First Track Day in the Z
 

I spent the weekend at Carolina Motorsport Park at the Brady Memorial Event with NASA SE this weekend. I've had a handful of events over the past few years but this was my first in the 370. My best time was a 1:56.74. I'm still on stock suspension and Summer tires and I know there is much room for improvement even with this setup but I think I might go ahead and move to coil overs and better wheel/tires. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

There's a few threads on both topics in this section that are really helpful. It helps to know what your goal with the car is. Not to be cynical but it matters much less of you are not concerned with competing and only want to turn laps but be sure to buy spl everything.

First off... try searching. For better results, add the following phase to your search string in your favorite search engine: site:the370z.com

Second... a lot more info is needed for any relevant input. Your goals for the car and your budget are two good places to start. It's a pretty deep rabbit hole depending on where you want to go.

What were you unhappy with?

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I should have reworded the original post. My question isnt for what brand or part numbers. I already know what I want to buy for the car. My question is should I do anything at all at this point or just focus on more seat time? I have already addressed oil cooler and brake pads/fluid.

I have no interest in wheel-to-wheel racing. I would like to work my way up through the HPDE ranks and then start doing Time Trials.

The suspension felt like a yacht when I started using the gator strips in turns, and the tires (Extreme Contact Sports) were starting to lose their bite. I realize my lines are not perfect and both of those issues could improve with a driver mod. That's what I'm trying to determine, upgrade now or focus on seat time.

Objectively, seat time, always. Especially given your own admission on driver mod needed. Before “upgrading”, it”ll be good to educate yourself on matching up your butt feel to whether it’s the:

spring rate
slow/high speed compression/rebound,
front or rear grip
side to side or front to rear weight transfer
sway bars
Etc etc

Subjectively, if you really just want to change up things, tinker with it, nothing wrong with that. But, get your “want vs need” sorted out so you don’t regret your purchase.

Learn to drive with what you have. Also take advantage of the NASA HPDE awards program as you move up. If you are not in HPDE 3 you probably are not going to gain much. The tires you have are fast enough. You need to prioritize your purchases. I would suggest getting the following:

Hotchkis front sway bar
SPL front end links
SPL rear camber arms and tow bolts
Wavetrac rear diff
SPL front upper A arms
Coilovers.

That will get you ready for TT and by then you should have learned everything you need to know and how deep you want to go. I did mention the the other things that deal power because they are obvious ones and you will need a tune if do them. If say NA and go for the whole enchilada with everything you can for suspension, wheels and other non-consumables you can easily spend $10 to 15k. So it just depends on what size rabbit whole you want to jump down. Ask me how I know! LMAO

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This^^^. I did everything backwards and out 3 years of seat time.

Fix the fuel starve issue with a surge tank solution. I wish i had done that first.

Speaking from experience, the last time I was out on track i was limited on lap time because of that, It was probably worth an extra second per lap for me, maybe more if i can run lower fuel levels.

Agreed, once you get fast enough to cause fuel starvation you will either have to keep your tank full or get a permanent solution like Radium Engineering or CJ motor sports. I would recommend the surge tank solution over hydro mat.

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Samantha little still had fuel starve with the blanket mat.

I still take minimal credit for getting her into it (like .5%) lmao

The fuel mat was decent when it worked, allowing me to run down to about a quarter tank. After a while (installation error on my end) the hose came out of the oem basket though and the car was operating as if I didn't have it at all. So it's more prone to bad install.

I definitely wish I went CJM or Radium from the beginning though, since when it stopped working, the mental burden of having to worry about fuel consumption and the hassle or bringing several gas cans to the track all the time was a drain on each track day.


As far the the car feeling soft, my opinion is that soft suspension helps build good habits. Tires may be worth replacing with RS4's or SUR4G's when the ECS's wear through, just because 300tw tires often get too far above their operating temps at the track and you may end up getting less time per dollar on them than jumping to higher temp range track oriented tires. Anything to make the hobby cheaper and let you get more track time :)

Depending on car goals.. think safety mods. I know, boring compared to performance mods.. but roll-bar, harnesses, seat, HANS..

Otherwise I agree with what some said above. Seat time - big time. I also did it the opposite and didn't know if my mods were helping me or not.