Looking for some advice - prepping Z for first track day

[ufoz8mycow]

Hello everyone,

I am in the midst of preparing my 2012 370Z Sport Pkg for my first open track day with it next month (planning to run at Buttonwillow Raceway configuration #13). I have been running AutoX every month this season, but as we all know circuit racing and parking lot runs are two totally different animals.

The car is pretty much bone stock with the exception of short ram intakes and Bridgestone S-04 tires (245/285).

My question for all you guys that have gone road racing in your Zs is what are the must have parts that I will need to make sure I don't kill myself or my car on the track day? I daily drive this thing as well, so it needs to stay streetable'ish.

I know that '12+ cars come with an OEM oil cooler of sorts - is that going to be enough or am I going to want to upgrade that to something aftermarket? The general consensus from what I've read on the forum is that cooling is the main issue these cars have when running track days (even yesterday on an 80 degree day of autoX my temps were creeping past 220F). I've also heard that anything less than a 34 row oil cooler is a waste of time/money... Anybody care to chime in on this? Should I upgrade to a colder thermostat as well? What about something like the Motul MoCool radiator fluid additive (claims to lower temps by 15-30 degrees) - is this something worth looking into or using?

In terms of braking I am planning on upgrading to drilled/slotted rotors, SS brake lines and RBF600 brake fluid already (Z1 upgrade package). Who can recommend the ideal set of brake pads that can deal with track duty as well as daily driving (if there is such a thing)? I've run Hawk HPS pads on other cars in the past and liked those. I will be running the aforementioned Bridgestone S-04s on track unless I get my damn tax return money back in time to buy a set of dedicated track wheels and stickier tires.

Is there anything else that is an absolute must-have before hitting the track in this car?

Thanks for any input!