Very informative & suspence filled thread haha

Subscribing!

Well the practice day is over out here at Willow Springs and my mod priority list has changed again.

The damaged stock LSD has held together fine so far (knock on wood), however its useless performance wise.

The Nitto NT05 tires are awesome, but I am in desperate need of some negative camber up front to get the full benefit of them. Also, the 245/35/19 tire up front is just too skinny for this heavy car.

The Hawk HP+ brake pads worked fine for Buttonwillow and work fine for the most part at Willow Springs but the hard braking zone going into turn one from 140mph has proven too much for them. Initial bite is good and they quickly fall off after that. They definately aren't good for long high speed braking zones.

The BC Racing ER Series coilovers continue to impress me and I absolutely love having the ability to separately adjust compression and rebound.

The Mishimoto oil cooler isn't working quite as well as it did in Buttonwillow, but still working quite well all things considering. Buttonwillow was about 30 degrees cooler ambient temp than today was at Willow Springs. Willow Springs is also a lot faster and you are at full throttle MUCH more than at Buttonwillow generating more heat. I still have not hit the rev limit cut for oil temp, but temps are hovering at a high of around 270 degrees. about 10 degrees hotter than it ever got at Buttonwillow back in March.

I did not have a transponder on my car today so no lap times until tomorrow. I am curious to see how it stacks up against the rest of the competition but it is definately leaving a lot on the table at this track with the lack of horsepower and front grip (because of no adjustable front camber arms).

Loving my stock LSD so far. No problems after about 10 road course days, and about 40 autox days. Still works. :)

I have Amsoil in mine for now.

But I am considering a upgrade eventually. Hope you have better luck!

Re power/weight... I agree... long-term, definitely going to need to either drop 400 lbs or add another 80 hp ! losing the weight better in my book

I am talking more specifically for this track than in general. This track is really fast and really wide open. It caters more to high horsepower than any other track I have been too. Another 80whp would be nice on any track though :D.

Thanks for the update Mike, I've been following you on Twitter, good updates there too :). I get them on my cell phone, so I can know right away what's going on with the DDM 370Z!

Are you going to look at a bigger core for your oil cooler? I know this track is probably the worse in the schedule regarding oil temps, but it wouldn't hurt anywhere to run cooler oil in this car...

By the way, are you checking tire temps across the treads to determine optimum camber? If so, which pyrometer are you using?

Hey Mike,

Followed you on Twitter all day, nice improvement on lap time! Are you going to write a quick report on it? It would be awesome.

Regarding fuel starvation, I was having a mods discussion with someone that asked me if a fuel surge tank would be needed, and I said I wasn't sure, but am now :).

Ditto that ! would love to get a write up on your day ! :)

Miguez, longacre makes great pyrometers... the $100 models are more than adequate
longacre pyrometer - Google Product Search

Nice upgrades! Just read your entire thread and very impressed. Hopefully I'll have my Z soon.

Thanks Travis, I wonder if the laser one is as good as the contact one?

It's not a laser pyrometer, it is infrared. It does have a laser pointer but that is just to help you aim it accurately.

Probe pyrometers are better for tires as you can get below the surface rubber. But unless you're hard-core I would go with the infrared as it is a better general purpose meter. Use it to measure rotor and caliper temperatures, engine block etc.

Bet you can't wait to get that LSD in now that the weekend is over. How long until your next Time Attack?

This is reaffirming my impression that the Sport package may not be worth the money. I had figured that I would want to replace the viscous LSD for any serious use so I just opted not to get it. Really the only feature worth paying for is SRM.

Mike, just read about your fuel starvation issue. I guess I should have warned you, the G35 and 350Z had the same problem. The issue appears to be lack of baffling around the fuel pump pick up, high lateral loads push the fuel away from the pump and you choke. For this reason I always keep fuel above 1/4 tank.

Yes I will be looking into a bigger oil cooler core. The Mishimoto one is good for most circumstances it seems, but a bigger one definately wouldn't hurt.

I have a Longacre pyrometer, but was only using it in the rear since I don't have any adjustment capability in the front.

Thanks! I will write a detailed report on it in a separate thread and link it in this thread.

Yes the LSD will go in ASAP. My next time attack will most likely be the Super Lap Battle Qualifier at Auto Club Speedway the first weekend in August.

Yeah I had the same problem on my 350Z as well but that car was a fully prepped race car on sticky tires which generated much more lateral grip. Did not expect it on a near stock 370Z with street tires. :(