[1BADMOM]

My son and I were first time attendees to a HPD school last month. He ended having an issue with his turbos Saturday (BMW) so I let him drive my V3 Sunday. Mind you - he's 18 years old. While it's not supposed to be racing, he "beat" everyone including 4 Porsche GT R3 - in his mom's car LOL I got a kick out of their disbelief of being beat by a stock Cadillac.

Needless to say we're hooked. I pulled the trigger on adding a manual V2 Coupe to the garage who's main purpose will be tracking (not drag racing). It was already modded with American Longtube headers and Catless Borla exhaust. My daily driver is the V3. For now, we'll have to take both the V2 and V3 to the track.

What prep/set up would you recommend for each? I'm not looking for engine/power mods at this point - each car has enough horsepower for learning. But rather preventing brake fade, heat soak (upcoming TX heat), track suspension, wheels/tires, etc.?

Thank you!

 

[BV_Mully]

My track setup and suggestions:

1. Braking - SS brake lines, good fluid, dedicated solid rotors and pads. I had pedal fade during my last track day and will be testing this upgraded setup next month. Don't run drilled rotors on the track due to risk of cracking.
2. Wheels / tires - dedicated track setup. I'm running 18"x9.5" TSW Nurburgring, +40mm with 275/40-18 square for the track only, testing next month as well.
3. Suspension - I'm running Eibach coupe springs on my sedan with factory dampers. It works well for my purposes as the car does not seem to get unsettled, even running over curbs. Consider upgrading control arm, subframe, and diff bushings to help with rigidity.
4. Cooling - whatever your flavor of HX cooling. I'm running a Weapon-X low mount, Varimax pump, and expansion tank. Good news is these will be need for more power anyways, so it's money well spent. Consider a diff cooler setup as well. I haven't had any issues with my stock diff, but may add one after this next event.
5. Safety - mount an accessible fire extinguisher in the car, keep your full-face helmet visor down, and sunroof closed. Consider adding a dedicated bucket seat for track days as the stock seats (mine are non-Recaro) allow too much movement, especially when trying to heal-toe coming into a turn.

I will spend about half a day swapping out all of the track-dedicated parts when it's party time. I like to keep the V classy on the street, so it's worth the time to swap parts over once every couple of months.

 

[1BADMOM]

My track setup and suggestions:

1. Braking - SS brake lines, good fluid, dedicated solid rotors and pads. I had pedal fade during my last track day and will be testing this upgraded setup next month. Don't run drilled rotors on the track due to risk of cracking.
2. Wheels / tires - dedicated track setup. I'm running 18"x9.5" TSW Nurburgring, +40mm with 275/40-18 square for the track only, testing next month as well.
3. Suspension - I'm running Eibach coupe springs on my sedan with factory dampers. It works well for my purposes as the car does not seem to get unsettled, even running over curbs. Consider upgrading control arm, subframe, and diff bushings to help with rigidity.
4. Cooling - whatever your flavor of HX cooling. I'm running a Weapon-X low mount, Varimax pump, and expansion tank. Good news is these will be need for more power anyways, so it's money well spent. Consider a diff cooler setup as well. I haven't had any issues with my stock diff, but may add one after this next event.
5. Safety - mount an accessible fire extinguisher in the car, keep your full-face helmet visor down, and sunroof closed. Consider adding a dedicated bucket seat for track days as the stock seats (mine are non-Recaro) allow too much movement, especially when trying to heal-toe coming into a turn.

I will spend about half a day swapping out all of the track-dedicated parts when it's party time. I like to keep the V classy on the street, so it's worth the time to swap parts over once every couple of months.

Great info! Thank you for sharing! Changing to SS brake lines and fluids on the Coupe as we speak.

I'm assuming all of this applies to the V2. Curious if any of the advice would be slightly different for the V3?

 

[m13s]

The V's are heavy for a road course, BV Mully's info is spot on. Be careful on having your son win the HPDE event, overconfidence in a novice group will lead to a smashed car and further issues. If you really want to kick ass at an HPDE event buy a Miata, hire a coach and run rungs around everyone in your group with it. That's what I do and it never gets old.

Glad your on the track and having fun.

 

[BV_Mully]

Great info! Thank you for sharing! Changing to SS brake lines and fluids on the Coupe as we speak.

I'm assuming all of this applies to the V2. Curious if any of the advice would be slightly different for the V3?

V3 are dimensionally similar to the V2 so most points are valid for both, though I can't speak to the wheel and tire fitment for a V3. In reality my checklist applies to any track car and should be considered as basics only. Tracking a daily is a terrible idea, but the smartest way to do it is to have dedicated parts for party time. The best way is to follow our resident track expert @m13s and get a dedicated track car. I'm partial to the 350Z, only because I like going faster than a lawnmower.

 

[1BADMOM]

The V's are heavy for a road course, BV Mully's info is spot on. Be careful on having your son win the HPDE event, overconfidence in a novice group will lead to a smashed car and further issues. If you really want to kick ass at an HPDE event buy a Miata, hire a coach and run rungs around everyone in your group with it. That's what I do and it never gets old.

Glad your on the track and having fun.

If he wants to stick with it, he's expressed interest in a Miata. This was just a great excuse to get a coupe in the garage and eventually stop tracking the V3.

 

[m13s]

350z is a great platform. What tracks are local to you ? Thanks for the kind words but I'm no expert, except maybe at sleeping late.

 

[BV_Mully]

350z is a great platform. What tracks are local to you ? Thanks for the kind words but I'm no expert, except maybe at sleeping late.

Auto Club in Fontana is the closest, but both Chuckwalla and Willow Springs are driving distance as well. I haven't done Chuckwalla or Willow though.