I am looking into doing either Sonic Faaftech Throttle response controller ($199) or Pedal Commander ($299) vs doing an ECU/TCU tune ($450). Tell me the pros and cons of these? Tell me why I should or should not do it. I have a 2012 GX460 Base. Thanks in advance.

 

A throttle contoller is only changing how far you depress the pedal to get the desired outcome(more power or a downshift). The PCM is still working with the stock parameters and the throttle controller is simply telling the PCM that you are pushing the pedal farther than you actually are. It doesnt actually make more power than stock, it just makes you work less hard to get the power the car already has. But its still going to shift at the same rpm and engine load that it would have before so you are still tied to the same crappy tuning it came with from the factory, which seems to favor MPG's vs a good experience.

A PCM tune is able to do the same thing in a sense, by changing the requested torque at a give throttle input. but its also able to actually make more power than stock and the transmission shift points can be altered to give an overall better driving experience. Your downshifts can happen sooner and make the truck feel sportier and nicer to drive. Not like you are having to nearly floor the thing to get it to move. A good tune can make the engine and transmission feel like they are operating telepathically with shifts exactly when you want them.

Tuning can be a process though. You might get the tune and be good with it but you can also log the tune and have the tuner give you revisions(hopefully, not sure how the Toyota tuners do it). I have 12+ different tunes from 4 different companies for my F150 and they all act a little different. Each tuner has their own style. Most will adjust the tune to make it feel better for you.

I do have both a Pedal Commander as well as VFTuner for my GX, but I have not done a tune yet.

 

I've done both on my 2010. Going to be honest, I'm dissapointed in my tune. I know they are working hard to fine tune it (no pun intended) but right now I'm not thrilled with it. The throttle controller I have is the pedal commander and it made a very good difference with low speed and passing behavior of the vehicle. Not going to get in to an internet argument about throttle controllers, I just know it works FOR ME. I did disable the pedal commander once I got the tune but I may try them both together. Right now passing performance is non-existent and dangerous since the trans on my tune doesn't kick down any gears when stomping on it for WOT passing. The actual power gain is minimal and you won't notice much if anything without adding more mods to get air in and especially out.

The throttle controller is cheaper, try that first.

 

+1 for Sonic ShiftPower ... for me the Pedal Commander module is too over-featured with settings ... with ShiftPower being controlled via a Bluetooth app on a smartphone (with a simple push button wired remote if preferred). The Bluetooth app is pretty slick and sophisticated to infinitely adjust the throttle setting. I have mine at the 40% setting ... to improve off-the-line throttle response and for passing response.

Bottom line ... they are all doing essentially the same thing ... and YES ... IMHO these are a must to eliminate the lethargic factory pedal response.The GX 460 V8 engine has the power ... but with the factory throttle mapping, one would conclude the engine is under-powered.

I also have these installed on a 4-Runner and FJ Cruiser for the same reason. Well worth the price of admission ... and an easy 10-minute installation.

The ShiftPower module also has the benefit of being able to kill the pedal via the Bluetooth app ... so is an easy demobilization device ... and also has "valet mode" that limits the throttle to 50% ... so the valets will not be doing donuts in the parking lot while you are having a relaxing dinner.

 

Who did the tuning? Just curious.

I have seen some very positive reviews of some tunes on GXOR on facebook. I gotta go back and look to see who it was.

I will say that the little bit of time that I spent looking through the tune on VFTuner, they still have some leg work to do to add more maps. I think the transmission tuning map are limited at the moment. i am not even sure they can adjust the torque converter lockup.

Edit: It was a YotaWerks review i saw. It sounds like the guy did a bit of back and forth datalogging for them and they got him dialed in really well.

 

I don't want to throw any negativity to the tuner so I'll keep that to myself since they are actively working on fixing my issue. I will say it is a YotaWerx tune though and it is the most aggressive one they had.

 

Anyone know of a solution to the cruise control overshoot over hills, and subsequent unnerving downshift it applies, to slow the truck back down to the set speed?
If the cruise control could be dialed back on hills, it wouldn't over shoot, and then do the peace-breaking auto-down shifting. That seems like the first solution.
If the PID of the cruise control can't be corrected, can the transmission be tuned to not downshift while on cruise control?

 

I wasn't able to get my tuner to get me a fix but now that I live in north Idaho my cruise control works perfectly. No excessive down or up shifts while going up and down grades. It also helps to use sport mode with the shifter to also help dial in a better RPM for going up and down grades.