First track day impressions
 

I just bought at 2012 Nismo, 2nd owner and the previous had upgraded a few items but the suspension is basically stock with brake ducting. I had the chance to take the new car up to Raceway Park of the Midlands (RPM), formerly Mid America Motorplex near Omaha IA. While I'm new to this car I also have an LS2 swapped 350Z that's a dedicated track car that I've run in TT with NASA, I also have been the NASA TT Director for the Central Region for a few years now. Anyways...

Short story: It needs an LSD, good shocks and a lot of cooling work.

Long story:
I'll start by saying the Potenza S04 tires 285/305 on the car simply just do not have a heck of a lot of grip and the Stop Tech pads proved to be very overwhelming for the tires under braking and seemed to have a bit more rear bias. The ABS was very active especially where there are any undulations in the road. The turn in was good but again with a little heat the tires would give up pretty early through long sweepers or double apex sections like T3, T7&8 at RPM. Through T4 which is a somewhat high speed left hander with some rough patches I found the car to be a touch squirrely fighting for grip all the way to the outer rumble strips.

Putting in laps is relatively short lived due to oil temps, which, I expected but I figured this would give me a reference point once I have installed an oil cooler. I seemed to be able to do a warm up lap, and about 1.5 hot laps before the oil temps were into the 270-280F range. A cool down lap would get things back to the 245-255 range usually. I never came across any brake fade or even a hint of it. I assume this can be attributed to the ducting, low grip levels and the fact I couldn't quite get in 2 laps due to oil temps.

Lower speed corners required modest throttle inputs to keep from burning up the inside tire on corner exit but it did have decent ability to rotate the car as needed with both the go pedal and brake inputs. I did get fuel starve twice around 3/4 tank in a hard right hander, which I've read is a problem so no surprise there.

All in all, I had a blast running down an M1, and a C6 vett and with a couple tweaks here and there I think it will be an excellent street car with a little track car duty. I’m sure I’ll be asking questions and look forward to getting to know the Z34 crowd. Cheers!

I remembered this car, it was interesting, I felt this car needed a specific buyer (seems well maintained, quite modded, but somewhat high mileage). Congrats.

You've mentioned this car needed better shocks. I know this car already had over 70k miles on it prior to your ownership. I don't know how many miles with the Eibach springs. Maybe the stock shocks are a bit tired already? Interesting to see what you switch to.

And it's funny that previous owner did brake ducts and finned diff cover but not oil cooler...humid summer of Houston TX isn't fun

Welcome to the forum. :tup:

Yeah, the car needs some help here and there. If you read through the posts. Most use a 34 row oil cooler, brake ducts, vented hood, a different LSD, etc. For the fuel starve. A lot of us have installed CJM RoadRace Pump set-up.

Interested in what you will do with the Z. You should start a build journal.

:driving:

What specific benefit are you looking for when upgrading the dampers and what are some options that you have in mind?

I use my car for b street autocross and dampers will likely be my next modification on my car.

Still no god solution for the fuel starv? :(
Was the temperature high when you tracked the car?
I live in Sweden, so i don´t think I will have the same problems with oil-temperature, but I´m not sure..

Nice the hear that you like your new Z! :)

In response to the questions about shocks I need to do a bit more research but it seems like KW is always a good option, probably leaning more towards the V3s at this point. Typically I'm not a fan of progressive springs but for a car like this I think it will work since it's a dual duty car and KW seems to have decent hardware without going full on crazy with items that really run up the bill. They are a direct fit so no custom mounts or anything like that. My big questions with them at this point is serviceability, which I'm sure is just a Google search away.

Erajk: It was certainly a warm day at the track, I'd guess around 90-95F(32-35C) most of the day with a good amount of humidity. I'm not sure what the altitude is where you are in Sweden but that can play into things too.

Welcome to the club! As Rusty pointed out, you'll want a 34-row Oil Cooler and also a Z1 CSC elimination kit or the ZSpeed HD CSC with insulated clutch line. For right turns, look into the CJM Road Race Pump. You might also want to look into the CJM baffled oil pan, as oiling is an issue on these cars, especially with stickier tires.

Great post! I'm actually taking my Z to RPM here in the end of August. Glad to see the review. I'm starting to feel like I need more than just Swift springs on my car.... Nice hearing your thoughts on that track specifically.

QB, what do you think about the TEIN Mono coilovers with the EDFC Active Pro unit? Since the car is going to be track and street, this might be an option. I am going back and forth between the TEINs and the KW v3's

Sorry for the very late reply. I was out of the country for work and I'm just getting caught up.

To be honest I don't have a ton of experience directly with either but as much time as I spend at the track and with other car enthusiast that truly push their cars at track KW always seems to be the choice. That being said once you get into the club racing level of coilovers you're probably splitting hairs. I've talked with a local race shop I trust very much and they've installed the KW's on a Z34 and were really impressed with comfort and performance compared to the OEM setup. Of course, I'm sure someone on here has had the exact opposite experience.

KW's are not that great on this car from my research and reading. The reason why is because of the progressive spring rates. Turn all the nanny gadgets off and the NISMO is really good stock. Oil Cooler and LSD are no doubt in need. Many options on the coil overs. It is hard to say what is best. Whatever you get I would suggest a Swift spring upgrade to go with them. The site has many many great threads to read on what folks have tried.

I also think that has a little bit of personal preference too. On one hand, some say KW's spring rate is a too soft if running on sticky tires. On the other hand, for something less extreme, the motoiq 370z uses KW V3 (Clint Focus is user name here?)

Also, other platforms have the KW clubsports line available to them, and we don't.

For what it's worth, I remembered someone here switched out the rear progressive springs to linear Swifts.

Koni Sports with Swift Springs is an affordable and very effective set up. Also, until you get the LSD you may want to try disconnecting your rear sway bar.

And our cars absolutely love a square tire setup. That also helps with the brake bias issue as our cars come with an insane amount of rear brake bias from the factory.