- First Name
- Rich
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2025
- Threads
- 13
- Messages
- 105
- Reaction score
- 159
- Location
- Antioch, CA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2024 Hybrid Tacoma OR
- Thread starter
- #1
Just got back from getting my truck tuned. Saw someone say that a tune is the best single thing you can do for your truck, so I searched and found Central Coast Tuning would be in my area in a month or so, and booked an appointment. They travel around California and do these events where they set up shop, and I had no idea what to expect. Would there be a dyno? How long was this going to take etc.
Turns out it was just a guy going from truck to truck and flashing a tune, I was the only hybrid present, so mine took a bit longer, but from the time it was my turn until I was buttoning back up the backseat battery was about 20-25 min.
Pulling out of the parking lot (literally about 20 feet) I actually did a u-turn to go back and talk to the guy (JC Valenzuela was his name) and he probably thought "oh shit, what is this guy immediately turning around for" but I rolled down my window just to tell him I could literally ALREADY feel a difference in the response. Pulling out on the freeway and driving back from Concord to Antioch it felt like an entirely different engine under the hood. Throttle responsiveness, shifting timing, it felt like a cheat code.
I imagine Toyota engineers building these engines we love, and then here comes California or the EPA or the government in general and telling them ACKSHUALLY, I NEED YOUR ENGINE TO RUN LIKE GARBAGE SO WE CAN SAY EMISSIONS ARE WITHIN THIS THRESHOLD or whatever, and the engineers roll their eyes and make their beautiful creations run terribly to meet some politician's idea of correct, intentionally gimping the actual feel of how the engine is supposed to operate.
It felt like these shackles were thrown off, and if I sound a little excited, it's because I am.
1000% believer. This is the single best thing you can do for your day to day satisfaction of actually driving the vehicle you purchased. It's like running custom firmware on a phone, and disabling all the bloatware.
Thank you Central Coast Tuning, and huge shout out to Overland Taylor Tuning for making the flash in the first place.
Turns out it was just a guy going from truck to truck and flashing a tune, I was the only hybrid present, so mine took a bit longer, but from the time it was my turn until I was buttoning back up the backseat battery was about 20-25 min.
Pulling out of the parking lot (literally about 20 feet) I actually did a u-turn to go back and talk to the guy (JC Valenzuela was his name) and he probably thought "oh shit, what is this guy immediately turning around for" but I rolled down my window just to tell him I could literally ALREADY feel a difference in the response. Pulling out on the freeway and driving back from Concord to Antioch it felt like an entirely different engine under the hood. Throttle responsiveness, shifting timing, it felt like a cheat code.
I imagine Toyota engineers building these engines we love, and then here comes California or the EPA or the government in general and telling them ACKSHUALLY, I NEED YOUR ENGINE TO RUN LIKE GARBAGE SO WE CAN SAY EMISSIONS ARE WITHIN THIS THRESHOLD or whatever, and the engineers roll their eyes and make their beautiful creations run terribly to meet some politician's idea of correct, intentionally gimping the actual feel of how the engine is supposed to operate.
It felt like these shackles were thrown off, and if I sound a little excited, it's because I am.
1000% believer. This is the single best thing you can do for your day to day satisfaction of actually driving the vehicle you purchased. It's like running custom firmware on a phone, and disabling all the bloatware.
Thank you Central Coast Tuning, and huge shout out to Overland Taylor Tuning for making the flash in the first place.
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