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. :(

G35 did it bone stock at auto-cross. The tank slosh is bad in other ways as it adds a delayed and additional weight transfer, which was particularly bad in an auto-cross type driving scenario. I used to run the G35 with a full tank to combat this.

I'm assuming the only real option to fix the gas sloshing is a new redesigned tank. Unless you want to race with a full tank all the time.

Yeah a tank with good baffles in it would probably help.

Or simply a surge tank.

Mike, I was reading the Super Lap Battle Rulebook, and it sounds like you could enter your Z in the Street category, correct?

Some heavy hitters in that event, do you know if Team Tarzan is showing up again? Sounds like Tanner Foust might be there too...

Yes this car is well within the Street Class rules.

I have no idea who will actually show up this year, but you can bet that records will be broken as usual. :)

Link to my time attack results thread. Pics and video in there too :).

http://www.the370z.com/track-autocro...html#post83349

What's up next for the DDM 370Z?

Well with two track weekends in the books I have learned a lot about the car and the parts I have put on it. Road course racing is the ultimate proving ground for a car and for aftermarket parts developers. The track will uncover your car's weakest points in a hurry and once you fix one weak point, it may uncover another. One track may uncover issues that weren't relevant at another track. This is exactly the kind of testing and data needed to build a solid car with solid parts.

The biggest issue in building a track car is reliability, after all a car is only as good as its weakest part. This is why the immediate focus on the DDMotorsports 370Z has turned to cooling. At Buttonwillow Raceway back in late March, our 370Z was equipped with an off the shelf Mishimoto universal oil cooler kit. The kit worked excellent both on the street and on the track keeping oil temperatures in a safe range. Fast forward a few months and that puts us at this past weekend's event at Willow Springs. Temperatures were much hotter than they were at Buttonwillow, and the track layout meant there would be a lot more full throttle, sustained high rpms, which inevidably means more heat being produced by the motor. The Mishimoto oil cooler that worked so well at Buttonwillow found its limits at Willow Springs. The oil temperature after ~2 1/2 laps around the 2.5 mile track driving as hard as I possibly could would eventually hit 270 degrees, at which point the car's ECU would dramatically cut power and revs. Because of this, our next plan of action with this car is to upgrade to a larger oil cooler core.

Like the oil cooling issue, there is another heat issue that has plagued the 370Z. A post race inspection after Buttonwillow unveiled a differential fluid overheating problem. The stock limited slip differential was damaged at the first track day leaving bits of metal floating around and the factory differential fluid smelled severely burnt. Unfortunately we could not fix this in time for the Willow Springs event, but luckily everything held together for the event without totally blowing up and locking the rear wheels. So our plan of action to fix this is to install the Carbonetic 1.5 way limited slip differential in place of the stock unit. Although the Carbonetic part should generate less heat than the stock LSD, we will take precautionary measures and add a differential oil cooling kit as well to ensure no future issues.

While we are on the subject of cooling, we will also upgrade the factory power steering oil cooler to a larger unit as well as inspecting the transmission for signs of overheating to determine whether or not that will need a cooler as well.

All of these items are on our punch list before we start worrying about making the car faster again, although the Berk Technology Cat-Back exhaust is still scheduled to go on the car very soon. :)

Also on the horizon:
- Front camber arms
- Sway bars
- Different brake pads for the track
- 18" Forgestar wheels
- Wider Nitto NT05 tires
- Mines intake ducts (maybe)
- Painted door handles/rear diffuser thing

From what 370Z.com shows having some sort of venting could really help the AEM G3 intakes. Mines seems to be an expensive option and I was hoping someone would design something a bit more reasonably priced.

Modshack is working on that.

Put up a for sale thread for the barely used Piano Black Forgestars/NT05...

http://www.the370z.com/tires-wheels/...4-w-tires.html

what plans do you have for upgrading the oil cooler.. I'm looking at getting one soon but it looks like most on the market are too small :mad:

Not 100% sure yet but I will probably just get a larger Setrab cooler core and use the lines and sandwitch plate from the existing Mishimoto kit.

Haven't posted any updates in a bit so here's what's been going on with the car.

Berk Technology Cat-Back Exhaust - This should finally be coming in very soon! Anxious to test it out.

Intakes - I have worked out a deal with a new company coming onto the scene to develop a new intake system that will feature intake ducts in the bumper connected to an enclosed air box intake system so the intakes will only draw air from the outside and not from the hot engine bay or behind the bumper where there isn't any direct flow. The intake system is in the very early stages of planning and development but the wait will be well worth it I think. Right now the car is scheduled to stay down with this company to have it developed for a full month starting August 3rd.

Carbonetic 1.5 way LSD - I have been slacking on getting this installed, but will do so within the next few weeks.

Oil Cooler setup - I have also been slacking on the research end about this, but I am very interested in the upcoming setup that Travisjb will be running on his car and if all works well, I might just switch to that setup.

GTSPEC bracing - Sometime this week, GTSPEC should be sending me out another chassis brace to test fit for you guys!

Next event - The next time attack event scheduled for this car is the Super Lap Battle Qualifier and N.A.S.A. Time Trials event at Auto Club Speedway's ROVAL configuration August 1st & 2nd. The track is a combination of low-mid speed technical sections and 2/3 of the high banked NASCAR oval. This is also where the Redline Time Attack Finals will be held in November.

that intake configuration sounds interesting. Do you know if the ducts are going to be through a modified bumper, or if they are going to use the existing airflow in the current bumper and channel it up to the airbox?

it wouldn't be to hard to take off the plastic pieces next to the fangs and channel that air through a tube to the intakes.well im assuming at least

They will be much like the Mine's ducts as far as positioning goes. You will have to cut your stock bumper, but the kit will come with fool-proof templates. The ducts will connect directly with the intake system creating a sealed off intake from the bumper back to the throttle body with the only air inlet being the bumper ducts.

It could work but bumper ducts by the headlights will offer a pretty resistance free path from the open air to the filter. I think the fang area should be turned into brake duct inlets. :D

Sounds like a busy schedule ahead for ddm!
Best of luck and you gotsta represent the 370z community! :driving:

Its never ending, and it has to be if I want to reach my goals of being a podium contender in the Redline Time Attack series for 2010. :D The competition is insane in that series right now and unfortunately I have to figure out how to do it on a very limited budget.

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome."
-Booker T. Washington

It's all good Boss!
And if you run into any trouble, we got your back! :hello:

yup, you got a 370z community cheering you on.......press the pedal to the metal

Thanks fellas! I do my best. I think the car is actually doing quite well so far. Although on paper the results don't look to impressive from the first two events, if you look at the difference in lap times vs. the level of mods done to the cars that beat me I think DDM can be a pretty potent little team come 2010. As the aftermarket for this car grows it will only get better and faster!

Plus I have a really cool program for my sponsors lined up for the remainder of this year and 2010 so hopefully I can land some good new sponsors to help speed the process of getting this car onto the podium! :D

^^ you're right...the 370z are still babies....it needs to grow and develop more

So excited to see what goodies we'll be seeing this summer!
Damn! :excited: