Going to performance driving school. 2010 Z oil temp question
 

depends on how hot it is. You might be ok this time of year. I have never tracked without the cooler, but most here in atlanta can only get 3-4 laps at Road Atlanta in the summer before the car shutting itself down. I think if its below 60 and you go easy, as you would as a first timer, you should be ok.

I don't have an oil cooler and I've done some seriously "spirited" driving, auto crossing, ect... I watched the gauge the entire time and while I was pushing the car pretty hard.

Temps never got higher than 240-ish... as soon as I would drop the revs for a cool down lap they would drop to 200-220ish.

This was all in about 55*F weather,but I foresee an issue come summer time.

An oil cooler is recommended for even a daily driver.. there's no question these cars have oil temperature problems.

If you're concerned about the warranty, have the dealer install it. The Nissan Motorsports is a good cooler, but carries a hefty price tag. Your dealer should also be familiar with purchasing and installing STILLEN products, which covers the same warranty as the Nissan Motorsports version (parts only), but in having a dealer install it, definite good faith. Should shave quite a bit of $$ off the installation.

There have been plenty of consumers and magazine editors that have had trouble with as little as 2 laps on the track, the odds are very good you'll be pushing higher temperatures, and possibly a crappy day with a limp mode situation. :(

In regards to insurance, it's up to your provider. But I have seen a car totaled at California Speedway with AAA insurance during a driving event, and it was no problem, as it was not a race session (IE no one passing another car), just a high speed instructional event. If you have an issue, that's the route to take, instructional driving training course.

It's also worth mentioning that you should really check with your insurance company before assuming that it will be covered.

Just went out to Infineon weekend or so ago - almost installed the cooler I have sitting but went without it - wasnt too bad - took it easy 1 out of 4 sessions - drove her pretty hard otherwise. Temps in the 60s

:iagree: Even though the events are NOT timed, you'll be surprised what your insurance company will come up with.

During my recent DE, when I kept it easy I was okay. I was about 250-260. However, in one of the run when I was pushing it a little harder (Not as hard because of my slightly older brake fluid and being nervous about losing brake), I think I went over 270-275 (that's in cool 50s temp). That's just 20ish degrees below limp mode. Redline (what I use) is a GREAT oil and are designed to withstand such oil temp and abuse. So I wasn't nervous with such temps. HOWEVER, if you're serious about going to track regularly and you're still using regular dino oil, oil cooler is a must for tracks. I need to do my brakes next (new synthetic fluid, possibly new track/street compound pads and) then I'll focus on oil cooler. :tup:

BTW, you're gonna have a blast! keep it easy during the first few sessions. LEARN LEARN LEARN as much as you can from your instructors. Ask questions. Then, slowly apply those techniques and you'll love it! Remembers, it's NOT the fastest, it's the smoothest!

http://www.the370z.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1289884076

Where and when? I've ran DE events at Pacific Raceways and without pushing the car extremely hard the oil temp was hovering around 260. If you install an oil cooler and don't block it during the cooler months (here) your oil temperature will not climb above 180 and it will take almost 20 minutes to get there. I have an oil cooler installed but put a shield in place for the fall/winter months..seems to work just fine. Typically I'm at 200 on the freeway with the shield in place.

March 28 at Pacific Raceway I think. It's Proformance racing's performance school. I guess I am safe to go without the cooler. It will be cool there...it's always cool here. Thanks for the advice.

I am very excited about this. I have wanted to try a track since I had my first Z (240Z), but I was too poor in those days to install the necessary equipment.

Thanks for the encouragement.

I didn't mention one big thing that may affect my ability to drive on a track: my Z has AT. I have heard the AT is fast as hell. The paddle shifters seem a bit slow to respond, but they do allow bigtime downshifts. I use it regularly on mountain downgrades and it is a real brake saver.

I also replaced my brake lines with teflon/ss and used DOT 5.1 AP fluid, so from a braking perspective I think I am ok. I ordered my helmet last nght (AS 2005 open face). It's going to tough waiting till March.

If you're at the track, saving brake should be last thing on your mind. You should try to find the perfect combination of downshifting and braking during turns. For example, some track will have 5-4-3-2-1 markers by the turn. These numbers are GREAT for finding your perfect time to brake/downshift. For example, after a long straightway, you can mark no. 5 at your braking start point and 3 your downshift point and see how you like it. Then if you think it was too soon, you can change no. 4 to braking start and 2 to downshift etc.

Nice brake lines! I think DOT 4 is better for your ABS. Here's a post from this thread:

http://www.the370z.com/brakes-suspen...endations.html

AP certifies that their DOT 5.1 is fully compatible with ABS. I just wanted the the higher boiling point of 5.1. Then again, I shouldn't need ABS, right? :)

You'll be OK as long as you keep the revs down. If you take it easy and stay below 5-6k rpm, the heat isn't as much of an issue. It's the runs up to redline and sustained 5k plus that really generate heat fast.

I'd hate to see you spend the time, money, and effort in doing an HPDE, only to learn that your oil temps reach a critical laps. Given this is your first event, it's unlkely you will see dangerously high oil temps, but if you continue tracking plan on that oil cooler. Nissan has covered engines that have oil coolers, provided the oil cooler didn't fall apart, leak..etc...causing the engine failure.

With regards to your insurance coverage don't take anyone's word on this forum. The only word, is the word of your agent/policy wording. Call them for the answer, as they are the ONLY persons that can answer that question.

With respect to brakes, the biggest area for improvement I see on students from beginners to very advanced students is braking: Primarily, they are not utilizing them to 100% of their capacity. Throw out everything you know about braking and driving on the street. When the brakes are applied I expect my neck to snap forward. :) Everyone is always taught to be smooth, but remember you also have to be fast and deliberate with your inputs with the controls. Smooth, decisive, fast.

Get an Oil cooler... it only helps the car and your ability to be able to push the car with out getting the engine too hot.

That's great advice! Thank you so much. This thread has taught me some new and, I think, important things.

Great thread.

That's a good idea, Josh, I hadn't thought of that. A reasonable compromise: buy it from Stillen, have the dealer do the install, gain a little bit of "good faith" warranty protection with the dealer but save a fair amount of $$$. Josh is always on our side. :tiphat:

It all really comes down to the track, temp of the day, and how you drive.
It's always better to be safe rather than sorry, so I would install the cooler for certain, no reason not to.
It would really suck to spend the money on the track day, spend all that time getting out there only to run a few laps, hit limp mode and be done for the day.

also, most of our customers who track occasionally do an oil change before and after the track, due to the oil temp issue, again, for no reason other than to be safer.

I would also highly recomend running stainless steel brake lines for more consistant performance, higher fluid, such as motul RBF600, and better brake pads than the oem. If you do this you should 1) extend the life of the brakes on the track (depending on how you drive of course), and 2) gain a more consistant feel throughout the day for better lap times etc...

I did my first track day with the Z in October, Road America. No oil cooler and no Limp mode in any of the 5 20 minute sessions I did. Of course I was in the beginners group so I didn't go "all out". I also took it easy on the long main straight, I shifted up to 6th to give the engine some time to cool down and to let all the big boys in their Corvettes and Vipers pass me. But the one time I pushed a bit harder for a full lap, the oil temp did come awefully close to the limp mode temp. So based on my experience: you should be fine for your first track day, just keep an eye on your oil temp and keep your revs down once in a while to let things cool down.

Oh, yeah, brakes: you do have to upgrade your fluid and pads. I can happily recccomend the Carbotech XP10/8 pads I used.

But as I want to try a little harder next year, I have started to order the parts for my DIY oil cooler, lines are in, cooler is next, i should be done by the time the snow melts :)

I did my first track day in the 370 yesterday at Spring Mountain. Outside temp was about 65-67 degrees. I installed an AE cooler last week, and I was never able to get the oil temp above 220 on the track yesterday. There is some debate going on and some discussion that the true circulating oil temp in the engine is 15-20 degrees higher than what the sensor is reading (after installing a cooler), so my true temp may be closer to 240 max. For spirited daily driving (just in the last week) it is hard to get it above 190 without a cooler cover in place. The cooler works very well, and adds a lot of peace of mind. I also just swapped out front pads (left OEM lines/fluid/rotors/rear pads) per suggestion of another more experienced 370 driver and I gotta tell you it worked great for what I am doing. Takes all of about 10 minutes to swap out front pads with the Akebono Sport brake calipers. The only problem I had was fuel starvation. I did the first 20-min track session with no problem, and made it about 3/4 of the way through the 2nd 20-min session before experiencing fuel starvation. Fortunately it kept running and I took it easy the rest of the lap into the pits. Fuel was about 5 dots below full at that point. Thereafter I topped off the fuel tank in between each session. Kind of annoying to have to run with so much fuel in the tank.