Oh, I know Magazines will always test OEM hardware. But anyone in their right mind going out to do an HPDE (Weatherman in particular) should invest some money in a good brake pad setup, too. Thats just dumb to think you'll do fine on a track with a 100% stock car.

:iagree:

From Car & Driver September Edition (is this even the same car?)

When the road starts turning and twisting, the steering wheel, while heavy in the hands, relays with precision what the Yokohama Advan Sports are doing.

From Car & Driver Feb 2010 Edition:

Even with enormous grip from its Yokohama Advan Sports, the Z feels uncomfortable and slightly disconnected when pressed.

:icon14:

Well, because everything else on the Z is MUCH better suited for the track than the everything else on those cars. The GTI is waaaay too soft both in chassis and transmission and then the Genesis...well...I would not feel safe in one of those on the track without MAJOR upgrades.

Well, I have done it twice. Its not really about the cost either. The first time I went out, I couldnt even run into that problem because the car would overheat before the brakes did (sad) and then the second time its when I experienced brake failure...twice. The first time it happened there was no real warning, I was coming down a long straight and braking for a hairpin and half way into braking it felt like someone put marbles under the tires and off I went. In the following sessions, I ran slower and tried putting less heat into the brakes. This time I did feel them slowly going away, more with each stop and then finally braking for the same corner (with lots of room this time) I gave them a nice stomp and there I went on the marbles again, but this time I had a lot of time to stop. Had to drive the car at 80% the rest of the day so I could enjoy my trackday and live to tell about it.

Its dumb to think you can do fine on the track with a 100% stock car that costs $35k. All the folks in porsches and z06's that I know do just fine on the stock tires and brakes. Some of you guys that get upset about brakes fading on the track, I think you are ridiculous...its a relatively inexpensive car and there HAVE to be compromises. Its not a race car, its a 30k street car. Be happy that everything else works as well as it does and if you are going to get on the track, then get some pads and an oil cooler. Its not that Nissan couldnt do it, its that they couldnt do it on that budget.

That sir is why Car and Driver is not a good source on information. About anything.

I have to disagree, I took my stock S2000 to the track and it performed great. Like anything it could improve in certain areas, but for the most part it was a great experience.

I think for $30000 the 370 is an amazing car right out of the box. The Nismo 370Z however, is marketed as "race proven" on Nissan's own website.
To me, race proven should mean that a car can run a few laps without overheating or losing its braking ability.
While the regular 370Z is probably fine for 99% of street use, the Nismo "race proven" 370 should have an oil cooler and upgraded brakes from the factory.
If this were to add 1 or 2 thousand dollars to the price I think most Nismo buyers probably would accept this as reasonable.

:iagree:

the brakes were supposed to be "Brembo-equivalent" and if all they are lacking is pads then okay.

an oil cooler just seems way too obvious to be looked over, but i'll be getting my own also :shakes head:

Give me ANY OEM braking system out there and I bet can create a situation of total brake failure in 5 angry laps at a track that is heavy on braking.

If Nissan installed a more aggressive pad from the start, then everyone would complain they are too noisy and dusty. Been there and done that with the 350Z.

The guys at CD arent you average drivers....they are pros trying to brake stuff and go insane with the cars they test, and should have known better, plain and simple.

bet you they didn't take out the front spring spacers

:icon18::roflpuke2::bowrofl::rofl2::inoutroflpuke:

i think that logic only works if multiple cars had similar problems
no other car had any type of mechanical failure

[
Its dumb to think you can do fine on the track with a 100% stock car that costs $35k. All the folks in porsches and z06's that I know do just fine on the stock tires and brakes. Some of you guys that get upset about brakes fading on the track, I think you are ridiculous...its a relatively inexpensive car and there HAVE to be compromises. Its not a race car, its a 30k street car. Be happy that everything else works as well as it does and if you are going to get on the track, then get some pads and an oil cooler. Its not that Nissan couldnt do it, its that they couldnt do it on that budget.



That sir is why Car and Driver is not a good source on information. About anything.[/QUOTE]

How many of you would have paid an extra 1G to not have these issues? 1G is a weeks pay for most of us, right? If you could not afford an extra 1G then should you really be owning such an "expensive" car?

Caliper good, rotor good,. brake pad,..."NO GOOD!!"

Stopping requires friction and either the rotor or pad gotta go,..seems the pad is too soft for the rotor which should be eating away...Id get beefier pads before tracking the car and switch them out for daily driving...

Actually the braking issue has little to do with price, it has to do with owners of previous models of Nissan/Infiniti products wining about brake dust. They went to a different composition to cure that but created a new problem of very low temperature handling. It's not the only car to have this issue, the new Audi A4 suffers a similar problem. Fortunately the solution is simple and cheap, buy $300 worth of pads.

something like 28 lbs per rotor if memory serves