Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - What are the best suspension mods for the 370 for DD and some track use?

Girald · 05-13-2018, 05:04 PM

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...

05-13-2018, 05:04 PM	#62 (permalink)
Girald Base Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Denver Posts: 134 Drives: 15' 370z SpTech 6MT Rep Power: 3363	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... __________________ AAM tt'ed // Soon: Moving back to the East Coast