Anyone tune their 4R?

Monomaniac

Monomaniac

New member
Real curious to see if anyone has messed with the 4runner's tune. I know that the 5th gen runner's power has been de-tuned to give better fuel economy. Like many others I wish I had the option to get a v8 in my trail but no such luck. I had a 2006 Xterra that would run circles around my runner but it sucked down gas like nobody's business. With that being said, anyone find a way to get better throttle response or unleash some hidden power? I saw that bully dog offers a plug and play tuner that might have some potential.
 
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Sorry. It has not been detuned just "optimized" for efficiency. Unless you have a new ECM then you are not going to change things. The Bully Dog thing was discussed several months ago and a few here were supposed to get them to try. I don't think that went anywhere.If I need to change my shift points I just use sport mode instead of spending a grand to do it. You have put on quite a bit of weight judging by your signature including unsprung weight. You might want to look at regearing as some here have done. That is your best bet.
 
It's an interesting product. Looks like the max you can get out of it is "up to" 25hp and 30 ft\lb of torque. I would like to know how close it comes to those numbers in the real world because $1k is a lot of money. Also consider that the engine has not been tested with one of these programs running, and it would be hard to know the long term ramifications of constant use.
 
I'm sure those numbers are high, but in the aftermarket world, $1,000 for that kind of power (25/30) is cheap.
As for wear and tear on the engine, it would be minimum, if any.
 
1engineer said:
Sorry. It has not been detuned just "optimized" for efficiency. Unless you have a new ECM then you are not going to change things. The Bully Dog thing was discussed several months ago and a few here were supposed to get them to try. I don't think that went anywhere.If I need to change my shift points I just use sport mode instead of spending a grand to do it. You have put on quite a bit of weight judging by your signature including unsprung weight. You might want to look at regearing as some here have done. That is your best bet.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking but couldn't put it in words as far as "de-tuning" much better put as "optimized" . I know it was a long shot with the bully dog and $1000 is def lots of money but I was just looking into all options. So nobody actually went through with the bully dog to report any results? I don't think I added that much weight, the plow doesn't stay on. Only the truck mount stays on and only during the snow season and it's only about 50 lbs. I have to do some snooping around about the gearing though. How will the gearing affect fuel economy, going with mild gearing, as it is my daily driver. Btw, I love the limitless amount of knowledge on this forum.
 
Monomaniac said:
I had a 2006 Xterra that would run circles around my runner but it sucked down gas like nobody's business...
Click to expand...

I'm sure the Xterra felt faster, but a 5th gen would show that Xterra it's taillights all the way through the quarter mile.

2006 Xterra: 0-60 7.4 sec, qtr mile 15.8 sec
2012 4Runner: 0-60 7.2 sec, qtr mile 15.5 sec

They are faster than they have a right to be given their weight. You just have to push them a bit harder.
 
I think those numbers for the Runner are estimated.
One magazine tested it in a head-to-hear competition and the Runner ran much higher than a 15.5.

I'd put my money the Xterra all day.
 
Haha, the company I work for has me driving around in a 2006 Frontier. It feels super powerful as the throttle is setup the exact opposite of the 4runner. It's the biggest piece of crap when it occasionally snows as your big toe on the throttle spikes the revs to 3000rpm. When you push the throttle 5% it opens the throttle body 30%, or so,it seems.
 
lezavw90 said:
Haha, the company I work for has me driving around in a 2006 Frontier. It feels super powerful as the throttle is setup the exact opposite of the 4runner. It's the biggest piece of crap when it occasionally snows as your big toe on the throttle spikes the revs to 3000rpm. When you push the throttle 5% it opens the throttle body 30%, or so,it seems.
Click to expand...

Winner, winner chicken dinner!

Somebody on here was talking about an aftermarket controller for the 4Runner that made it do the same thing. I prefer to use my foot.

David
 
Canazes9 said:
You would lose your money.

David
Click to expand...

Not hardly...

Car and Driver.

The 4.0-liter V-6 with its five-speed automatic (as before, no manual is offered) keeps pace with traffic easily enough, although at 7.8 seconds to 60 mph, it proved slower by 0.6 second than the last 4Runner we tested in April 2005.

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 7.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 22.0 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.1 sec @ 88 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 105 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 201 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.73 g
 
WillK said:
Not hardly...

Car and Driver.

The 4.0-liter V-6 with its five-speed automatic (as before, no manual is offered) keeps pace with traffic easily enough, although at 7.8 seconds to 60 mph, it proved slower by 0.6 second than the last 4Runner we tested in April 2005.

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 7.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 22.0 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.1 sec @ 88 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 105 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 201 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.73 g
Click to expand...


I see - the best case scenario for the Nissan is representative, but the only the worst time is representative for the 4runner.

Don't be a putz.

Learn a little about non-linear throttle response and how that's used on vehicles sold in this country to make them feel more powerful. Then spend a little more time learning why it's a bad idea on a serious off road vehicle.

David
 
WillK said:
Not hardly...

Car and Driver.

The 4.0-liter V-6 with its five-speed automatic (as before, no manual is offered) keeps pace with traffic easily enough, although at 7.8 seconds to 60 mph, it proved slower by 0.6 second than the last 4Runner we tested in April 2005.

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 7.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 22.0 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.1 sec @ 88 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 105 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 201 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.73 g
Click to expand...

So what did C/D test the Nissan at? Honestly, realistically, I would expect the lighter, simpler, XTerra to do 0-60 quicker. I'll bet $1,000,000,000,000.00 a stock XTerra is faster 0-60 than my 4Runner.
 
Jeremy556 said:
So what did C/D test the Nissan at? Honestly, realistically, I would expect the lighter, simpler, XTerra to do 0-60 quicker. I'll bet $1,000,000,000,000.00 a stock XTerra is faster 0-60 than my 4Runner.
Click to expand...

Having driven both quite a bit, 4wd to 4wd, apples to apples - no.

Edit - whoops, sorry, you said your 4Runner, yeah, prob so...

David
 
Um, shouldn't the discussion be "if you are buying a 4runner and worrying about 0-60 times you're buying the wrong vehicle"?

I've tried tuners on past cars and found they weren't worth the money personally.
 
How will the gearing affect fuel economy, going with mild gearing, as it is my daily driver. Btw, I love the limitless amount of knowledge on this forum.[/QUOTE]

I don't really think you can have both on a vehicle like this. Either gear it and have a little more lite end grunt and take off and deal with higher RPMs and less mileage at the top or just learn how to drive it. I'm not trying to be rude but until you add a bunch of weight this thing its not all that awful. I've said before and I'll say it again, you just gotta give it more pedal than other vehicles. Put that bi+$& down. She will go.
 
1engineer said:
Sorry. It has not been detuned just "optimized" for efficiency. Unless you have a new ECM then you are not going to change things. The Bully Dog thing was discussed several months ago and a few here were supposed to get them to try. I don't think that went anywhere.If I need to change my shift points I just use sport mode instead of spending a grand to do it. You have put on quite a bit of weight judging by your signature including unsprung weight. You might want to look at regearing as some here have done. That is your best bet.
Click to expand...

"Sport mode" ? Do I have that on my 2010 Trail :eek:
 
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