need some help on 370z ideas
 

Hi. Newbie on the forum here. I grew up in Japan, dreaming about the fairlady z, so finally, I'm at the point it my life to get me a 370Z. My budget is around 40k. I'm hoping, I can score one for 25k, and spend the rest on the mods.
how far will 15k get me?
Also any recommendations on the tuning shop who is relatively close to Pittsburgh, PA? Less than 200 miles is desirable.
The car will be a weekend car/light duty track car. So, suspension and breaks may be the priority. Good stereo without adding much weight is important to me, too. Stillen Full body kit would be awesome, along with light weight rims. Maybe an exhaust system if there is room in the budget.

A little about me. I used to be a track junkie on 2 wheels, until the injuries kept piling up, and Finally decided to hang it up. I still have a need for speed. Never tracked a 4 wheel other than drag strips, but I'm hoping my motorcycle track background can jumpstart my new adventure.

Thanks for any help!

Shinya
Pittsburgh, PA

Hi, welcome to the forum!

For a tuning shop try R/T Tuning.

Edit- Not sure how far away from Pittsburgh they are, but would be worth the drive.

About 4.5 hours, made the drive a few times, Vince is the only tuner I trusted with my cars.

Where is R/T tuning located?

How far do you think $15k will take me?

It depends on your end goals...do you want stay non-aspirated or go forced induction. If you want to build a track car how serious are you...coil overs and brakes can put you at 10K if go lower high end!

$15k would go pretty far towards a naturally-aspirated track day build.

You should buy a Sport Package equipped 370Z. You can find plenty with relatively low mileage around your target price of $25k. You might even be able to come in under budget depending on how many features you want (i.e. Base vs. Touring).

Add an oil cooler. You'll want one for track use. 25 row or higher.

Upgrade the brake pads to ones suited for track use. Stock won't cut it if you've got any bit of speed in you. Use DOT 4 racing brake fluid. You'll boil stock fluid.

Change the engine oil, transmission, and diff fluids since you don't know the maintenance history.

Check the tires. What the previous owner put on will depend on whether or not you want to run them on the track. Plenty of tire information available here.

Now that you've done all of that basic maintenance and made the car track ready, get out there and get a feel for the car as it is set up from the factory. Depending on your level of experience your first time out may let you know what areas you want to work on the most with your build.

Remember, you can mod all you want, but the most critical piece of the puzzle is you. There is evidence all over enthusiast forums, this one included, where amateur drivers in heavily modified cars are significantly slower around the same track as a professional or experienced driver in a stock car. :tup:

See my for sale thread. I have a lot of the parts you might be interested in available for sale from my z we just parted out and traded in.


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I'd like the idea of adjustable coilovers, that I can adjust between the street and the track mode. To go faster on the track, suspension & brakes are the key anyway on seconds/$ scale. An exhaust and a body kit will be the minimum bling for the street, while putting most of the money into brakes and suspension is the way I'd like to go. But it has to be streetable enough in the summer months of Pittsburgh, PA. Engine mods are secondary.

I just picked up my 370Z in Pittsburgh 2 weeks ago. There is a couple more out there that were pretty good deals, so good luck!

Also, I have Swift lowering springs, and I will say that if I lived around Pittsburgh, I would definitely not want to go any lower than that. Had a few clearance issues on driveways, etc on big hills.

Luckily I live in Illinois, where we don't have hills.

I'd say driver mod is the key on the seconds/$ scale.

Suspension modifications won't do anything for you unless you are able to maximize the use of the stock suspension, which is already very capable. That's why it's important to get out there and get a feel for the car as it is, then you can make better decisions about which way you want to go with the car. Also, reference my point about amateurs in heavily modded cars being significantly slower than experienced drivers in stock, un-modded cars.

Take it slow. Don't be so quick to start changing suspension components... it doesn't always make it better.

need some help on 370z ideas
 

I agree with m4's statements whole heartedly. I modded the hell out of my suspension before track day. Because of it I didn't get to learn the limits that I could push the car to stock. Adding suspension later on after you have seat time is ideal. However #1 you need to add an oil cooler. Mine kept me below 200 on track even in the Vegas heat.


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If you think mods are more important than driver skill, that may explain why you had so many wrecks on your bikes.

suspension front back + front sway-bar rear not needed, brakes, LSD + bushings, exhaust HKS, OS Giken clutch kit n CSC, oil cooler, SPL all kit around and last but no least Volk wheels 255/35/19(20) front (305) 295/30/19(20) rear and toyo racing tiers, GL OP

PS almost forgot the CJ Motorsports fuel starve fix. n brake cooling kit from Stillen.

http://www.the370z.com/370z-sale/965...solid-red.html
Found this in the for sale section. I would try to find one with mods on it already. Save you time and money.

I don't think he ever said mods were more Important than skill. Reread his post and understand what he's saying before you attack him with ignorant comments. Guys looking for advice,not criticism. Don't be an azzhat and contribute.

Hi I'm new to racing cars on track (but not motorcycles, which are almost an entirely different game). What mods should I get to be fastest when I go out for my first time? I'm asking for advice, so please don't tell me the hard truth that I should take my money and spend it on driver mod versus suspension and other crap.

I'm glad he knows that suspension and whatnot is very important, but just look at the shopping list given just a couple posts back? This is what happens on this forum...

OP: get a good oil cooler, good brakes, maybe brake lines (but not required), and go have fun. You need none of that other crap, for now.

In all honesty everything depends on what he wants to do with the car. If it's going to be a street driven and tracked for fun occasionally or if it is going to be a dedicated track car. Seat time is key but if it's not the main point of the car then maybe what he wants to do would be fine. No need for a shopping list, I agree with that comment, however one key needed component track or street driven is and oil cooler. That's a given. The rest is subjective and dependent on his goals.


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Well yeah, of course it depends. I'm happy that he's even interested in tracking, since it provides such a benefit to everyday driving.

That being said, the cheaper you can get on and off track, the better. That dude recommending Volks obviously has no clue what he's talking about, and yet, it's "advice" that could be taken seriously.

Well I don't necessarily agree with that either. You can have expensive parts that are no better than cheap parts- but you can also have cheap parts that explode on or even off track. I think it's best not to cheap out on safety items. Body stuff I could care less about. Rims depend. I had tsw and got flamed in my car club- however they are absolutely trackable and good wheels. And I've seen enkei wheels blow up! But sometimes you can find the good brands cheap too. Work emotions are decent and reasonably priced. I guess what I am saying is that cheaper doesn't always mean better and expensive is in the same boat. Research should be done before deciding on parts for sure.


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I think we all scared OP away


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Sorry, I should have specified - I didn't mean to cheap-out on safety stuff (brakes and crap, you know what I mean). I just mean, you don't need a $3000+ set of Volks, intake, exhaust, swaybars, supercharger, twin-turbos, coilovers, etc etc etc - just to get on track.

We're agreeing here, trust me :-p

Welcome to the forum ! Wealth of knowledge and for the most part great peeps to point u in the wright direction! Good luck with finding ur Z !

Obviously you never tracked a motorcycle. With cars, pushing it to the limit, you'll have a spin out, and hopefully you don't hit anything. On 2 wheels, pushing to the limit, and losing traction can mean highside/lowside. All of my high side came late in the day, when my focus wasn't as good, and the track temperature was up, and the grip was low. If you never lost traction, that means you never pushed it to the limit. Why are you busting my balls anyway? You don't know me, and they say if you got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. Your comment doesn't help any bit, and is not necessary.

Sounds like an oil cooler and brake mods are on the top of the list.
I don't really have a goal. The car will be a weekend cruiser / occasional track day car. Nothing serious. Looks are important, too as it's supposed to be my "fun" car. Otherwise, I would've been looking at STis or EVOs lol
You guys are right about the seat time, though. But I'm a "planning" kinda guy, so I thought I'd post on here and get some ideas. I like uniqueness in cars, so a body kit is a must for me. My daily driver is a Toyota Venza, so I need a bit of flashiness in my weekend car.
If someone would've told me NISMO would be a better car to start with, I would look at it, but from what I gathered, NISMO isn't really any faster (traction problem?). I read somewhere that it comes with stickers saying you shouldn't use a car wash because the huge wing may get damaged? So, getting a used 370z touring model seems like a good start, especially I can find one several thousands cheaper than NISMOs.
I thought about forking up the money for an used GT-R, but I like to have the clutch, even though GT-R's semi-automatic shifts faster than any human can.

No other recommendation on the Nissan tuner other than the one in eastern Pa?

NISMO is an expensive body kit. You'll probably change the suspension they come stock with. Forget a GTR. My husband is a nissan service writer... $6000 brake jobs.


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so theres a new Pittsburgh guy and no one informed me? lol

You're young, you'll get over it. :D

This character is north of the burgh, I'm south of the burgh. Welcome to the forum. :D

For tuning. I went with RT Tuning out east. Vince is top notch!

Tracking. PittRace runs 3 groups. Group 1 for starting out with an instructor. Group 2 is with an instructor until he signs you off. Then you can do Group 2 Solo. These run in the morning. The first 25 who sign up run. Group 3 is in the afternoon. This is mostly for the race guys, instructors and the go fast crazies. The first 25 here too.

The Z for you would be a Sport/Touring. It's got the big brakes on it, and the wider rims. you would need a Z1 34 row cooler, stainless lines, good brake fluid. Something like Motul 600. If you get a manual. Flush the clutch line too with Motul, and wrap insulation around the clutch line down by the exhaust. A good set of tires too. #1 RE11's, #2 PSS's. Do the mods as you pick up speed.

And read my journal. :D

i'm actually just NW of the city about 12 miles out. :tiphat:

RT tuning and vince does great work from what I've heard and read .it's out by Philly.

I got my tune done at AAM in Maryland. also does great work.

if you're ever out and about and hear just a unreal super loud awesome blue Z......it's me :tup:

No, I have not tracked motorcycles. I do ride a motorcycle, however, so I know what you are talking about. And yes, I know that when you are pushing, loss of traction is inevitable - ask me how I know. But you didn't exactly elaborate on your wrecks (which was clearly plural), so for all we knew, they were completely driver error (I suppose ANY complete loss of traction is rider error though, really...).

And I'm giving you a hard time because I give everyone a hard time. Don't take it personally :-p. I'm impressed that you tracked your bike, I have no urge to track mine.

A good oil cooler, brakes, and brake fluid are 100% must-haves with this car. One will let you race longer than 10 minutes. The other will keep you from dying.

Careful with appearance stuff, as you may run into ground clearance issues on some tracks (Summit Point's Shenandoah Circuit has a carousel a la the Nurburgring, that you must drop into - that caused problems people w/ clearance issues...).

NISMO is, indeed, a waste of money for the most part. If you're going to go appearance mod crazy anyway, dont waste your cash.

Nice to meet ya. I'm in Robinson area.

that's pretty close to me. i'm over by the Sewickley area and work in cranberry.

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No problem. I was above average, usually rode with the Expert group (my track days were split into expert, intermediate & beginner).
Of course all of the wrecks are because of the driver errors. Everyone makes errors when they're pushing. Like I mentioned, if you're not wrecking, you're not pushing. And since I have a career, I couldn't afford to keep pushing. If I was getting paid to do it, it'd be a different story :-)
Though the 4 wheel track days and motorcycle track days are completely different animals, at least I understand the concept of the lines & apex, and I'm hoping it helps.
I wanted to ride way too fast for the streets, so I had to ride on the track, but it may have ruined me. I rode motorcycles all my life, and hung it all up 2 years ago.

I'm not planning on making a career out of the track days, so I'll likely be tracking on Beaver Run (Wompum, PA), and maybe Mid-Ohio. Long time ago, I had a '95 Civic Coupe w/ Eibach springs, and my clearance was really low to the point, the cat converter on Greddy exhaust would drag against speed bumps. It was difficult for daily driving. So I hear ya there.

NJMP is probably close to you as well, and relatively flat. Admittedly, I havent tried it yet though. About the same distance away as Summit for me, Ive just grown fond of Summit is all.

I think I'll buy this one. Just contacted the seller. I wanted a gray with Stillen kit, and he already has supercharger installed. and in my budget.

http://www.the370z.com/370z-sale/940...rged-40th.html

not a bad price for what you get with it. not a big fan of the bumper but the boost was installed and tuned at R/T so that's a plus.

car itself without the goodies is worth around 22-24. 25.5K tops and that's high retail.

so 30k and you get a little boost with it isn't a bad deal.

if that's the case, how the hell did you end up with a toyota toilet seat aka benza? :icon08: