To tune or not to tune

I recently purchased a 2019 Tacoma trdor. I had planned on tuning it prior to purchasing but after driving it I’m unsure. It’s not terrible, does shift a bit but I don’t think it’s a ton worse than other vehicles I’ve had in the past. Now I also don’t know if it has already been tuned. I contacted vftuner and they have no record of the vin so it’s likely it’s not. Assuming it’s not tuned, Is it that much of a difference? What issues does the truck have stock that the tune will remedy? What do people notice the most? My truck has 285/75/16’s on it so I would assume that mine would feel worse than a stock truck

 

Yes it's the best mod I have done and worth every penny imo. I know the tuner that did mine "@TacoManOne ", did the tune told me to drive it if I wasn't happy he would put it back to stock no charge. If I was you I would find out who my local tuner is and have a chat with him.

 

What all is involved in these tunes? Is it just reprogramming the computer, new chips, etc?

 

The “local” tuner to me is 5 hours or so away. I may end up doing it myself.

 

Yes it is a reprogramming of the computer. There is literally hundreds of pages of discussion about how the tune works and how the people who have done it feel about it. The best thing about the tune imo is the customer service. The feeling that the developers want people to have the best experience with their trucks first and make a profit second.

 

tune is worth it do it

it is done using the OBD port under the dash and it is a reprogem of the ECU no parts are needed to install a tune for the 3rd gen tacomas

 

I know a lot of tuners do events so they can reach people that are a long ways away.

 

I haven’t done it

I knew what I was buying and not saying a tune couldn’t make it perform and drive better, but I’m used to how it drives, I have no more expectations for it to be better. It works perfectly fine for me. Going years of hearing people complain about the shifting issue I must have missed and don’t really feel it. This was also my first automatic I’ve ever bought, not that I hadn’t ever driven an automatic but was different all together from what I’ve lived decades with.

saying that driving my tundra is a different story in how it performs, but don’t think I’ll do anything to any of them.

some things I want to change and I do, some other things I’m okay with how they are.

from what I’ve read, people who do it are glad they did. If you’re considering it, I would say go for it, but find out what your looking for in terms of tunes, there are options.

 

Tune it. I put in the OV91 tune for 33's and it made a night & day difference in how the truck feels to drive. It's more expensive on fillups but I am getting from the truck what I expected of it. No, it's still not as good as the 4.7 in my son's 4Runner, but it is at least better than a 3 ton Corolla!

 

do it

 

Where is your local?
I have OV91 tune in the high elevations of the rocky mountains of Colorado and it was the best mod to date.

 

KDMax Pro and never looked back. Truck drives like a dream, isnt trying to get into 4th gear at 25mph, holds gears on the freeway instead of being in over drive at 55mph and no loss of mpgs. Just do it.

 

I’m in upstate ny. Kdmax has tuners in Philly (4 hours away) and ott has tuners in Nj (5 hours away) I’m leaning towards the ott tune if I decide to tune

 

Read through the TW local forums to find out if they would be willing to do a 'tune day' near to you, make a TW regional thread about it, and talk with everyone you know with a 3rd Gen to make it happen.
There is one tuner in Colorado that makes dates around the state and he is highly successful.

 

If one were to reprogram and decide they don't like it, is it easy to reprogram back to the way it was factory?

 

The tuner can do that and most of the time it is no charge to do so.

If you question how well a tune works, go find a few of us that have ours tuned and go for

 

MasterYota does the OTT tune and is having a tune day in Albany in late February. I live further downstate near the NJ border and will probably be saving any cash Santa brings me and going to him for a tune.

 

Scranton is much closer to me than Albany. But I also may just do it myself. It’ll cost $200 or so more but I don’t have to travel hours and spend my time. Also, I can just retune any future updates.

 

Regearing will make a bigger difference. Go with 529s if you want to run 33s or more.

I thought about tuning but the threat of bricking my ECU and the fact that it really doesn't add a lot of HP turned me off. It's not like a turbocharged vehicle where you can add 80hp.

 

Drive it for a 1000 miles or so and see what happens. Get a better idea of what you like and don’t like so you only need to get a tune once. Let me add this:

I was not liking how my transmission responded to throttle inputs, or lack there of. BUT I think the truck has “adapted” to my driving over the past 1000 miles because the response has gotten MUCH better. The only thing I would like to do is have my idle speed raised to about 750 in gear to smoothen out the idle.