Right -- VDC (brain fart on my end).

Slip light or not, VDC could still be affecting things. Try it with VDC off?

when it happens again i'll turn off VDC and see what happens.

It also feels like what Digitonium described he felt when his brake switch was defective and i think one other chap had a dud brake switch on his twin turbo Z which caused constant throttle lag. What i don't get is why the problem ceased this time after a restart

So are we saying that the water to oil cooler is only on the newer Z's and it does not work? Or has it mostly solved the issue?

i've never tracked my car but my car is my daily and it's been thru 2 blazing Aussie summers already. Oil temps i've seen go up to 110*c/230*F with the factory oil to water cooler.

From my experience with it, for most people it will keep them out of trouble but if you do track the car or drive with a heavy right foot then an oil to air cooler is a worthy investment.

But for me and my quest for moar cool, i will be ditching the factory cooler for a 25 row oil to air cooler. I have the core, just need to fab the brackets and get the hoses made up.

Oil choice does play a big role in how much pleasure you'll get before things get flaccid though. Some oils take longer to heat up whether it be just characteristic or a sign of a better oil being that less engine heat must be due to less friction. I wasn't happy with the Nissan 5w30 we get here so now i'm using one of the local brands and it's the best i've used so far!

unless its different in oz, 11's don't have the factory oil cooler, only 12+.

Oil cooler, worth every penny.

oil coolers were fitted to 2011 models onwards here, afaik

2012 Onward were fitted with an oil to coolant heat exchanger. Not as effective as a dedicated oil cooler but better than nothing. People are really overreacting about this whole oil temp thing chances are their previous cars ran much hotter and had no effect. I'd rather have an oil pressure gauge then a temp one, low oil pressure will kill an engine much faster than oil at 280F ever would.

My main issue with a 25 row cooler is getting the oil *up* to temp during cooler weather. my gauge sits at 140 (all the way cold) all the way to work (one hour drive) all winter. Hence I keep the rpms below 3500 all winter waiting for my temps to at least hit 150. If you run a cooler, fab up a blocker plate to shroud the cooler.

And yes I have a thermostatic plate on my cooler (from Z1) it just never fully closes.

I'm considering running a lighter oil in the winter, but that seems a bit scary as I don't really know how to safely chose one.

i guess there are several perspectives of concern surrounding 'high' oil temps.

- performance degradation (and at what temp it occurs and why it occurs)
- engine longevity/protection
- scary gauge syndrome
- bandwagon followers

Yes, a lot of modern cars probably get their oil way hotter than our cars under similar conditions but do they noticeably reduce performance? I dont think most folks are overreacting. Most of us just want the car to behave as a sports car should and tolerate the extra strain. But when your throttle response lags in normal city driving then something isn't right. Nissan could've engineered the motor to be more tolerant to oil temps but we cant change that. So the only thing we can do is prolong the pleasure with oil coolers, software tweaks and oil choice!

i agree that a loss of oil pressure would kill an engine quicker but the damage would usually be done by the time someone notices a catastrophic loss of oil pressure.

Surfdog - lots of folks have good experience with Mobil 1 0w40

i've got a 2012 and this factor cooler doesn't do ****. i drive around with some friends and it went to 260 in about 5 minutes. i have the stillen 25 row now and with the same kind of driving i was barely over 220.

15,000 miles between oil changes can not be right.

What this all boils down to is 370Z "Sports Car" does not equal, "Race Car" or "Drag Car". Although I agree that Nissan got off on the wrong foot hiding that cooler in the Auto review car fender long ago. Even the new Stingray Corvette falls into this category. My neighbor has a new Stingray, he takes it to the track, and after a few laps....guess what......wait for it.....Clutch Pedal Sticks to the FLOOR! This on a 60+ thousand dollar car....even the Stingray is NOT a race/drag car.

PS Even in blazing FL temps driving all conditions my Z (2009) never gets above say 210/220.

S-Dog,

I have a nice plate fashioned via the DIY section here. In Germany I have it on 8 months a year. It might come off next week. With it on I see 190+ in the winter and now its about 200-220 for very short periods of time. Problem is it might be 10C cooler next week so I keep it on. At night when things cool off it needs to be on. On the Autobahn at speed on a nice but not hot day the oil is about 200 w cover on. Perfect.
I use 5-30 year round. You dont need a lighter oil at all. The dealers here use 5-30 Castrol year round.

I was cruising on Skyline Drive last week through the winding roads and it went up to 240 at one point. I'm running Royal Purple right now.

I did start to feel a little sluggish at that point. Usually the temp sits around 220F if I'm doing 80 for a while, 200-210 if I'm just rolling at highway speed. At night it drops down to about 180-190.

I need a better oil cooler...