So I have been toying with the idea of making my Z a track car. I have heard a lot of negative things about running my Z on the track. Here is a little info on the car:
Its an 05 350z with the JWT 700 kit on it along with a built motor. Making about 500 WHP on high boost. There is also a decent amount of suspension work done on the car also.

I guess my main issue is everyone in my area thinks it will end up dieing rather quickly. I guess the main thing they are getting at is the heat the VQ generates along with the extra heat of the Turbos. Also starving the motor of oil. Are these things that can be overcome or is making my Z a track car something I should avoid.

Any and all input would be helpful.

Thank for reading and posting anything you guys come up with.

 

Have you upgraded your coolant system? Its a must if your thinking about tracking a F/I car.

 

Heat management will your biggest reliability concern. Cooling system, oiling system, trans, and diff cooling would all be areas I would look at adding additional BTU capacity. You can also turn the boost down while you're getting the car setup.

 

I have an ARC rad, so that part has been taken care of.

 

So what all is out there to mange the rest of the heat. Guess using an oil and trans cooler. But what is available for the diff?

 

I have the 700BB kit and recently did a built engine. Before I built my block I tracked my Z without issues. However for cooling mods I have; Stillen Oil Cooler, Koyo oversized Rad, and Nismo finned diff cover. I've since added the Nismo thermostat, Pathfinder mod, and PolyDyned all my pipping, piston tops and skirts, exhaust manifolds, turbine housings and down pipes.

 

like a boss

 

YEP,
Never tracked ( well, never RAN at that point lol), buit i did the following:

Mishimoto GIANT oversized radiator, nismo thermostat, pathfinder mod for rear coolant bypass, Mishimoto front mounted oil cooler, DEI heat mat on firewall and trans tunnel, 14" BBK fr/rr, and you can easily buy a cooler core and pump for the rear end transmission as well. My Precision 6266 is not watercooled... also, My friend that runs a single exhaust just has his diff cooler mounted where the psngr exhaust tip would have been. Nismo cover can help too.

Bleed the hell out of the system, and perhaps relocate your coolant overflow ( search for the thread) as some folks w the TTs boil thier coolant in the turbos due to issues w the overflow location.

Theres also some threads on cheap brake ducts to reduce fade as well.

 

Generally speaking...this is not a good idea for any real extended WFO tracking in a dual purpose car (Street & Track)

 

I have the nismo power steering cooler and nismo thermostat so guess just need the oil cooler.

 

Dont plan on driving it on the street really. Have 3 cars this one gets used the least.

 

In truth it is really hard to keep the heat out of any high boost vehicle in atrack situation. The boost is on for up to 30 minutes at a time, vs the street use of 5-10 seconds. Even OEM turbo systems struggle in relaibility in a purely track vehicle.

 

Besides reliability I would also consider controllability. Putting down that much power with a steep torque curve safely on a roadcourse can be tricky.

 

I have a built engine w/ a supercharged setup running about 20psi in track setup, also about 500whp, with the big koyo (54mm), oil cooler, PWR finned oil pan (similar to APS oil pan) and distilled water/water wetter in the radiator.

On a cold rainy day in Big Willow (fast track here in Cali), I went five angry laps before the oil temps started creeping up to 240 degrees when I came in...water temps stayed around 210 degrees w/ my aftermarket fans...only other cooling mod I can do at this point is the pathfinder mod.

Some people push their oil temp limit past that to ~270-280 degrees on track on a hot day...

 

I have only seen 1 F/I Z that could stay out on the track for a full session (while being driven hard ) and it was Carl Ryquest's car. Even us with N/A cars have heat problems from time to time.

 

Any info on what he had done? or what his FI setup was

 

Contact him, he may share. He is on this site.

 

No idea who that is.

 

just to name a few: Dual oil coolers (or one big one), oversized radiator, upgraded fans, thermostat, coolant bypass, modified coolant surge tank like HR/GTR to prevent trapping air from hotspots, diff oil cooler, wrap hot piping, brake ducts.

 

terrasmak asked to chime in here.

On the City Tire Online 350Z, until now we have run a Greddy Twin Turbo kit and during my time driving it I have had 400, 500 and 600 hp.
At 400 and 500hp saw no overheatng problems.

The single time an engine died on us was bc a human error, the oil level was too low. It never really blew up but we had to replace bearings.

After rebuild of motor to 600+ rwhp for 2012, we have seen water temp cooling issues at longer sessions with full throttle, however this was drastically reduced with a high pressure motorsport radiator cap. The team is investigating if there is any other source. This engine build unfortunately I have less insight as to exactly what was done and what could be the root cause but everything on the water side has to be investigated. Oil temps are still ok.

Baseline build is otherwise ARC radiator and a AIT carbon hood with rear vents to draft/suck out hot air (discontinued which is a shame bc it has a "muscle hood design" and looks great imo). However, there are other ways to evacuate hot air from the engine bay at the back of the hood.

Front end is wide open inside bumper skin, no airducts which usually is a bad idea, but guess we lucked out just letting all air in without ducts.

Trans, stock with no cooling. On road course racing no issues but as a general rule not just for 350Z but any racing, always shift gently, even fully built race gearboxes have frequent rebuild intervals and can be extended a little only by good driving, or killed instantly by bad driving. With enough time drifting at high hp levels something inside will break due to clutch kicking but they last surprisingly long.

Over time, the synchros inevitably give up, especially on the early models. You can still drive with worn synchros or make the synchros survive longer with rev-matching/heel-and-toe.

Nismo rear lid with fins on diff, never had an issue but also we were also running with Carbonetic differential (carbon discs). Haven't done any back to back temperature measurements vs metal disc diff but the carbon might help the diff temperature, at least we never had a single problem with diff damage, diff oil leak or such.

No ABS and no traction control.
Endless big brakes with brake bias adjuster. Never any temp issues.
Always used at least 98 or 100 Octane gas for race conditions.

One thing that comes to mind is that some posts here reveal pretty high boost numbers. It should not be necessary to boost that much with a good tune, possibly our Technosquare custom tune with relatively low boost levels is a reason this car has ran so reliable over the years.