2026 4Runner TRD Sport Dyno Results (Stock vs Tuned on 86 Octane)

[HVLA]

The tuning yes, but octane does not make a difference. 15 to 20 horsepower is barely perceived.

1. deleted AI slop....

An almost 10% increase in wheel horsepower is absolutely felt. Please stop spreading incorrect information. This isnt the old v6....

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[John2112]

An almost 10% increase in wheel horsepower is absolutely felt. Please stop spreading incorrect information. This isnt the old v6....

Not spreading false information, of course tuning a vehicle could increase the horsepower that you can barely feel. But what's the point of that? Modifying engines and tuning and adding equipment to a vehicle just shortens its service life, and all of my Toyotas have lasted 20 years or more. I expect my 1-year-old Trailhunter to last the rest of my life with zero modifications. Squeezing an extra 20 horsepower just seems silly and unnecessary to me. But then again I'm an adult, I don't want to void the warranty and shorten the service life.

 

[CAMTuning]

Not spreading false information, of course tuning a vehicle could increase the horsepower that you can barely feel. But what's the point of that? Modifying engines and tuning and adding equipment to a vehicle just shortens its service life, and all of my Toyotas have lasted 20 years or more. I expect my 1-year-old Trailhunter to last the rest of my life with zero modifications. Squeezing an extra 20 horsepower just seems silly and unnecessary to me. But then again I'm an adult, I don't want to void the warranty and shorten the service life.

I understand the public hesitancy to modify a stock vehicle. I can tell you from looking at data on so many of these that in nearly every case a properly custom-tuned calibration runs safer than the factory calibration. With the custom tune you don't have to seek big power gains but simply correcting shift behavior and allowing for more torque at moderate throttle can change the entire behavior of the vehicle without going outside of what Toyota intended when they built it.

That being said it's easy to pull 45 to 50 horsepower out of one of these hybrids and still keep the tune very safe.

 

[pamy105]

Recently, I had the opportunity to tune my truck with Cameron, after trying the stock Cobb 93 Octane map. The Cobb tune improved the drivability but the tune Cameron provided was another big step forward. The biggest thing I noticed is how refined the powertrain is now. A bit more pep but the it nows feels like the engine and transmission communicate seemlessly. Cameron is the ultimate professional and extremely knowledgeable.

 

[HVLA]

Not spreading false information, of course tuning a vehicle could increase the horsepower that you can barely feel. But what's the point of that? Modifying engines and tuning and adding equipment to a vehicle just shortens its service life, and all of my Toyotas have lasted 20 years or more. I expect my 1-year-old Trailhunter to last the rest of my life with zero modifications. Squeezing an extra 20 horsepower just seems silly and unnecessary to me. But then again I'm an adult, I don't want to void the warranty and shorten the service life.

What are you even talking about? We are discussing octane. Higher octane fuel in THIS engine increases horsepower and this is a fact. You are spreading false information by saying it does not.

 

[sstarrx2]

What the sam hell does "runs safer" even mean? Sounds like more BS to coax you into spending money! This vehicle runs perfectly and safe from the factory! If you want more power and risk fing up your engine have at it!

 

[CAMTuning]

What the sam hell does "runs safer" even mean? Sounds like more BS to coax you into spending money! This vehicle runs perfectly and safe from the factory! If you want more power and risk fing up your engine have at it!

Tuning isn't for everyone, but to answer your question: “Runs safer” isn’t marketing language — it’s referring to real, measurable things I am reviewing in the live ECU data.

When I talk about improving operating margin, I’m specifically referring to, but not limited to:

-Fueling consistency under load (keeping commanded and actual AFR where it should be- this is particularly bad on this platform, as the air/fuel is kept at near stoich well through peak torque and beyond. Not ideal on a turbo engine.)
-Knock control behavior (reducing how often and how much timing gets pulled)- The stock tune rides the knock sensor pretty hard, and timing is always actively being adjusted. Optimizing fueling and tuning in these knock prone regions under boost makes it knock less often.

Those aren’t guesses — they’re things you can see directly in logs. I’ve reviewed this across thousands of vehicles- not only Toyota.

The goal isn’t to push the engine harder for the sake of it. It’s one of those “once you know, you know” things. The more you dig into the data, the more consistent the patterns become — and the harder it is to ignore where improvements can be made.

I respect your perspective — always good to have open discussion on this stuff.

 

[sstarrx2]

Tuning isn't for everyone, but to answer your question: “Runs safer” isn’t marketing language — it’s referring to real, measurable things I am reviewing in the live ECU data.

When I talk about improving operating margin, I’m specifically referring to, but not limited to:

-Fueling consistency under load (keeping commanded and actual AFR where it should be- this is particularly bad on this platform, as the air/fuel is kept at near stoich well through peak torque and beyond. Not ideal on a turbo engine.)
-Knock control behavior (reducing how often and how much timing gets pulled)- The stock tune rides the knock sensor pretty hard, and timing is always actively being adjusted. Optimizing fueling and tuning in these knock prone regions under boost makes it knock less often.

Those aren’t guesses — they’re things you can see directly in logs. I’ve reviewed this across thousands of vehicles- not only Toyota.

The goal isn’t to push the engine harder for the sake of it. It’s one of those “once you know, you know” things. The more you dig into the data, the more consistent the patterns become — and the harder it is to ignore where improvements can be made.

I respect your perspective — always good to have open discussion on this stuff.

Fair enough...but still what is unsafe about the factory tune? Why would Toyota the largest automaker in the world send their vehicles out into the world "unsafe"?

 

[CAMTuning]

Fair enough...but still what is unsafe about the factory tune? Why would Toyota the largest automaker in the world send their vehicles out into the world "unsafe"?

I don’t think I ever said the factory calibration is unsafe — it’s well within a safe operating range.

When I say “safer,” I’m talking about increasing operating margin in critical areas. Things like:

-more consistent fueling under load (sometimes this means more fuel under load- this keeps exhaust gas temp down, and is easier on the valve train and turbo)
-smoother knock control behavior (less reliance on reactive timing correction- when you get this really dialed, the ECU has to react to knock less, which is always good)

With calibration work, you can tighten that up based on real data from the specific vehicle and fuel being used. It’s not about correcting something unsafe, just improving how the engine operates within its existing limits.

Power comes pretty easily once things are dialed in. This isn't the right platform for chasing big numbers in my opinion. People want these things to run forever like a Toyota should. I have no doubt that proper calibration only improves how healthy the engine is allowed to run.

The real improvement is in how the truck drives every day — throttle response, and especially transmission behavior. The transmission can be fully tuned and every mode can be tuned individually. This is the biggest thing that people notice after a tune.

 

[porkyfly]

Interesting results. Wondering why it has 15 less hp than the tacoma. Is this a gas or hybrid model? Hard to believe it can do 350 wheel torque when it's rated for 317 or something.

Have you also dyno'd a 5th gen 4runner/3rd gen tacoma? What do those numbers look like?

 

[CAMTuning]

Interesting results. Wondering why it has 15 less hp than the tacoma. Is this a gas or hybrid model? Hard to believe it can do 350 wheel torque when it's rated for 317 or something.

Have you also dyno'd a 5th gen 4runner/3rd gen tacoma? What do those numbers look like?

This was not a hybrid. It's not 15 horsepower less because it's a 4Runner. It's 15 horsepower less because it is on lower octane fuel and the ECU is adapting to it by reducing timing and torque targets. I agree that the torque numbers are quite high but they are consistent with what I've seen on the many 4Runners and Tacomas that I've had on this dyno, including my own. This is common across other platforms as well and probably has something to do with the way that you are able to load the engine up with the drivetrain on a chassis dyno and allow the turbo to spool the same way it would if it were on the road. The manufacturer rates these by using an engine dyno but I would assume they also load the engine in that case. I've never had any of the older generations on this dyno- before I started with this platform I primarily focused on other 4 cylinder turbo platforms, primarily Subaru.

Here's a stock versus tuned hybrid for comparison

 

[TrdProGirl84]

Not spreading false information, of course tuning a vehicle could increase the horsepower that you can barely feel. But what's the point of that? Modifying engines and tuning and adding equipment to a vehicle just shortens its service life, and all of my Toyotas have lasted 20 years or more. I expect my 1-year-old Trailhunter to last the rest of my life with zero modifications. Squeezing an extra 20 horsepower just seems silly and unnecessary to me. But then again I'm an adult, I don't want to void the warranty and shorten the service life.

All of what you said is valid bc it’s your opinion but plenty of people wanna tune and see a benefit. And that’s fine too.

 

[sstarrx2]

What are you even talking about? We are discussing octane. Higher octane fuel in THIS engine increases horsepower and this is a fact. You are spreading false information by saying it does not.

I don't see where she said that. Honestly its different for every person. One persons negligible is a real difference for some. Numbers tend to sway folks more than feel. If you tell someone they are getting 20 more ponies...they are more likely to feel it. there's a whole industry to dedicated to tuning vehicles and they're always will be because there's always gonna be folks that wanna try to push their vehicle to its potential. Coming from a GTI I understand tuners I also understand the tune vehicles are harder on parts and have to replace their parts a lot earlier at least that is the case with GTI's. I would expect the same for other vehicles, but I have no experience with a forerunner so cannot say.

 

[HVLA]

I don't see where she said that.

She???
Right here.....

Octane makes almost no difference, I've done similar tests. That's always been a myth that you get better performance with higher octane. That only makes a difference if you have a high performance engine that requires it.

 

[HVLA]

All of what you said is valid bc it’s your opinion but plenty of people wanna tune and see a benefit. And that’s fine too.

No it isnt valid. He said that "octane doesnt matter".

That is not valid.

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