3 Best Performance Chip For Toyota Tundra & Buyers Guide (2020)

by · Automotive Expert
Published
Updated

Have you been thinking of making your Tundra engine performance better or maximizing the horsepower? Having been searching for proper solution but haven’t found any and still have some doubts?

If your responses are yes to any of these questions, then you have to read this article. We’ll make an outline of the best performance chips for Tundra and their main advantages over other devices you may come across in the market.

Why you can trust me?I accept nothing from product manufacturers. Never. Here — only unbiased reviews and my opinion. I only earn commission from Amazon

I recommend:

our pick

Innovative

Your driving experience will never be the same again

I would definitely recommend the Innovative Performance Chip, because it is guaranteed a good product. Both horsepower and the fuel economy abide by this chip.

premium

Pedal Commander

For those of you who want an “over 9000” guaranteed experience

So, if you wanna make your truck feel a lot faster, you wanna kill that delay in the pedal but you don't wanna invest in something more expensive like a tuner, go ahead and get it.

budget

Power Tune

Racing guru

It is inexpensive and effective, easy on wallet, improving and increasing the efficiency between the fuel and air ratio, based on the fact that the engine receives cold air from your intake and even from fuel that mixes.

Also we’ll give you the outlook of main drawbacks or difficulties, if there are any, and how to deal with them. We’ll definitely help you make the right choice and enjoy your upgraded vehicle ever after!

What’s the difference between programmers/tuners and performance chips?

The first thing to know about programmers/tuners and chips is that they are really helpful, in case you want to recalibrate the factory setting. However, they carry out different functions.

So let’s have a brief outlook. Thus, chips work by receiving and analyzing the data from your vehicle and then adjusting to the constraints in order to make the performance better. They need to be programmed to the make, model and year of your vehicle. Later on, you will be able to install pre-programmed ones.

While programmers provide you with a possibility to adjust tuning depending on customization you have added to your car and the level of power you’d like to have.

Table Of Best Performance Chip For Toyota Tundra

NameOur ratingplace of installationbuttonsrequired year periodpriceShops
Innovative
under the hoodno2000-2019$
Pedal Commander
in-cabinyes2007-2019$$$
Power Tune
in-cabinreset2007-2019$

swipe left to see more

How I decided

box-icon
22
models considered
clock-icon
53
hours spend
interview-icon
8
experts interviewed

Best Performance Chip For Toyota Tundra

Innovative

our-pick
Our rating:
5.0

You`re not getting a freaking tuner that you just plug into your car and then in a second you are already on a road, but instead you`re getting something that is plugged in all the time, that can increase performance of your buddy and it keeps track of how much air and how much fuel actually enters your engine.

Rob Verdenfrom CA, 2012 Tundra, said:

I bought Innovative Performance Chip out of curiosity, just to deny some of the bad reviews on this product. As a result, better MPG, increase in horsepower and torque. I am very impressed with what this China thing has done to my engine.

This chip is going to be placed under your Tundra hood.

So, you better place it somewhere that is not hot. You don`t wanna melt this thing on anything that is hot, right?

I would recommend to place it on the intake airbox, because it`s the coolest part of the car, so you can easily connect both two wires to Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensor of Mass Airflow Sensor.

Innovative Performance Chip is going to fit most of all the vehicles, but the thing is that the manual is also universal and not going to be that accurate. So, I would like to bring to your attention, that the IAT and MAS are both in one unit.

For the installation of this chip, it is required to unplug your car’s battery for a minimum of two hours up to all-nighter.

And the reason why you have to have it on plug overnight is because it deletes EVERYTHING that is on your main computer. So that way this chip can take over and go “Ohh, okay, so I'm going to be the new one that's taken over and let me do my job already”. Let the capacitors in the ECU`s discharge really well.

Some of the customers say that it might take about a week to show any improvements or save gas.

In our experience, after the installation, it feels a little bit more with the throttle, much lighter, so you don`t have to press down so hard on a pedal. You will see a horsepower increase and you will see fuel economy gets a lot better, because the spark is getting to where it needs to be faster, it's burning up that field, so it's making it more efficient.

Key features:

  • universal
  • manual
  • life-time warranty

Product score:

  • performance (7/10)
  • quality (7/10)
  • price (10/10)

MY RATAING: 8

Pros
  • save some gas
  • price/quality
  • easy installation
  • 35 HP/ 5 MPG
Cons
  • the package of the product a little bit frustrating and cheap

Pedal Commander Bluetooth Throttle Response Controller

premium
Our rating:
4.0

If you own an 07` or newer Toyota Tundra and you wanna remove the delay between the time you press your pedal and the time your truck actually starts moving, therefore making your truck feel a lot quicker without actually installing any mods whatsoever, and by that of course the performance increases, then you should be checking out the Pedal Commander Bluetooth throttle response controller.

Now, if you're curious how this device works, it's pretty simple. The 07` or newer Tundra`s uses a system called fly by wire. Basically, what happens is when you press your pedal, there's no actual mechanical thing happening.

Instead, you're sending a signal to the ECU, and the ECU commands the throttle body to open, letting air into the engine. There is a natural delay in this process. What this little device does is it boosts that signal and it kills that delay. That's what makes your truck feel a lot faster.

The reason why this is so nice is because this mod does not actually modify anything in the ECU. That means you can actually use this in tandem with any other mods on your truck, including a tuner.

Mark Davidsonfrom from YourGarage, LA says:

There are actually 36 levels of sensitivity on this device and there is even an economy mode, so you will get an increase in MPGs as long as you're not mashing on the gas pedal.

Installing this device is very straightforward. It literally takes a few minutes. You don't have to do any kind of wiring. No custom modification whatsoever. Shouldn't take us more than 10 minutes to get this entire thing set up.

All you have to do is unplug the wiring harness from your gas pedal, and feed wires into it. The red tab end goes to the gas pedal itself, and the other end goes to the wiring harness.

What about settings? Well, there is an “Eco”, “City”, “Sport” and “Sport+”.

“City” is technically the default setting on the device. It is not the least sensitive. It is not the most sensitive. It's a good middle ground to start with. Also there are some icons with numbers, which can increase or decrease the sensitivity.

If you want to up the game a little bit there is a “Sport” setting.

For those racers who want the absolute most sensitive throttle possible, you`re gonna wanna be on “Sport+”.

And the “Eco” setting improves your MPGs, and it actually makes the pedal a little less sensitive in exchange for saving a little bit of cash at the pump.

Key features:

  • bluetooth
  • varieties of settings
  • two-year warranty

Product score:

  • performance (9/10)
  • quality (9/10)
  • price (5/10)

MY RATAING: 7.6

Pros
  • increase in throttle response
  • price/quality
  • most easiest installation
Cons
  • Eco setting is not so efficient

Power Tune

budget
Our rating:
3.0

If you intend to increase fuel efficiency and add a little more power to your Toyota Tundra, take a look at this Power Tune performance chip.

This little buddy here installs under the dashboard connected to the OBD port. You don’t need to carry out of splicing the wires, which is absolutely fantastic, because if you have problems with this chip, you don’t need to return this thing and worry: “What should I do with these open wires and connectivity on my battery? "

David Moyesfrom MA, who drives Tundra (2015), says:

I got Power Tune from my cousin. It was my birthday present. So, I installed it and was shocked. My MPG`s just increased by 5 and all this by a tiny thing in my OBD port.

Then it downloads the data in real time through the OBD connection, which allows the chip to learn your driving habits for a short period of time. Then safely optimizes the ignition timing, air-fuel ratio and gear changes for maximum power and torque. This results in increased throttle response, low torque and acceleration.

After installing this product on your car, you can definitely determine the difference in power. The transition between gears and high speed ranges will be much smoother. The engine will not resist so much, and you will no longer feel the blow that jumped between fourth and fifth gears or even from third and fourth gears.

I noticed that the torque increased by 30%, which made the truck more drivable. I definitely felt a good performance boost in our pants seat.

This chip never overwrites the factory data and always maintains warranty coverage.

The RPMs. In fact, you can increase them to 6000 on average without much effort, and the engine really wants to go up higher gears, higher speed ranges.

The main thing here is that this chip is for those who like racing.

It takes about 100-200 mile to meticulously tune your Toyota Tundra Engine Control System (ECU) to unlock its full power potential.

Key features:

  • good for racing
  • eliminates engine lags
  • one year warranty

Product score:

  • performance (8/10)
  • quality (6/10)
  • price (8/10)

MY RATAING: 7.3

Pros
  • increase in throttle response
  • price/quality
  • increase in horsepower and torque
Cons
  • your MPGs may increase

Best Performance Chip For Toyota Tundra Buying Guide

What is a performance chip?

Nowadays car engines are controlled by computers, which have a special chip. It tells the computer how to adjust turbo boost, fuel, car timing and other things. So performance chips or superchips as they are sometimes called, adjust these parameters, often increasing engine power and torque.

The chip in your vehicle provides information how much gas is needed to be sent to your engine, how and when to shift to a lower gear and many other things. If you have a factory chip, all these adjustments are dictated by manufacturer.

As soon as you install a performance chip, these parameters will be adjusted regardless fuel-economy, emissions or other performance –reducing restrictions.

Can performance chips ruin your engine?

When you start thinking of any modifications for your vehicle, you definitely hesitate over every issue you may face up to. You are definitely scared of doing something wrong and damaging your car.

Thus, you may have already thought if installing a performance chip is damaging to your engine or not. The answer is not. There is no damage caused by a chip to your engine or transmission.

The horsepower is generated by adjusting your air-fuel ratio and ignition timing to optimal settings. It is absolutely harmless and has only positive outcome. In fact, a performance chip on the contrary protects your engine from damage.

What are the benefits of a performance chip?

Nevertheless the speed limit numbers of your vehicle can be impressive, you can not go beyond them, unless you install a performance chip. It gives a possibility to increase your maximum speed limit really quickly however, at the same time it controls it as well.

Besides this, it shortens the time you need to accelerate. By injecting more air into the engine, the chips allow for rapid acceleration and an overall quicker response. Another benefit that you receive together with the installed performance chip is a significant fuel economy. Thus, the money you will have to pay for you chip will pay you back really fast and what’s more will give you real satisfaction from your new driving experience.

Conclusion

To summarize all above mentioned, performance chips do really good to your vehicle. They highly increase the horsepower as well as torque and entire capability. What’s more, they enhance your engine durability, which is one of the main benefits!

They deliver better fuel mileage, also it makes your car much faster. The chips provide the latest data really quickly, moreover, they give you a chance to fix the error codes and one of the most outstanding features is that they provide you with cloud delivery facility!

What can be better?! The device is really simple to install, as well as not time-consuming at all. And you are not supposed to have any experience to manage it by yourself. So buy, install and enjoy – these are three main milestones you have to know.

Resources:

  1. Automotive engine power performance tuning under numerical and nominal data, researchgate
  2. Auto tuning, researchgate
  3. Car tuning, wikipedia