Intresting ECU story

[meltdown]

I may be a little out of my knowledge league here but... Doesn't the ECM learn the driver's style and adjust itself according to that style? The adjustments may be minor but could they be noticeable to someone else? (I have no idea what adjustments it would make, I've just heard that newer vehicles learn your driving style.)
Let's say that you and I bought identical 2016 4Runners and drove them for 50k miles. If we swapped trucks, would mine feel as though it drives differently to you and vise-versa, even though they were built and programmed the same? If so would that difference feel like more power?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I may be a little out of my knowledge league here but... Doesn't the ECM learn the driver's style and adjust itself according to that style? The adjustments may be minor but could they be noticeable to someone else? (I have no idea what adjustments it would make, I've just heard that newer vehicles learn your driving style.)
Let's say that you and I bought identical 2016 4Runners and drove them for 50k miles. If we swapped trucks, would mine feel as though it drives differently to you and vise-versa, even though they were built and programmed the same? If so would that difference feel like more power?

Beyond learning throttle position for idle bypass and some minor offsetting in transmission shift timing (again, this is mainly tied to the throttle blade learning) the vehicles doesn't "learn" that much. Granted it could make someone feel like their vehicle is "peppier" after relearning those parameters and driving a bit; but nothing to what is being referred to in this thread.

 

[wfo9]

^^ pretty much what he said. There is some learning, but nothing crazy and it has very little to do with driving style. More about the standard feedback loop of o2, knock sensors, rpm, speed... It learns in the zones you hit and has very little to do with how you got there.

I do notice my truck runs a little better after a battery disconnect, then it learns its way back to its normal mode.

I don't know much about the Toyota firmware... But I have worked on other brands and most follow a very similar pattern. An example of common set of learned parameters effecting performance are Octane and Ethanol% (on e85 compatible ECUs)... As an example, A histogram type algorithm is used to calculate an octane rating from knock sensor activity. From there the calibration can have multipliers for timing and fueling... This is how the motor can achieve more power on premium fuel...

In a simple engine there are only 3 things that dictate power output and responsiveness. Throttle blade position, fuel timing/pulse width, and spark advance/retard. The 1grfe has an additional variable which is cam phasing (2 in the case of the 5th gen).

The concept that modern cars learn driving styles... is mostly misinformation from salesmen. There is some truth to it, but very little.