I live in vegas and have had my Z for about a year now. Even right now that we are seeing temps between 115-120 my oil temp has never gone higher than 230-240. Typically while cruising it's right at 220 and even when stuck in traffic it sits at about 220-230. The only times I've seen it hit the 230-240 mark is when I've been on the fwy going about 75-80mph and then have to come to a near stop due to traffic and the damn 15fwy near the strip. Then it shoots up to about 240 for a few minutes and then calms back down to 220.
Even when I auto-x or drag race the temps are never higher than 240. Mind you those races are short (anywhere from 13sec to 70sec) but still. I'll even admit to a few hwy runs that lasted minutes and the temps never got above 240.
Lastly I've done the California to Vegas run when it's been in the triple digits; mind you it was only about 102-104. The car did great and never had high oil temps. I even did a few pulls against a C6 Vette on one of my trips back to Ca and again the temps never got higher than 240.
Not sure why the OP had problems but I would definetly check the oil level in the car. Also how fast where you going and in what gear when going up Baker hill. If going the speed limit and in the highest gear the rpms may have been a little too low causing you to lug the engine (essentially making it work harder). I know with my 6-speed manual that if going up a long incline at speed limit (65mph) the rpms make the car feel a little less comfortable than say if you had it in 5th. I could definitely see going up Baker hill with the a/c on at 114 degrees and only having the rpms at 2200-2500 causing the motor to work a little harder. I'll be honest, I typically do about 85-90mph going up that hill (as do most motorist driving that stretch of road) which has the rpms at a nice and healthy 3k+.
There are a lot of factors that come into play but what I can tell you is that living here I've never had a problem with my Z. I too was worried prior to buying it but so far no issues.
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