I recently went on an extensive test drive in a Nismo 370Z and really enjoyed it! I took the Nismo to my favorite local canyon road and it was a riot to drive! The suspension was tuned perfectly for my tastes as the car felt firm and planted without being harsh, the brakes felt great/easy to modulate with lots of bite, the engine didn't lack for power and I loved the weight of the steering and amount of feedback I received through the wheel.
I'm now considering picking up a low mileage/slightly used Nismo Z as a 3rd/weekend car. For reference, the car would see maybe 1-2 days a week commuting when it's nice outside, along with occasional weekend canyon drives, autoX events and an HPDE open lapping day every now and again; mostly on my local track- High Plains Raceway.
I've been to a high performance driving school and have attended a few HPDE track days in previous cars (most of my HPDE track days were in my old Mazdaspeed Miata), as well as several autoX events. I'm far from a pro driver, but not the worst either.
With that said, I've been trying to do my homework and have found some concerns about occasionally tracking the Z. I'm thinking that I might be fast enough as a driver to start having a few issues with the Z and I had a few questions that I'm hoping you guys might be able to answer.
1) I've read all about high oil temps on the Z, but it appears there's several reasonably priced oil coolers out there for it, so that's not really a concern. I would install an oil cooler before ever setting a tire on track.
2) Brakes appear to be an issue under stress. I'm assuming a set of decent pads and fluid will help mitigate the problem. Any pad recommendations for a car that will be staying on street tires?
3) I'm considering setting up brake ducts as well, but don't want to cut holes in my bumper. I kind of like this undertray setup:
Nismo bumper brake duct install
^^^Anyone used a setup like that on track? If so, how much of a difference did it make and is it worth the time/investment?
4) It looks like fuel starvation is an issue on long right-hand turns. Unfortunately, HPR is generally ran clockwise, with a good amount of time spent on sustained right-hand turns. I saw a fuel system fix available from CJ Motorsports for $1200; which seems like a decent amount of money to spend on a problem that shouldn't have existed in the first place. I had a few questions about this:
-If I keep fuel topped off at the track, how long of a session can I run without starving the stock fuel system? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? Less?
-If I invested in the CJ Motorsports kit, what all would be involved in getting the car to run properly? Assuming no other engine/power related mods (at first); would it require an ECU tune to property setup fuel trims?
-Should I bother with upgrading the entire fuel system for just the occasional HPDE open lapping day?
Anything else I'm missing or should know about tracking the Nismo Z?
Thanks in advance!
-Brandon