road race prep
 

my next NASA event will be in the dead of summer in CA at willowsprings and i had some initial worries with my car and the heat (100+ F). I've done the following precautions but was wondering if anyone had other recommendations.

1. 10w-40 oil for the track (also have 5w40 HKS race oil)
2. redline water wetter in coolant (65% water to 35% nissan coolant)
3. nitrogen gas for the tires instead of normal o2
4. oil cooler
5. brake and intake ducts
6. front diffuser to draw out accelerated air from underneath

my greatest concern is the TS ecu with advanced timing and was wondering if i should opt for maybe higher octane gas at the event.

You should flush your brake lines and maybe even the clutch line. Use some DOT4 race fluid with a higher boiling point. Do you have any pics of your brake ducts, I'm still working out a design for my 4th gen.

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it.

I took my Maxima out to it's first few lapping days when it was 105+ outside and it had zero problems.

If your car is fine on a 90 degree day, then it'll be fine on a 100 degree day as well. just take a few more personal precautions and make sure YOU don't overheat. ice chest full of water, keep some food in your system, etc.

Isn't 91 octane the best pump gas you can get out there? The TS is supposed to have dual programs to handle lower but maybe ask them their toughts. Might be wise to mix up a batch of 93 just in case.

^^ what he said.

I'm also interested in the brake ducting......

oh right, forgot about bleeding the brake and clutch lines. A lot of gas stations around my area sell 100 octane, so its not a big concern if they don't have any at the track

pics? dang, you'll have to wait till i'm back in the states. It looks ugly IMO and there isn't much room inside our engine bay. I keep them at the lower valence area, one on each side. If you take a look at the 2001+ LS430s, that where I got the idea from. I can take a pic of my dad's LS430 when i get back also. I want to incorporate it into the front splitter, but haven't had the time to take measurements

edit: here is where I bought the stuff: www.pitstopusa.com

I was mainly curious as to how you have them aimed at the brakes themselves, did you attach them to the dust shield or are they just pointed at the caliper?

they are pointed at an angle to the inner side of the tire, I haven't figured out a good way to route them to point directly at the rotor/caliper without being sheered off during steering

basically, you're going to have to run them just in front of the CV/axle from inside the wheel well. then attach them to the bottom of the strut or onto the spindle somehow and aim them at the caliper or just above/in front of the caliper so you're blowing air directly on the rotor before it goes into the caliper, or the caliper itself.

it's hard to do in a FWD car because of the axle and our frame & suspension design. but it can be done.

i might need to try smaller diameter tubing then. fwd application doesn't provide much free room around that front suspension area.

yup.. that's the hard part.
i see a lot of the Z guys using a couple pieces of about 1.5" tube.. it's ducted from behind their corner lights (that they pull out at the track), and into the brake system/front suspension.

hmm... and maybe then use a wire attached to the tube and wrapped around the lower bracket/hub area? i'll have to take a look when i get back. I have 2.5" tubing right now

Your $3,000 brake system needs ducts?? j/k. Let us know how it goes. Some race dudes run oil accumulators to prevent oil starvation in high g situations. Unless you have a baffled oil pan already.

i have read in a Japanese magazine called Auto Works, you take a hose clamp and attach the duct to the conrtol arm. it works on all 3 front engine layouts

:p i don't think i'll need a baffled oil pan just yet. the vq30 oil sump(?) or whatever that long tube with a sieved end sits pretty low in the oil pan already, the fuel tank may be another story.

I track my car frequently.....the 10-40 oil is too thick, you will want to stick with that 5-40 HKS race oil.

The water wetter, you wont need. It is designed for cars with smal radiators, trust me, you wont need it.

The TS ecu can run 93 all day during a race (I use chevron personally) and it should do fine.

Me too, even with track pads I still manage to overheat my brakes.

just for your info, this won't make a difference, the hot viscocity is the same with both oils, you are only changing the cold viscocity

^^^entirely true.

don't worry about the water wetter.. I run straight water in mine and never have a problem except when I threw my water pump/power steering belt during a hard run in 95+ heat.

for the oil, 10-40 is fine. you actually want a slightly thicker oil to help keep it from splashing around so bad in the bottom of the pan and to keep oil pressure up.

don't worry about the nitrogen gas either. the effects of it on a street car are much less than on a race car, and the air is already almost 80% nitrogen.. you're not changing much in there unless you mount the tires, then pull a vacuum on them to remove all the oxygen, THEN replacing with 100% nitrogen.. and I don't see that happening at any tire shop I've been to.

I already goofed once today with the corner weighting thing...just not my day today. I run 5w30 supersyn w/ an oil cooler and I have no problems

when u going larry?

anyways for hydration i usually attach a camel back to the back of my driver seat and tape the 90degree angle water dispensor thing onto my helmet so i can drink it whenever i'm on a straight away and stuff. gimme a call when u decide to go. =D.

i missed the last session in july, so i'm stuck until september when california speedway opens up again.

I managed to hit the track in taiwan, but not with my car... so it was rather pointless. :grinno:

we have tracks there??? only place i raced before was in yang ming mountain

Why don't I see anyone running 20-50? If you're worried about hot temperatures like when I lived in FLA, just run 20-50.
I usually run a mix of things, syth blend (10-40), high mileage (sometimes), and either two quarts 10-40 or one quart 10-40 and one quart 20-50, depending on the time of year.

go-kart tracks.... :D

40-50 mph in a go-kart is fairly exciting

eek... you guys are nuts. just run high quality oil and you shouldn't have any problems running regular grades..

Why are we nuts? I used to mix oils in my RX-7 all the time, why wouldn't a v-6 benefit the same way? If you're running hard, you may want higher temp oil, or if you drive somewhat aggressively, you might stay in those higher rev ranges increasing you oil temp.
For my activities I think an oil cooler is complete overkill.

I use extra virgin olive oil. I feel it has the best viscosity properites, and my car really enjoys the taste

:wall:

I prefer a tuscan extra virgin to a spanish

Damn people.. this started out to be a legit thread.. take this sh!t to OT if you wanna talk garbage.

wouldn't a oil cooler be sufficient? as opposed to running higher viscosity?

a oil cooler will keep the temps down, the higher oil viscosity will keep the engine lubricated more properly during the high temps (since you'll be in that range for most of the time while on the track)

this is my theory, i could be wrong

With an oil cooler, you shouldnt need to run anything thicker than 10w-30. Hell, you shouldnt be running anything heavier than 30 weight period in ANY VQ engine

Why? There is no damage running a higher wt oil is going to do. If you have a 4th gen VQ, running a thicker oil will inevitably help any very slight leaks you engine may have.
You're from/in FLA, you don't think the temps get high enough to run 50? I beg to differ, I lived in Tampa for years, it is fckung hot!
If you race why not run 50.

1) the oil channels in our blocks werent designed for it (regardless of ambient temp)
2) Synthetic 5w-30 has been shown to perform better than dino 10-40
3) with an oil cooler the oil temps rarely cross 190, so there is no need for anything heavier than 30wt
4) running 40 an 50 wt in an engine not designed for it causes excessive pumping losses via added viscosity and provides no additional protection (it might even offer less, because the oil cant flow properly).

Run any oil you wish, its your engine not mine :smash:

:sprint:

The engines are designed for 5-30 and they do quite well with it. there is zero need to go higher and cause more problems. just run high quality oil in it, possibly with a cooler, and call it a day.