it will actually do it. They just want to imagine themselves doing it.
Nothing against any of you guys, but this forum is not a true representation of a normal consumer lol.

"20" is a made up number. It could be 200 or even 2,000 and, to Toyota, it would not be a statistical blip compared to the sales volume.

 

I would buy a TRD supercharger, but not a “tune” that I would barely be able to feel. It certainly won’t change the shifting because I’m in charge of that.

 

So the "TRD" logo isn't meaningful?


To me, that is the issue at hand- Toyota brands certain trucks as Toyota Racing Development that have the same engine and transmission as a non TRD SR5.

Once they do that, the horse has already left the stable.

Going back and saying "for an additional ($ amount), you can actually get the real TRD"....iimplying "forget about all the other trucks that have the same branding, because they aren't "real TRD"....do you see any problems with this strategy?


Just make SR's, Sports, Offroads, Limiteds and Pros, and cancle out the whole meaningless TRD branding, imo.

The other option is just leave everything exactly the way it is, since almost everybody doesn't seem to care.

The truck is the result of the collaboration of engineers, marketers, designers, finance, Corporate management with rule/ law compliance built in, and to make a profit. It's not a bad product they are selling imo, despite of what a few TW members say.

 

I think it is a valid idea. Personally, I don't want/need more power so I would opt out. S5 is fine for me.

 

I thought of that, but the CAFE rules applied when they offered the supercharger and no one got sued. I don’t know how that worked.

Volkwagon was disabling the systems that prevented pollution, and lying about it. It wasn’t really about MPGs in that case.

 

I know I won't change anyone's mind by saying this, but that just isn't true in OVtune's case. Midrange torque increase is absolutely noticeable over stock. Not bench racing and not being a fanboi. It's just a fact.
Not comparable to FI though, that's for sure.

 

I never mentioned the OV tune, the OP was talking about a Toyota tune, which would be very conservative. This engine is already tuned near the max, it’s not a 90’s 454 with 7:1 compression. Even the OV tune is barely noticeable, and most of the feel of it is controlling the throttle response

 

Only thing nice is that the TRD tune could allow you to keep your warranty. If they offered a tune, i think it should come from the factory on the TRD models

 

Understood, and if Toyota went with a tune that conservative, well you're right - there wouldn't be a point.

Further to @hiPSI 's comment, sure - the number of ppl tuning their trucks is miniscule compared to the total number sold. What I'd like to draw your attention to though, is this - Toyota absolutely knows there are customers out there who were and are NOT HAPPY with the factory calibration. The latest round of TSB updates and their related complaints is proof of that. 04B13 M/T calibration for example, although not perfect, is far better than Toyota's previous attempts. NO, I don't know how many complaints they got, but neither does anyone else on this forum. It was enough for Toyota to sit up and do something though, that's for sure.

 

Which file are you running?

 

They should at least offer the Pro with more power via some means, whether with a more aggressive tune, turbo, supercharger, whatever. As it is a Pro is just an OR with a better suspension and some cosmetic bits. Not worth it for me. I can put a better suspension on my OR and have money left over for other mods. They should really up their game with the Pro because if Ford offers the Ranger Raptor here, it’ll blow away a Pro in terms of performance.

 

Pro isn’t a performance model.

Like you said.. it’s an OR with better suspension. Toyota pretends that equates to performance, I guess.

Ford knows better.. a Raptor is actually a performance vehicle, not a marked up base truck.

 

That's a good idea. What I would expect / want is a tune that brings our motor in line with IS350 (311hp / 280ft-lb) with a minimal MPG hit (about 1mph advertised combined) and a realistic cost ($400). With that, I'd be in. It would have to allow the choice of on-the-fly selectable maps (stock and tuned).

All that said, I have to say that I am happy with the TSB-0058-18 / TSB-0125-18 tune after almost 2,000mi. To get me to jump on this TRD tune, that torque curve would have to be smooth.

 

In a reasonable world, a TRD tacoma would would be way more spec’d out than an SR. That’s what would make it a TRD.

Imagine if the wrx STI badge just meant moon roof and sound system lol

 

i got the new tune from the TSB ECU update, and it's not barely noticeable. There is a significant improvement. I have a standard transmission.

Based the significant change, something was definitely wrong with the original factory tune. I felt it every day when I drove the truck, and I don't feel that anymore.