Hey guys, I have a 2003.5 5AT G35 Sedan w/ a Z tube and grounding kit as my only mods (if you can call them that ) In less than two months I have this big track day planned at www.motorsportranch.com. I've been planning on making some changes to my car already, but the track day provides the perfect reason to make the changes now. I'm surprised by how much I'm spending, it's a lot more than I planned. Here are my plans, ANY type of input/comments are welcome.

edit -- It's a 03.5 5AT G35, non-sport (sigh), 17 inch wheels with the crappy Turanzas. Oh yeah, my car has almost 76k miles so I can't get them changed at the dealership

Suspension

Springs Tein H Tech Springs ($155 shipped via eBay) - Drops the car about an inch, helps with handling, not too low, keeps the ride nice.
EDIT -- Getting the 04+ 350z suspension, shocks, springs, possibly struts (are these necessary)?

Sways Stillen Sways ($300 from Grubbs) - Improves handling dramatically, comes with collars already. Apparently stock bushings are ok to use.

EDIT -- Might not get sways anymore, depending if I can find a rear 350evo rear sway bar or if a 350z rear sway bar fits

Brakes

Pads Hawk HPS Pads non-brembo ($60 from PerformanceNissan) - Improved braking, less dusting, hopefully can stand up to a full day of wear and tear at the track. I'm only buying a pair for the front, since they will see the most use.

EDIT -- Gonna get hte Stage Two upgrade from performancenissan, stoptech rotors (not sure what size they are or if I want slotted or drilled), hps pads, ss lines

Brake Fluid MOTUL RBF 600 RACING DOT Brake Fluid ($13 from PerformanceNissan) - Higher boiling points, better performance.


Tires

Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval ($123 via TireRack.com) - Great performance, very cheap for the performance. Quiet, from the reviews. Downsides, only a summer tire, hopefully will be fine for Texas winter use.

EDIT -- Goodyear F1-DS3 (or something like that), $167 a tire, will revert to all season Turanzas for texan winter (WE GET ICE SOMETIMES OK )

I'd like your opinions on my choices. Wish I could install them myselves, but don't have the time or tools.

-Mark

P.S. I know a lot of these are not the best TRACK worthy mods, but I want my car to be capable of doing a decent job at a track and a nice job when I'm just cruising.

 

These are just my opinions. Tein H-Techs for sedan are street springs designed for comfort, not handling. You would probably do better with the 350Z H-Techs for street and track use. Stillen sways are excellent choice for street and track. I would use Hawk HP-Plus for track use and keep HPS for street use only. Motul is excellent choice for street and track. I would add some stainless steel brake lines and slotted rotors if you are not up for expense of big brake kit. Your tire choice is questionable. Don't be cheap with tires since that is where you will notice the biggest improvements in handling and braking. I run Pilot Sports in summer and stock in winter. Are you running stock wheels? If you go aftermarket, then go with a very light 18 like Volk CE28N or TE37, 16lbs each @ 18X8.5. If you are running stock 17's then check options @ 225-50 and 235-50. Your tire contact patch is all that keeps your 3400lb plus car on the road. Get rid of that heavy stereo. Lighter weight is a huge factor to better handling. My early 03 sedan has factory weight of 3368. After mods 3288. Lighter weight equals better power to weight ratio. Hope some of this is helpful

 

I'll agree on the tires. Wide Ovals are NOT suitable for any kind of track use. They're good cheap tires with reasonably good everyday / spirited driving ability, but if you go near the track with these you'll be sliding around a lot. Look to get the Eagle F1-GSD3's instead for track use, or 'something else'. The ovals are not for track.

The Tein's are progressive springs and for tracking (hell for anything, IMO) you'll want linear springs. If I recall the "softer" end of the Teins are actually softer than the stock sport springs, and the "harder" end aren't much stiffer than the stock sports.

Look to get a full set of 350Z stock shocks and springs, they're not gonna cost you much at all. performance nissan has 'em and they're pretty inexpensive.

 

I almost went with the Z setup but instead choose D-Specs and 350Z H-Techs. Little more expensive, but you can't beat the adjustability from street to track and back. 350Z setup is better choice though for what you want to do.

 

Your total budget based on your post is $1020.

In my opinion, a wiser choice would be:

1) keep the stock springs (The ones you want are progressive, not linear. Lowering your car will put stress on your factory shocks. Lowering will change your alignment which means at minimum you will have to pay for another alignment and at worst spend more money on camber correction--alot more.) $0

2) Buy an adjustable REAR only sway bar from 350evo as you really don't need to swap out the front. (I'm guessing this is $180)

3) The brake pads and fluid are OK for this one use, but you are going to still have brake fading because your rotors are not slotted or drilled. If you have less than 36K miles, I would just get new brakes/rotors under the Infiniti warranty for free. $0

4) I would pour my money into tires. With $840 left, you can get the F1-GSD's and pay for the mounting and balancing.

Note that if #3 is not available for free, I suggest ditching the sway bar and putting the money into full pads, turning the rotors, new fluid, and SS brake lines. Brakes and tires are THE most important safety and performance feature period.

 

1) This appears to be the only track date I have planned for my car, I don't know if and when there will be a next time. If I got the Hawk HP-Plus for the track, should I just keep them for track, or once I put them on can I just keep them on for street use also. I plan on just getting one pair for the fronts since they see the most use, am I correct in this assumption?

2) I don't see myself doing a full brake change just yet, perhaps if there's another track date maybe, but I can't justify the cost for the rotors, brake lines, and labor to do all of that.

3) I guess I was just reading the reviews of those Firestones, I just searched on Tirerack for some 235/50r17's I think, those were highly rated. I'll search some more and look at some of those Goodyear's that were mentioned. Also, if I keep them on, I've heard that I can lose as much as 50% of the tread in one day. Should I take them off after I'm done and put the stock turanzas back on, or would it be ok if I just left them on until they run out of tread.

4) For the weight, I was planning on running with the system in, but since I'm doing all these mods, I might as well make the most of it. I plan on taking out the sub and backseat (even though it doesn't weigh much). I plan on keeping the spare, simply because the drive is an hour and a half away from me and it'll be priceless if I get a flat *knocks on wood*

Thanks for for the advice!

-Mark

 

1) So these Eagle F1-GSD3's...they're great for track use, how are they for regular driving? I really don't want to spend a LOT of money just for TRACK tires. I know Ill have the Turanzas still, but I'd prefer to spend $700+ on tires that I can use both on track and street.

2) How is the ride for the 350Z shocks and springs? I really don't want it to be super rough.

Thanks for the advice, I'll probably ditch the Tein idea and just get the 350Z stuff.

-Mark

 

I wouldnt totally say my limit is capped at $1020, I would prefer staying around there, but if what I'm looking for extends beyond that, I'm willing to pay for it.

1) Track usage isn't the only reason I wanted the springs, I wanted to lower my car anyways to enhance the look and handling (lower center of gravity = better handling I've heard) How do you feel about the 350Z setup of shocks and springs? My priorities are handling and ride (can't be SUPER stiff for street use).

2) I've actually contemplated this, I've heard that the front bar is very good, I'll look into this. The reason I wanted the Stillens is because they seemed better as a package deal. The collars were already built-in and I didn't need new bushings. I'll research on the 350evo's, do you know if they need anything special like new bushings and stuff?

3) Since I'm at 76k miles, no new brakes for me. How bad will the brake fade be? The runs are 25 minutes long with a 30 minute break in between (between groups). Is there anyway I can cool them down faster between runs? I've heard of brake ducting (no clue what that is). I'd prefer to just change the brakes PRIOR to the event because I'm not mechanically inclined and couldn't change them on the fly. I also want to be able to keep them on after the event, I would hate to buy all these new things like tires and brakes only to have them sitting in my garage afterwards.

I also plan on buying just one pair for the front brakes, is this not a good idea? Right now I think buying new rotors and lines are out of the question, but maybe I'll change my mind before the event.

4) So far, the F1-GSD's seem to be the choice for a track tire. Where can I find these tires? But would it be fine if I drove around with these as everyday tires? Or is the ride loud and harsh? I want to be able to use the these tires for both track and street use, if this isn't adviseable, are there any tires that fit my criteria?

Thanks for the all the help, I appreciate it.

-Mark

 

leave the backseat in, both pieces weigh about 10 pounds added together... just a waste of time IMO

 

You will not be happy just installing springs. The 350z setup is a good alternative (Tein Basics like mine would be optimum but cost more) but I'm concerned about your suspension geometry and alignment issues that may arise from lowering. I lowered my car 1.5" and had to install new front a-arms and a rear camber kit. I just think that if you're on a budget, most of the money should be spent on brakes and tires.

I think the 350evo comes ready to install.

Your brake fade will be very bad due to heat. I strongly suggest you consider a factory sized complete brake kit (like mine) which includes slotted factory sized rotors, Hawk HPS pads, SS brake lines, and Motul fluid. You will be much happier, more in control, and safer.

See above.

You'll be fine.

No problem. One final thought . . . My guess is that if you go with the brake kit and tires as I recommend above you're probably going to spend around $1500 to $1600. Add the sway bar and your getting up there. From a track perspective, however, these items will add the most to your experience, control, and safety. True, the suspension mods will also yield much greater control and really plant the car on the pavement, but what's the point of doing so and going faster if you don't have the brakes and tires to match? Brake fade due to heat is no fun, especially if you're in track conditions.

Good luck.

 

1) Found several people with their OEM 350Z suspension setup (not sure if its 04+, i'll look into it) for sale around $180, I'm going to research more into it to see if people need more than just alignment. New camber kits and arms seem like a hassle to go through. Does anyone know what kind of camber/alignment issues these will cause?

2) How important are the brake lines? What if I just changed the pads and rotors? Just came across a local Nissan shop in my area and I'll see if they can hook me up with some stuff.

Oh yeah, just found this "STOP TECH - 350Z / G35 Stage 2 Brake Upgrade Non-BREMBO" for almost $600, is this what you have? Did you install these yourself? If not, how much did it cost? How big are the rotors? 13 inches?

I'm still looking up the 350evo bars, I remember reading in a thread that they stopped selling them, and I just checked their site www.350evo.com and they weren't up there. Is there any place that sells them?

-Mark

 

bump. Made some changes to the original post

 

[QUOTE]First off, whether you change anything or not, you will want the car aligned to G35 coupe specs as they are a bit more aggressive than sedan specs. Secondly, suspension geometry and alignment is something you really don't want to screw up, so I'm just saying be prepared budget wise and time wise to add camber kits and front a arms.

The SS brake lines do make a noticeable difference in pedal feel being much more direct.

Yes, this is what I have. The rotors are stock size so you will not have any clearance issues. I have the slotted version because you can turn these rotors whereas the drilled ones cannot be turned you just have to replace them. You will see a big difference in fade resistance. I think the install cost me $125.

There might be other brands who just sell the rear one. Honestly, I would not get all hung up on the springs, shocks, and bars right now.

 

Yeah, I already plan on getting the same brake kit as you, that's a given right now. I also plan on getting the F1 GS-D3. I'm basically taking all of your advice hahaha, but I'm getting the 350Z suspension too.

 

Is this your first track day ever? If so then I suggest modding the most important thing which is you, the driver. Like MiamiG35 said, don't get hung up on all the mods. You need to learn how to drive the car first in a high performance enivornment. Do a few things that'll ensure your car will last for the whole day and just enjoy yourself. A lot of track newbies think they need to mod out their car to the hilt right away. But in reality they probably would run the same lap times if they just ran stock or near stock. If this is your first time then you'll probably want to do at least two important mods so you can enjoy your entire day without having to quit early. Those are the brakes and tires. The tires are the sole point of contact between your car and the road. The Turanzas have no business at all on the track. Don't even think about using them. Your idea of the Eagle F1-GSD3 are a good choice since these are max performance summer street tires. Another good inexpensive, sticky street tire is the Kumho MX. For the brakes you'll want something that resists fade. Since the majority of the brake work is done up front you'll want to get a good semi-race pad for the front. The Hawk HP+ pads are excellent. You can use them on the street and they'll be good for autocrossing and lighter track duty. They are harsher on the rotors than the OEM pads so you'll probably want to switch them back out after the race. You'll also want to do a brake fluid that has a higher boiling point than the stock fluid. Valvoline Synthetic and Motul 5.1 come to mind, has a dry boiling point of about 500 deg., and are fairly inexpensive. The really good, expensive stuff like Motul RBF600 or ATE Super Blue has even higher boiling points but you probably won't be needing this yet at your skill level. The stock rotors should be fine. SS brake lines aren't a must right away but they will give you better pedal feel as the lines won't expand like the rubber ones. So my suggestion would be to do these two things I mentioned for your first day. Then if you decide to track more down the road, continue to add more mods as your driving skills improve and necessitates them. But most important of all, have fun!