400Z Track Day

[boosted180sx]

I have a Nismo with 6K street miles and my front pads are already %50 worn. I could see myself blowing through a set of pads in 1 track day. Luckily they are cheap. I haven't found any performance pads or rotors for the Nismo yet, so not tracking this car just yet.

I been doing alot of research cause tracking on the stock pads is not something i want to do.
Only company that i know of at the moment that makes a track "capable" brake pads for the nismo caliper is endless and their ccrg pads.

 

[VR30Infection]

Bro - NICE - I have an M6 performance - it is NOT "floaty" - if that is a word. The roll is even acceptable. I took a exit ramp at over 60 and it stuck perfect. I too thought it would be much worse due to expectations from "comments". For the last 20years I've been driving and putting a lot of miles on high HP/TQ RWD cars - the Z is fine. Maybe sway bars - even that I had TC off (as much as you can) and power slid a few times, the ass popped right back. Never felt tight - haven't been able to induce understeer yet. Brakes have been very good - my biggest complaint is the sloppyness of the shifter/gearbox - NEEDS a short shifer. I have 2 weeks I have approx 860 miles. At 1,500 I thought I would delve deeper. Again - nice on the TD. Did you buy HPD insurance?

Funny, I also have a Performance 6 spd, and I find it to be kinda “floaty”. . I do find the balance to be neutral. I can tell that the rebound damping is almost non existent. I think it’s pretty under sprung. I get front end lift on the throttle and if you are turning the wheel and under power and hit any uneven tarmac the chassis gets pretty upset. I think the anti-sway bars are fine personally. The Nismo has the same part numbers so Nissan didn’t feel the need to go firmer to get the Nismo to handle better. As far as the shifter is concerned, I have the Z1 short throw and the solid aluminum bushings and I love it. Perfect throw, all sloppiness is gone. Perfect amount of notchiness super positive engagement. Five star rating.

 

[rocksandblues]

drove this one on track for 20 mins and instructed the owner. He was a “enthusiastic street driver” w 20 years of experience. I scared him when I showed him what real track driving was and demonstrating the limits of his car.
I race, instruct, and ave 35-40 track days a year.
I am a fan of the Z for what it is. A sporty 2-door while the world is shunning sports cars.
it is NOT a good track car off the showroom floor. It needs suspension, brakes, fluid, cooling and a diet. I don’t think several of the components (like differential ) will hold up to more than casual tracking or auto x. It Is floaty, it does understeer and the lap times reported by professional track reviews reflect this.
it has potential, but someone will have to commit to spending real $$ on their car and I have not seen any on tracks in the mid Atlantic.
they are beautiful, have decent power and great JDM heritage. Street driving does not come close to track driving. As an instructor I have to unlearn a ton of “street driving” from newbies.
Honestly, I want to encourage bringing your Z to the track. Get a good instructor. And I am serious- upgrade your pads and fluid in these. They failed on my student 3/4 through the day.

 

[Thefunk]

out here even the Nissan Dealerships register the car at the DMV as a 400Z. It's literally in the car registration.

My state registered the car as 370z

 

[Thefunk]

Went for the Z's 1st Track Day (1,400miles). Ran totally stock. Only motul 600 break fluid and K&N high flow air filters.

The car handled amazingly. For all the talk about floaty suspenssion, the car felt super planted. Really good cornering. After 3 sessions the break pads where too hot and the car started giving little signs of break overheating. Also, on the second heat the engine oil light came up, but temperatures where not overly high. Probably the oil was thining too much.

I tracked my Z at Lime Rock with only intakes and front/rear Stillen swaybars. Front medium and rear soft. It handled great! My best lap was 1:11.036. Not bad for zero track experience nor instructor. The oil got up to 251F but I didn't see any lights come on. I didn't experience brake fade but by the third session the brakes didn't feel as strong as I thought they should. I put coils and 2pc rotors just waiting for RBF600 fluid to arrive so I can install the steel brake lines then I'm going back to Lime Rock. Next time I will turn TCS off and really push for sub 1:10 lap.

 

[71zman]

I have a Nismo with 6K street miles and my front pads are already %50 worn. I could see myself blowing through a set of pads in 1 track day. Luckily they are cheap. I haven't found any performance pads or rotors for the Nismo yet, so not tracking this car just yet.

I've been looking at Carbotech's website for Nismo Pads..none yet. But I would hope they will make them soon. If they do I will be replacing my Nismo Pads with them. It's insane how a 10 mile drive sheds so much pad material!

 

[71zman]

Bro - NICE - I have an M6 performance - it is NOT "floaty" - if that is a word. The roll is even acceptable. I took a exit ramp at over 60 and it stuck perfect. I too thought it would be much worse due to expectations from "comments". For the last 20years I've been driving and putting a lot of miles on high HP/TQ RWD cars - the Z is fine. Maybe sway bars - even that I had TC off (as much as you can) and power slid a few times, the ass popped right back. Never felt tight - haven't been able to induce understeer yet. Brakes have been very good - my biggest complaint is the sloppyness of the shifter/gearbox - NEEDS a short shifer. I have 2 weeks I have approx 860 miles. At 1,500 I thought I would delve deeper. Again - nice on the TD. Did you buy HPD insurance?

I just installed the Nismo Coilovers in my Proto Z MT along with Z1 Front and Rear Sway Bars after 3700 miles stock driving and Yes the Stock suspension is super "floaty" in comparison. I set the sway bars in the stiffest setting and the coilover dampening setting at 6 of 16. Lowered the car by 1.5 inches. To me it is a significant difference in driving experience and is much closer in handling to my Stock 24 Nismo. For 2300$ and 4 to 8 hours of labor you can dramatically change the stock Z. I really Enjoy driving this car now!

 

[D2M]

Yes coilovers are a must for this platform if you are looking for a sports car feel. I had a set of Silvers 2 way adjustable coilovers made for my Nismo and they are a game changer. Better in every way, front end feel and response, rear end feel, ride quality. It handles bumps like a champ without worry of bottoming and digs out of corners noticeably harder.. For the price they might as well be free as to how much better the car feels. I have tested a few different spring rates and settled on 16K F and 8K R ( true coilover ) if anyone needs a reference.

 

[Thefunk]

Yes coilovers are a must for this platform if you are looking for a sports car feel. I had a set of Silvers 2 way adjustable coilovers made for my Nismo and they are a game changer. Better in every way, front end feel and response, rear end feel, ride quality. It handles bumps like a champ without worry of bottoming and digs out of corners noticeably harder.. For the price they might as well be free as to how much better the car feels. I have tested a few different spring rates and settled on 16K F and 8K R ( true coilover ) if anyone needs a reference.

I have the 1-way Neomax coils from Silvers with the swift springs, 14k front 10k rear, damper setting is 10/24 clicks front and 8/24 clicks rear. Since I forgot to measure the stock ride height, the only measurement I have now is 4.5" from rim to fender. Definitely lower than stock but I think I can still go lower.

By the way, do you hear any popping noises from the rear coils when going over bumbs?

 

[D2M]

I have the 1-way Neomax coils from Silvers with the swift springs, 14k front 10k rear, damper setting is 10/24 clicks front and 8/24 clicks rear. Since I forgot to measure the stock ride height, the only measurement I have now is 4.5" from rim to fender. Definitely lower than stock but I think I can still go lower.

By the way, do you hear any popping noises from the rear coils when going over bumbs?

So that's a downside of going with a true rear coilover. Since the spring has no isolator and is now directly mounted to the shock tower you might hear a slight pop on square edge bumps. This is the case with every true rear coilover. Not an issue for me as the roads where I live are pretty good so rarely ever happens. I have tried the 10K rear but even at 0mm preload it puts the shock out of the optimum travel ( not enough sag ) range and damping range. Email Silvers, they will exchange the springs for you, they have awesome customer service. Install the 8K with 5mm preload, its better in every way Also I came up with a noise insulating gasket for the upper mount that reduces the noise, prototype is working well. Will update my coilover post once I get a final version. Everything is a compromise so its very difficult to strike a balance between performance and comfort, it depends what's more important to you and how you use the car. The performance wins out for me 10 fold, never going back to stock as the actual ride quality is better than oem. I would bottom my car and scrape on every drive with the oem, those days are gone, The Silvers absorb big compression events quickly without using much travel but the ride is actually smoother.

 

[Lesliecofresi]

I been doing alot of research cause tracking on the stock pads is not something i want to do.
Only company that i know of at the moment that makes a track "capable" brake pads for the nismo caliper is endless and their ccrg pads.

I'll be ordering EBC Yellowstuff Pads and installing the Z1 SS Break lines.

 

[Lesliecofresi]

I tracked my Z at Lime Rock with only intakes and front/rear Stillen swaybars. Front medium and rear soft. It handled great! My best lap was 1:11.036. Not bad for zero track experience nor instructor. The oil got up to 251F but I didn't see any lights come on. I didn't experience brake fade but by the third session the brakes didn't feel as strong as I thought they should. I put coils and 2pc rotors just waiting for RBF600 fluid to arrive so I can install the steel brake lines then I'm going back to Lime Rock. Next time I will turn TCS off and really push for sub 1:10 lap.

I'll be looking into the sway bars. Let us know on the updated track test! Thks

 

[Thefunk]

Email Silvers, they will exchange the springs for you, they have awesome customer service.

I've been touch with them since I installed the coils and William was suggesting using different coils but I wasn't sure if they will charge for the exchange. I guess they don't?

 

[D2M]

I'll be ordering EBC Yellowstuff Pads and installing the Z1 SS Break lines.

Yellows no good for the track. I have them on my other car and fade them regularly on back road driving. If your going EBC get RP1 or RPX. RP1 is very streetable imo as the initial bite isn't harsh and the squeaking isn't bad.

 

[D2M]

I've been touch with them since I installed the coils and William was suggesting using different coils but I wasn't sure if they will charge for the exchange. I guess they don't?

Maybe they will charge you for shipping or give a discount. Ive been using the standard springs to test to figure out the rates, if you have the Swift upgrade then you will probably have to buy them. Ive been working with William on developing the 2 way and they have been nothing but amazing the whole time. They have since changed the default rear rate to 8K after my testing.