I have the Hotchkis TVS1 with the bars on the recommended (middle) setting. We played with the alignment a bit, but I don't have the exact specs on hand. I also run 275/45/17 Kumho XS at all for corners on enkei RP01's. To be honest, my driving probably isn't at the point where any of that made me any faster, with the exception of the tires. The Hotchkis bars made a big difference in turn-in and control mid turn, I'm still getting a handle on the springs as they are relatively new. I got a steal on the sway bars, bought the springs afterwords to compliment the sways and lower the car a touch. I don't have many performance mods either, but I can say at the last HPDE I "lapped" a couple 350Z's, both of them more heavily modified than I.

So take your time, HPDE's are some of the best modifications you can do for your car, you may be surprised how competent your Z is on track in near-stock form.

 

I retract my statement about EBC Yellow pads. They did perform well for 1 track day - but that's all I got out of them. They are gone baby.. about 1/8th inch left.

Time to edit my previous post

 

Helmet, gloves, good and spare pads, fresh fluid, and an open mind to LISTENING. You don't need ANY go fast goodies or suspension mods. A good driver with a stock car will be WAY faster than a mediocre driver with a modified car.

Study the track ahead of time so you have an idea what it looks like before arriving. Ideally, you'd be able to play the track in your head.

 

Seat time.

 

The only thing you must do for your first event is change your pads to a track pad and sign-up for a ride-along instructor. Bed the pads in according to manufacturers directions. If you have $ for track tires that's the next step. You mentioned you'd get pads if you have time, but stock pads aren't appropriate for the track, you'll potentially go thru them in one day and they won't work very well for very long. Hawk HPS worked fine for me for 4 years now I'm using Hawk DTC-60s. Any track pad is better than any street pad for a track day. You already have a fair number of mods on your car, you're good to go. Learn how the car behaves on the track before you start changing more things. Don't try to change things based on forums- change things based on what you're learning from your car. Like everyone else who tracks their car, you will suck for the first year, minimum.

 

Such a true statement!!!!!!!!!
And the more you learn, the more you realize you suck!!!!!!!!!
(thats been my experience anyway)

 

Hells yes! After tracking 3 cars over the last 7 years my knowledge of how slow I am has increased dramatically ! Occasionally I am King of The Yellow Group, usually I'm the guy that gets a friendly wave from the Z06s in the Red Group as they scream past FTW!!
The great thing about a track day is it's still the most fun you can have in a Z.

 

seat time with your stock car. upgrade driver first and get decent with your original setup. go to a lapping school, max out your car first then mod a little by little.

NEXT...

I can't really tell you what you should do in terms of hardware, but it'll just be easier to tell you what i did so you can use this as a reference <- just a reference...as alot of trial and error went into my car.

hopefully you find this helpful and keep what i post in mind. my first track event was a completely bone stock 350z and the project took off from there. If you want to really save money, try to do all these mods yourself as labor is freakin expensive (as i rather buy parts than someone else's time).

i would seriously look at the stopping power first, some suspension mods and change your fluids regularly (prob at a more earlier interval), after that everything is optional if you are not competing.

here are the changes i made in this order:

Stopping power:
1) racing brake fluid (oh my god this helped so much, stock 350z DOT 3, brake fluid sucks). couldn't stop after approx 10 laps, getting back on the road after track, the pedal needed to be squeezed all the way down to stop the car. once the fluid cooled off pedal feel returned) - i'm now using RBF600 from Motul, i also use ATE superblue. learn how to flush/bleed yourself because you will prob need to do a little bleed before the event. went to track event with upgraded fluid with just oem pads/bone stock car and noticed a huge difference.

2. stainless steel clutch/brakelines - wasn't entirely necessary but i noticed a difference in pedal feel (heel toe easier) and i needed to bleed my brakes anyways so i put it in. also i use the same fluid for brakes as i do for the clutch.

3. Track pad, Ferrodo DS2500. These suckers squeal on the street but kick butt on the track. Also they don't throw off corrosive material like Hawk blues and won't harm your the paintwork on your body or the clear coat on your rims. I also tried Hawk HP+ but these things still transfer alot of heat back to the caliper/fluid after a few laps. Its more of an autocross pad. As with all racing compound pads, you'll notice your rotors to begin to wear down faster. I'm still on stock rotors for now and plan on changing to another set of stock rotors later on. No plans on using cross-drilled/slotted rotors anytime soon.

Suspension/Tires:

1) Swaybars and endlinks: Noticed the car understeered some and saw that the endlinks are a very weak point on the suspension (they are thin and look very weak). Two of my endlinks (one front, one rear) were slightly bent in the middle (after 5 events). I got the Hotchkis swaybar and powergrid endlinks and found that the middlestiff settings helped some with the front end push i was getting.

2) Adjustable camber arms (front and rear) and toe bolts, to adjust my camber to -2.0 front and -2.0 rear and zero toe. This setting depends on your tires and how you drive and what tracks you drive it on. i find with -2 on front and rear is still quite streetable.

I use the SPC rear camber/toe kit, and front SPL V2 A-arms. I also have a set of 350evo A-arms for sale (make me an offer lol!).
https://my350z.com/forum/east-canada...er-a-arms.html

3) Tires. I am going to be in street tire class so i use a decent midrange summer tire. I've used a mix of tires with decent treadwear ratings. BFG KDW2, Falken Azenis RT-615, Hankook ventus. I went with a 17" tire this year to save on cost and bought some cheap 17" track rims.

4) Coilovers. Wanted to lower the center of gravity and gain some adjustable damping. I also have coilovers with some higher spring rates. The ones i use, i read are pretty good with a great price point. Stance GR+ spring rate 12k front/11k rear. Med soft in front, med stiff in rear (this depends on how the rest of your car is set up).

Engine:

Wanted to go a bit faster. I notice the stock Z loses some at the top end. I have an 06 model with revup motor. Espically on the straightaways i notice this as i'm givin' it all i got. Keep in mind that having a faster engine won't make you much faster on the track. Its all about braking and keeping your car in balance (smooth) with your suspension mods to give you good cornering speed and thus faster corner exit speed.

1. 5/16ths plennum spacer from Motordyne spacer with Motordyne lower plennum manifold. This gave me a little more top end.

2. Catback exhaust - not necessary whatsoever, just wanted some bling and noise. I have the HKS Hi-Power.

-Next on the list is oil pan spacer and/or front mount oil cooler. <-important if your oil temps are on the high side

Drivetrain:

Change the fluids often in your tranny and diff.

1. (not necessary) I took up drifting at our local track, this year and i am using a cusco 1.5way diff at 100% locking. This makes driving on the track an improvement. You can feel the diff working to help you pick up more traction. The stock VLSD was on its last legs, so thats why i changed it too.

I also have SPL solid diff mounts to minimize wheel hop.

Safety:

1. Seat (Sparco EVO2), harnesses (Carbeau 5-pt) with harnesses keep you in your seat and keep you from fighting gravity on your body and allow you to simply drive the car. You are less exhausted after tracking with harness/seat combo as you aren't doing a crazy ab workout while cornering.

2. Rollbar - for rollover protection depending on what track you will be racing on, the ones in my area are high speed banking with elevation changes. I use this to mount my harnesses as well. - Look at Kirk Racing Rollbar.

Again...Change your fluids often...

hope this helps you out!