Who Actually Goes to the Track with Their 370Z?
 

The reason I ask this is because anytime you ask something mechanically oriented about adding power, stopping the car better or improving handling, you get a bunch of answers from guys telling you all about the merits or shortcomings of certain parts as they relate to the 370Z's performance on the racetrack.

I know there's a few guys here who are hardcore trackday hotshoes and racers, but I suspect that most forum denizens are living vicariously through those few that actually go to the track and are regurgitating things they read here.
I also think that the 370Z is built more than adequately for street duty and a lot of people unnecessarily have their panties all in a bunch over brake and oil temperature issues that really only affect people driving on the track.

So, answer the poll honestly so I can see if my hunch is right or wrong.

I've seen a good mix of opinions, personally.

There are members who report high oil temps from street driving, but it's rare. There are members who report a stuck hatch release, but not normally from the track guys.

Obviously, certain upgrades are going to be a little more noticeable on the track than on the street, and vice versa...so it's good to have a mix of opinions/feedback.

True. I couldn't agree more about a mix of opinions and feedback, but I'd prefer feedback that's based on actual experiences, not second hand opinions or Road and Track articles.

I am a track junkie, but you are right, the car as it comes, right out of the box, is perfectly adequate for street use.

I made this statement a year go after i took a 90 minute test drive of the Z and was borderline flamed. lol. a bunch of were justifying why kw v3's were needed for street application. my opinion at the time were some eibach prolines and stillen sways with corresponding alignment would already make it more than capable on the street.

The 370Z is perfectly set up for street use from the factory. Oil temp is a non-issue unless you do track days or a lot of canyon runs. But the bottom line is on the street you really shouldn't be driving hard enough to run into oil temp issues. That's just unsafe.

And the only things you really need to for the track are brake pads and an oil cooler... that says a lot for how good this car is....

And FWIW, to qualify my poll response, I have not taken the Z to the track yet. But I've done the whole track thing with other cars.

Few times a year..

:iagree:

and that comes with knowing how to drive the car on the streets even during spirit driving!

A few times a year.

I plan on eventually taking my roadster to summit point (anyone have rollbar info for the roadster). But I am very concerned about the oil temp.

I can push it to the 250s just on local back road twisties, of course the ambient temps in MD have been well over the 90s. I am worried about what tracking it will do when it is so easy to push it over the normal of 220ish.

That's so weird. I have never hit 220 in mine, even on the ~110 degree days and driving hard. I wonder what causes the gap between temperatures.

Matt,
What oil are you using as I might want to try it? I hit 220 all the time so it looks like it is my normal benchmark. I'm still in break-in period mind you so no agressive driving yet.

220ish seems to be the norm for me running around the beltways on the 90-100 degree days we've been having.
If I drop down a gear and go WOT to get past traffic or have some fun on the onramps, I'll spike up to 240, but it goes right back down to 220 in a short time.

before my oil cooler, I saw 260 in stop and go traffic on I-285 in Atlanta at 90 degrees out.

Went to spa francorchamps. nurburgring will probably happen soon.

Now THAT is a track! :tup:

I have to agree with the general thrust of earlier posts ... the 370Z as a stocker is a brilliant drive - sweet handler and even though oil temps in slow traffic with high ambient temps will rise over 105-115DegC, this has never been a problem for me.

As a track day weapon, the Zed has a few issues (oil temps being one, and body roll another). Both are very simple to correct ... throw an oil cooler and a set of sway bars at the car, fit decent pads and good rubber and you can have a real blast. If you want to go further, it will start costing big bucks. Once you have done the above (all up cost maybe $2K max), each second of lap time will start escalating in cost. Figure:

headers/hi-flow cats and CBE add $1.5-2K, maybe 1 second/lap
suspension (shocks) at least triple adjustables add $2-3K, maybe 1-1.5 seconds/lap
slick tyres add another $1.5K, more if you need another set of wheels, maybe another 1-1.5 sec/lap

Now you get to the point of a serious brake upgrade over the Akebono's - anywhere from $2-4K or more, maybe another .75sec/lap

Now you need more power, and that means s/c or TT - engine life is compromised, and this is a $5-10K investment and might give 2-3 secs/lap, but by now, the vehicle will be a b1tch to drive on the road, it will be darty and the ride hard enough to rattle the fillings out of your teeth, and the engine is almost guaranteed to go bang sooner rather than later.

As I said at the outset, the 370Z is a brilliant daily driver as it comes, and it will give hours of pleasure on a track with surprisingly modest investment. As a serious track weapon, it requires a substantial investment - I have priced up the construction of the GT4 version for European and Australian GT-series and excluding the vehicle purchase price, at least US$45-50K is required to produce a car that is still 2-4 seconds a lap slower than the 911 GT3 Cup - which is the benchmark vehicle in these series.

I enjoy my Zed as a brilliant daily driver and occaisional track day car with only those mods required to make it suitable - pads, tyres, exhaust and bars - anything else and the expense gets truly out of hand very quickly (IMHO).

If you have a stocker, then enjoy it - Mr Nissan has built a great car .... if you wish to avoid oil temp issues, then keep the revs under 5-6000rpm - there is no point in wringing the engines neck to redline every shift ... because this is usually the source of elevated oil temps, especially in high ambient temps.

I track the car. If you are asking about bare bones performance mods for this car at the track IMO it would be-

-Sport package (for the larger brakes alone)
-Oil cooler (a must)
-HFC's + CBE + tune (let's produce some power here)
-Brake pads (because fade on a stock pad at the track just sucks)
-Sway bars (when you get them, you will know what I'm talking about and instantly realize the difference in handling)
-Proper fluids (you don't need boiling brake fluid)

That's really about it as this car is pretty good to go right out of the box.

Some secondary things to consider would be optional things to either increase performance further or provide better safety such as-

-Racing seat + 5 point harness (better control over your body during G's means better performance over your car)
-Tires (track dedicated racing rubber)
-Added downforce (usually a good thing)
-SS brake lines (like the sways, if you don't have them, you won't know what I'm talking about until you do)
-Coilover suspension (let's make the suspension just that much better)

BTW... looking at the poll results to date, 5 people take their Z to the track once or more a month? Who are you people?

lolz. I can think of one or two but 5 right off the bat?!

me. Its been a few months since I had the wreck, but I've got Zcon in two weeks, Road Atlanta in August, ZNats in September, Road America in October and Road Atlanta in November. Thats all for now.

Your track mod list was pretty good, but my next upgrade is going to be the Relentless 4-point roll bar and a hans device along with the harness and seats. Time to focus on safety. Funny how an on track accident will change your mindest.

Haha.. you were actually ONE of the people I was thinking about when I posted that. Yes, safety is a good thing!

Edit: The other person I was thinking of owns that blue Robispec time attack Z. (I've actually been to the track with him)

:iagree:

I just hope I don't crash at nurburg.

spa francorchamps is one thing but the ring is alot worse :roflpuke2:

I am one of the five people

My car is on the slow process of becoming a more dedicated track car

I made the poll results public. You can click on the results and see who responded to which option.
I did this so I could tell who was basing their advice on actual experience and who was quoting a hot lap article from a magazine. ;)

I'll definitely be tempted to go to the track with my new Z. I've never taken a car to the track, but I have done trackdays with sportbikes (Jennings GP in FL).

Makes me nervous though when the Z is my daily driver. In the past I've had dedicated track bikes, but then again, I can get a nice track bike for $3k... Much cheaper to play in that arena.

I'm not sure if they run cars at Jennings, but from what I've seen of it, there's no hard objects to worry about at that track.
I have the same concerns about tracking my daily driver. That's why I keep my prepped Miata around. Not nearly as fast, but still tons of fun to drive at its limit.

Yeah, Jennings is motorcycle-only. Its wide-open out there, but its a pretty small track too.

It would have to be Sebring or Homestead if I was to take the car out.

i dont track my car either. i think the car in stock form is more than adequate for street performance. actually i dont even that spiritedly lately, more like my touring car. :p

I hit the track 10 -15 times a season.....which is short where I am.

These are good results to look at, It is kind of what I was expecting

I don't track mine at all.

Does Autocrossing count as taking it to the track? I took mine autocrossing last summer (when it was new ~2500 mi). I DID see extremely high temps, but did not go into limp mode. If I Autocrossed regularly, I'd put in an oil cooler.

Frankly, I think most of the temp discussions is hysteria. At the time, as a new owner, I was concerned. The guage read higher oil temps than I see in my twin turbo Audi when autocrossing it (BTW, it sucks compared to the Z).

So I agree with your overall conclusion that the Z is just fine for any kind of street driving, but also think some judicious upgrades are desirable for light track duty. And if you regularly track, then brake upgrades, brake cooling, trans cooler, diff cooler, etc. all make sense as reliability mods.

Just my $.02

I'm routinely doing autoX this summer and have about one HPDE a month scheduled.

My next track day is coming up!!

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/ima...lete/borat.jpg

I sure as hell do!

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/know121/z.jpg