Quote:
Originally Posted by ZForce
Back in May when heading to Laguna Seca in Monterey CA, two 370Z's in our group including myself hit limp mode. We were on the highway, hot dogging on a warm morning (about 80 degrees). It did not take much or very long for limp mode to kick in.
Note: The car had about 750 miles on the engine.
Since then another very hard run in July on very much cooler day (65 degrees) up through a canyon and both 370Z's did NOT go into limp mode. Mileage on the engine then was about 4000 miles.
Normal day to day driving in the summer time (90+ degrees) the oil temps are 225 - 235 with no high reving or pushing it.
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Pretty much the same experience here ZForce. Once I got some miles on the car (now at 5000), the temps went down some. I average around 225 at the present outside temps (hot, lol). As others have stated, it is very hard to get to limp mode off the track. If I drive the car in a spirited fashion (it's a Z damn it
), AND encounter stop and go traffic (no airflow through the car like freeway driving), I can easily hit 250 to 260. It has been quoted here that todays oils can easily handle that, and if you change your oil at recommended intervals, you should have no oil breakdown issues. The more pressing concern to many, is bearing life. The changes in metalurgy by Nissan to be more "green" has reduced the temperatures at which they fail. Most here however claim that 260 will not cause any failure issues. From a longevity standpoint, my concern is how will regularly sustained temps of 250 to 260 effect engine life. From a performance standpoint, my car runs better and seems to pull harder at 180 degrees than 260, so I forsee a cooler in my near future. I don't understand the indignant members here though, that want to get belligerent when people want to discuss this. Maybe it's noob questions that spark that reaction, or a need to be defensive about their cars. I agree though, that if your location relative to outside temps, and your driving style and encountered traffic doesn't result in spikes over the usual 220 to 230, just enjoy the car and don't worry about this.
John