Looking for Recommendations:Track Brake/Tire Prep
 

I plan on taking my Z to the track in the next month or so and I want to get some recommendations on brake preparation from the track veterans on the forum.
1. Brake Fluid.
I have several recommendations regarding brake fluid: Motul 600, ATE, Castrol SRF, Ford Heavy Duty... What are people using on track/street cars?
Any issues with SRF besides cost?
I still want to be able to street the car with the fluid I choose and I don't want to swap fluid if I can help it.
How often do you flush the brakes?
Is it OK to use DOT4 in the Z when the service manual specifically specifies DOT3 only? I know DOT4 may contain elements (borate esters) that may not be compatible with some DOT3 brake systems (seals,etc.)
Any recommendation on brake bleeding kits? I have a hand vac.
2. Brake Pads.
What is a good pad for track use with exisitng 370Z Sport hardware? Can they be used on the street? How difficult is it to swap pads ont he Z?
3. Tire Pressure.
What is a good starting point for tire pressures using stock Z tires?

Did I miss anything? Thanks in advance for the help.

I use valvoline synthetic dot 3/4 fluid and have no problems, although I haven't tracked the Z yet, just my old 350 and current C6. If you don't have a lot of experience, even the stock fluid will be fine, as you won't be pushing the car to its full limitations, but for peace of mind, you could change over to any synthetic.

I flush my fluid a couple times a year, but thats because I swap pads out and if I'm rebleeding, its no more trouble to flush than to just rebleed.

I use a motive bleeder, it works really nicely.

Pads are fairly easy to swap on our car, but once again, for a novice, you are probably fine with the stock pads, or maybe try hawk hps, as they are a dual purpose pad. Myself, I run hawk hp+, which aren't the choice of hard core racers, but they work better than stock pads and don't eat rotors up, so I will give up a little performance for economy.

As for tire pressure, run whatever is placarded in the door (35, I think?) I'm at the track right now in my corvette, so I can't say for sure. We had a Yokohama rep just today doing a tech talk and he said definitely go with placarded pressures with street tires. 4-5 lbs less with R compounds.

I've read that cheap pressure bleeders aren't good as they can introduce air, i have the Motive power bleeder as well, but i' assuming this isn't cheap and does have a diaphragm?

It's fine, I love mine

Yeah, it's the first time i've used/had a pressure bleeder, best time i've had bleeding brakes in my life :)

https://www.nissanraceshop.com/produ...-370zbrakerace
Scott@FontanaNissan sold me mine and is a vendor on here.


At the very least change your fluid.

Also change out the clutch fluid with a higher temp fluid, I've got Motul 600 in there. Otherwise you might boil it from heat transfer from the brake fluid. Check out http://www.z1motorsports.com/g37_370z/product_info.php?cPath=597_804&products_id=4691

For tire pressures 35 psi hot. Expect it to go up 2-3 psi with mostly nitrogen in there on the track.

--imho

Z1 Motorsports 370Z/G37 Oil Cooler Kit

1 Castrol SRF or Motul 660
2 Endless MX72's
3 It depends on tires, most of street tires like 35-38 hot

I second the Motul 600.

As for pads, you're going to want to do a split friction front/rear to reduce chances of "Ice Mode" since the Z's brakes are rear bias. Split friction basically means getting a less aggressive pad for the rear.

Wait, really rear bias? is that the 370 or both that and the 350?

I've got tons of dust on the front, next to nothing on the back.

@Mike (post #2), is there such a thing as non synthetic brake fluid?? Isn't all brake fluid synthethic in that it's not derived from crude oil.

370Z. Totally different braking system than the 350Z.

Interesting, do you know how the 350 is setup?

Not sure on the stock brakes, but I had AP Racing brakes on my 350 and they were heavy front bias so I am guessing the same goes for stock, but not 100% sure.

i think what he means is that, with any car, under hard braking weight is going to transfer to the front and the rear is going to get light... the rear tires aren't going to have as much grip, so if you apply equal brake pressure, the rears are going to lock up.

race cars balance this out with a proportioning valve. OEM cars have a proportion (front to rear brake force) built into the valving of the master, based on the OEM stuff on the car.

track guys with OEM gear have to balance the systems out with pad compounds.

so.... for street tires, i'm betting a medium aggressive pad up front and OEM in the back should be fine.


PS. pressure bleeder is fine if you don't have a helper... and either way.. never let the system suck in air... keep refilling the reservoir while you flush.

PPS. Motul seems to be the right price/temp rating for most of us.

Well I am not sure stock rears will last more than a few hard laps even on street tires. They still get pretty hot. At Willow Springs (big track) I ran on street tires and couldn't get more than a few laps out of Hawk HP+ rears before exceeding their temp range. I am assuming those have a higher max operating temp than stock. A few laps on a less brake intensive track might be ok. That was without any brake cooling either though.