Yep! It's good ****. :)

Hello folks... so I was bored and figured id write in on my experience with getting acquainted w the track... car: 370z Sport Tech

First day out: (mods- Setrab oil cooler 23 row, redline dif and trans fluid, Tires- Federal 595 Rs-RR, Stop-tech intermediate pads with 2 piece slotted rotors, Brake ducting, Defi BF gauges -oil pressure, oil temp, coolant temp block>radiator) Track is High Plains Raceway at about 5000ft and 60 degrees out.

Was great at first... under-steer was simply a driver mod and the car was capable of much more.... after about 4 30 minute sessions for the day, my brake fluid finally boiled out on a straight going about 120mph. I survived the ordeal without any damage to the car or myself. About an hour and i rand 2 more laps and got my best time....

NOTES: my coolant was living at about 220-230 degrees, my oil (with cooler) was living at around 240 degrees. The brake rotors never smoked out but were cooking hot.... i think the ducting helped mitigate a lot of that. The pads had left piles of material in the rims. I was basically leaving the car on with hood up between sessions. to get the heat under control.


Between firstand second track day:
I decided that I need to get some RBF 600 into my brake and clutch systems.
The fluid is cheap, effective, and i planned to change it out regularly because of the track use. The pads - i went and upgraded to carobtech xp8s all around to get some real stopping power. I also decided that I would run the heater on max when my temps start to spike for further mitigation.

The clutch fluid: came out like sludge... ytou can definitely guess that it was a mix of fluid breakdown and deterioration of the oem slave... was a good call to swap this out. It is so easy to swap out this fluid so ill prob use rbf600 and regularly flush it rather than superblue - it....

Pad Prep: I went into the mountains to bed these brakes... I ended up running into ICE MODE. After a good scare,, I decided to get used to it and try and predict when this would happen...so I dont get surprised on track sandwiched between 100k$ cars on a straight.

Second Track Day:
Man, these pads, and fluid were great. I only hit ICE MODE once but managed my brake response and in-turn inertia ... I ultimately shaved off 4 seconds, with more seconds available to grab. The heater on max did mitigate, but hell it gets hot in the car. After a good 3 sessions, I brought someone in the car with me to critique my laps for better driver mod. LOL I must have been driving on the edge by myself... with him in the car either it was nerves or added weight, i went off track more than a few times..

On one hard brake i had a problem.... I bashed the pedal pretty good... I never hit ice mode but I did kill the car - well, sort of.

I instantly went into limp mode, and ABS and VDC lights came on... I decided to call it a day.....

After Day 2:
I went to Nissan magicians to solve the problem. After a diagnosis, a stuck brake sensor caused the computer kaos that limp mode'ed me... got it warranty swapped and back on the road.

My brakes worked excellent (minus ice mode), but my rotors suffered a bit of scoring. The tires were very predictable but not the best track tires on the market... but perfect on price and for learning. The clutch no longer got sticky and the pads didn't leave piles of material.

I did notice that my oil pressure (with fresh mobile1 15k synthetiC 5/30) was about 5psi lower than I wanted ( about 8-10 psi idle) Ill prob talk to some more experienced heads about the possibility of going up on weight pros/cons. Getting a baffled oil pan is also something i may visit considering the 1.12 Gs I was pulling on these turns.

Looking ahead:
Suspension did stand out... The car is great on the street but is super sloppy on track. ill be addressing that before next year, but since this is a learning year, ill improve on my current platform then refine when im ready.

I will be TT'ing the car. To use this on track, heat is the first consideration... Ill be getting the stillen nose, 2 oil coolers to stick to the side ducts on the nose. + a fan on each to get that air flow if the temps keep climbing. A vented hood to get the heat out. There is so much to do on this build, but the basics are a priority.

Overall, this is a great platform car for the track.. there are modifications that will come as my aggression and experience goes up... but nothing out of reach...

You are going down the rabbit hole. Just remember. Once you enter the hole. There is no turning back, and no bottom. When you decide to replace suspension parts. Go SPL. No other will do.

Rabbit hole!

A 23 row oil cooler seems small for track use. When I was shopping, z1 told me to just go straight to 34 row, no point on a smaller one

But like rusty said, get SPL everything when you get to the suspension

Coilovers, there's options, it depends on your budget

Like he said above. A 23 row is too small for track use. Get a 34 row. And get a power steering cooler from Z1 while you are at it.

Nice! Glad you didn't have any damage, since your getting quicker and faster, and also looking to add more power. Might I suggest looking at better safety equipment before adding more power. Seat, Harness Bar, Harnesses, and Hans will make you safer and faster because you won't be moving around in your seat. Also don't cheap out on the stuff, get FIA or SFI certified equipment where you can.

Ooops that was a typo...
its a 34row setrab/mocal thermostatic plate i got as a kit @fast intentions...

:)

EDIT: yeah, SPL is on the list as well.I read about SPC upper control arms snapping ... Ive heard good things about voodoo13, but price is equal, so SPL the winner.. ive been putting off the TT install, so im filling the piggy bank for that now. After, the suspension is on my hitlist.

My dual oil cooler upgrade will have to wait as well.. i really need to sort out fitment after the TT plumbing is in.

yeah no kidding...

I have to check and re check myself every time i get into another system. Just got the aeromotive pump speed controller (another 340.00) after about 1k in revamping my fuel system. ( cjm fuel return, relay, 450 walbro .....)

Im getting close to the finish line on this build though...

Yeah, ive been looking at options for going 6-point with hans... Im going to run a conservative linear tune for the track and get it dialed in ( looks like im going to go for ecutek ) until im strapped in good.

I want to get with recaro about modifying a sportster CS or GT to accomodate the submarine straps ( in other words Recaro: could i bring in a new seat to an upholsterer and have the hole made for this, and is it safe? mods to make it safe?) So thats the plan on that. If I have to ill just have to run with the 5-6 point options available...

I agree on not cheaping out. besides, a couple tracks i visit look close at the certs and exp. on the equipment.

I've done that, it's safe, as a reclining seat can be. The submarine strap's attachment point is the body of the car and that's where all the forces will be exerted onto, the seat bottom is just access hole. So an upholsterer work wouldn't have any detriment to the safety of the harness system. If you'd like I could measure off some dimensions on my seat.

I would suggested Castrol SRF, I had the RBF 600 and boiled them going down the main straight from ~110 to 45 slight downhill. You have brake cooling which is awesome but I'd still suggest the SRF


side note: I have the 25row oil cooler and never had issues with temps in California (around 90-95 degrees)

Yeah,
that would be much appreciated... im particularly interested in the floor reinforcement as well and how it ties in as well

Thx

Ill look into the brake fluid.. my fluid change kit makes life easy in that department, so its only matter of choosing the right performer.

Oil - I think that Altitude is the enemy up here. even a 34row is a hard push on the track.. The temps just keep climbing... Turbos have to go in first before i start bolting things on and making changes though.

So below is a hyperlink to a video showing a 911 turbo... What i would like to do with my oil coolers is very sililar to this (1:00 and 4:50 into the video)

:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K9qu60nA5o

I second Castrol SRF for brake fluid never boiled it even braking from 130. The stuff is awesome as clutch fluid as well. I notice an change in the smoothness or fluidity in changing gears.

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:iagree:

Having done 15 events over the previous 5 years, this is by far the best answer to your question. I've done 5 events in the last 12 months, including a 2 day / 10 session Edge Addicts event at COTA this last weekend; and I can testify that improvement comes with good coaching and repetition. Track time will be your most rewarding investment.

I started with my mostly stock 40th AE and added oil cooler, which is a must. For brake pads, I like the Stop Tech sport pads which serve me well at the track but are easier on rotors, are quiet and pretty clean - esp for street. I flush brake and clutch lines with Motul RFB-600 2X per year. I now have a 2016 Nismo and added SPL front adjustable camber arms to preserve tire life on my Potentza RE-11As. The Nismo suspension helps and the Recaro seats are damn near perfect.

In my opinion, making suspension adjustments is throwing away money on the wrong things until you are capable of driving at the limit and maintaining car control. And although I've done a lot of events; I'm still not at that point - but am getting there by going to the track more frequently and doing events which can maximize my time.