Have not had the chance to do a track day yet in the Z,but am wondering how the factory alignment does on tires at say Sebring?Will the tires just get torn up on outer edges or will the heat be pretty even accross the tires?Just trying to see if my tires will be useable afterward or junk(factory Bridgestone's),my Buddys Z06 is pretty good on tires at Sebring so I thought the 350Z might be similar(I come from a front wheel drive car so )
Thanks for the help in advance.

 

I have not been on Sebring, but with all the diffferent tracks I have been on, the outside will certainly wear harder than the inside, but I have never chunked my tires. You will certainly feel the grip give up as the tires get hot enough to destroy themselves, so as long as you ease off for a couple of laps or pit in when you feel them start to get greasy, I think they'll hold up fine. Just don't expect anything really spectacular in the way of lap times.
Will

 

I'd add that factory Bridgestones are nothing to brag about in terms of overall grip. As Resolute has said, the outer edges will feather, particularly in the front. Pyrometer readings I've taken show fairly broad tire temps across the tread, but the outside shoulder definitely bears the brunt of the wear. 350Zs and Z06 are completely different in terms of handling and tire wear, but your OEM tires should still have some usefulness left in them after your track day.

I've heard that Sebring is a particularly bumpy and rough- keep in mind that tire temps will rise during the day. Check your tire pressures and keep them under 40 PSI hot. Exceeding this makes the RE 040s get decidedly 'greasy' and less progressive.

 

Thanks guy's very helpful info.Glad to know I will most likely not chunk the tires.That happened to me when I ran Roebling Road in the SRT4 ,Also good info on max hot tire press.

 

My 1st season tracking, my Bridgestone's held up through 12 track days. Yea, they started to.....chunk?.....a bit, but you will be fine. I tried my d*mnest to trash them, but I never succeeded.

Here are a couple shots after about 4 track days:

 

Yeah I did Sebring a few times and tires were never a concern just brakes, those 17 turns take some braking.

 

The OEM tires will be fine. Autocross is another story.

 

Well it seems the Bridgestones don't do to bad with a little heat,even though they may not be the best handler.davidv I noticed you are running the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, how do you like them? I was most likely going to replace the Bridgestones with those.
Do you guy's think CARBOTECH PANTHER PLUS & Wilwood 570 fluid will be ok.While we are on the subject of tracking the 350Z do I need to worry about oil temps? & coolant temps?
Thanks guy's good forum for help/info
Eric

 

the panther plus should be a great pad for on track driving. i'm not sure about the wilwood fluid, but i run ATE fluid and it feels great.

 

Roebling Road in Savannah is abut the toughest race track on tires. Thats why Kumho does almost all of their testing on that track. We have used Kumho tires for the last 8 years and have had good success with them. The new 710 is by far the best tire for track use. If you decide to go with them you should set your toe to about 1/8" to 3/16" out and get at least 1 degree of negative camber. 1.5 is better but hard to get. Call Kumho for tire pressure advice but never go above 28 pounds. If you can take some across the tread temperatures do so and that will help you set pressures. On our Z we found that the rear tire temps were higher than on our previous Camaro Z28. I think its due to higher cornering speeds with the Z.
Another nice thing about the 710 Kumho's is that they remain fairly consistant thru many heat cycles. We have two or three sets from the runoffs that have between 5 and 7 laps on them total. If you want some contact me at racerbob4@yahoo.com

 

I forgot to also mention that carbotech brakes are about the best thing out there and we have used Ford HD brake fluid for years. Its cheap and has a very high boiling point.

 

The stock tires are ok (not too grippy but does the job) for track use, especially if you are just starting out. Be careful getting them over 40 psi, they lose grip pretty quickly. I have a NISMO suspension and have a 4 to 5 psi difference between the front (higher) and rears (lower) that help with oversteer.

 

Not trying to be different, but I find that 44 psi front and 40 psi rear work best with the stock tires. Anything less causes fast wear and I did not notice an improvement in handling. In my experience the front left will be the first to go with about double the wear of the front right (with the rears not having too much wear). However you should be able to get about 10 track days from the stock tires.

As for brakes, I would get something more than panther plus. Try XP8's, 9's or maybe 10's depending on your skill level. I have had pad deposits with the XP8's and they last between 1 and two track days for me (on full, front and back 13" stoptech BBK). Now I use Cobalt Friction Spec VR which last about 3-4 track days (fronts). No complaints from them.

 

Yikes, you can only get your Spec VR's last 3-4 track days? And you're still on street tires? Mine looks like it will last a dozen days, but I use the 355mm kit. I guess it also depends on the track... I'm going to use some temperature paint and find out whether I'd be better off with the Cobalt GT's next time I have to purchase pads.

Are you running the Cobalt GT's in the rear?

A year ago, I've put on about 3 track days on my oem's and they looked pretty good, aside from some chunking. They wear so different than the T1-'s, as they must be a harder compound. Also, the RE040's squeal loud, as if they're crying for mercy. The toyo's, on the other hand, barely squeel at all.

 

I upgraded to BFG KD's (245/275) but yes I am still on street tires. However, it is a brake intensive track (Blackhawk Farms) and one that I drive at about 100% since I know it well now. I even started to get the fluid boiling on a couple of occasions when the pads were running low.

The KD's don't squeal like the RE040's either, but they do make noise when they are near their peak slip angle.

No Spec VR as well, and I have about 40% left on the rears after 10 track days while I went through 3 sets of fronts. I swear there must be a bad brake bias on the car, but others I know have the same problem.

I just upgraded the fronts to a 355mm for next year. I am also going to go with brake cooling ducts.

 

The oem tires do ok on most tracks and wear, at least in my experience, was actually more even than in normal driving. inside tread feathering was reduced.
I tried pressures from 30 on up and found that 37 gave the best traction and control. That's 37 after running, not before. 40 and above I got lots of looseness in the rear end on braking at the end of long straights.

 

I have used the OEM tires for 7 track days (575miles) so far and 15,000 street miles. The rears may have 1 or 2 days left on them. On the fronts, I'm on the third set because of the feathering TSB's. The front since they were newer, were chunking considerably. Overall, I'm happy with their performance and wear. I did purchase a set of used Track Rays with new OEM tires on them. The original plan was to use the rims only on the track and most likely change to R compounds. Problem is, that I don't want/can't carry them to the track, so I'll stay with the Potenza's for next year also.

On the Spec VR's, how are those, with respect to corrosion on the rims or paint ?
I ran a rainy day with Hawk Blue in the front and had a hard time removing the corrosive dust from the wheels. - I still need to work at it some more. The paint is ok, I was able to remove the grit with clay. On the rear, I always run Hawk Blue and have never had problems with the corrosive dust. Probably because there is so little dust. The rear pads will last me 4-5 track days. I'm still using the non Brembo's and not very fast...

 

No problems so far, although I do clean the wheels after each event as I change out the pads and have to remove the wheels anyway. I even ran at Road America for two days one dry, one wet and the brake dust removed easily.

 

I too haven't had any problems with corrosion from the Spec VR. I waxed my wheel before I used these pads based on the suggestion of several members, and that seemed to have prevented any damage to the wheels' finish. I waxed the wheels about 8 months ago, and haven't reapplied after 5 track days.

It's probably best to just wax the wheels (and your car) at least once a year to mitigate corrosion anyway. I hate washing and waxing my car, but I try to wax it once a year. I'm already behind on my duties as a loving owner... :-(

 

Thanks for the responses. I wax the front wheels before each event to help in cleaning them afterwards. It did not help with the Hawk Blue pads. I did not have any problems when running the OE, Hawk HPS or HP+ pads prior to that. I'll try the Spec VR next season. They are expensive but worth a try.