Baadnewsburr

iTrader: (3)

What kind of tires did you have? Around here most guys seems to be on R Comps even if they're driving in.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

I don't mean to be licking the stripes off your candy, I just didn't want the uninitiated to think the G37 is the sex on a race track. It isn't.

A great driver behind the wheel of a mediocre car is just as fast as a mediocre driver at the wheel of a great car. Or words to that effect.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Ok gotcha, that makes more sense. I had been eyeing up the 2pc. rotors on sale at Z1 motorsports for a while, but I wanted to make sure this car was at least decent on the track. Maybe down the road I might get those if I do a bunch more track days.

Bridgestone RE-71R. Very sticky street tires, but not slicks for my daily driver.

I totally agree. I don't think anyone is going to set any lap records in a G37, but it is much better on track than I think most people would expect out of a heavy 4dr. sedan.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

I have to admit I sometimes try to drive my G like it's my Miata.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

I was fixin' to ask if you were at Road America but then I reread your posts. What track, Blackhawk?

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

USAIR

Yeah I was trying to drive my G like my old Evo & Subarus for a minute. It was pretty close to the Evo lap times, but this track is so short and technical that AWD is usually a pretty distinct advantage.

Although, I really liked the fact that the G is much easier on tires than my old AWD cars. Mainly because the AWD cars understeer and you have to wring their necks around corners to get decent lap times there.

I am going to try to make it to RA for a simple touring event just to make sure the engine does not get too hot like it did there with my 370Z.

The oil cooler worked great at USAIR which is usually the one track I see lots of people overheat their tires, brakes, engine, etc.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

I'm too chicken to track the G. That's why I have a Miata. And a race car. At least, when we could keep oil in it. We blew two engines in four races. The number 3 rod bearing makes it clear in no uncertain terms that it must have oil at all times. Otherwise, it takes its ball and goes home, usually through the side of the block. The second failure was spectacular; the sudden additional vent in the block blew oil on the header to create a fireball right at the start/finish line in front of God and everyone. The guy driving impressed the officials at his alacrity in exiting the vehicle.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Is that an early 90's SE-R? Man those are great cars and total sleepers for the time period. Sorry to hear about the rod bearing. That sucks! Hopefully, the driver was ok after the motor decided to turn into a 4th of July fireworks display.

No need to track your G if you have 2 other cars that are lighter and more nimble- well when they stay in one piece anyway.

I tried having a dedicated race car and a daily driver once. It didn't work. Well, eventually my bank account didn't work. Since then, my goal is always to have one car that is like a swiss army knife- good at many different things. I cannot turn it into a full-on race car, nor would I want to, but it works well for surprising people at lapping days.

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

That's a '91 we bought from the original in 2010. I have a '94 patiently awaiting a roll cage.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Can you still find clean examples of these anywhere? I was just thinking last week that would make a perfect cheap race car. No wait, don't tempt me. Forget I even mentioned it. Ok now that I know they have rod bearing issues I can convince myself not to get one. Phew, that was close!

slartibartfast

iTrader: (7)

The SR20 only holds four liters of oil. Start running that puppy up to its 7500 rpm redline a lot and oil sneaks past the rings and PCV. One LeMons SE-R team ran their PCV line to a one gallon milk jug strapped to the passenger B pillar. They didn't empty it every oil check but they would end nearly filling it before day's end. Our second failure was a surprise. The previous race that motor hardly used a drop of oil so we got complacent and didn't check the level every driver change (about hourly). Silly us.

As for clean examples, I don't know. I haven't kept in touch with the Sentra crowd since 2008 or so. The B13 is a rare sight these days. Even B14s are rare. The car we bought had been total by the owner's insurance after a hail storm. Not that it couldn't be repaired, his insurance didn't want to spend money on a fifteen year old car. Otherwise, it was in fine, if high-mileage, condition.

RadioFlyer

iTrader: (1)

I agree that G37's are surprisingly good on track! When I was registering, people were asking me if it was FWD... Then I lapped them on track. People just don't know about these cars, and it really surprises some of them. Of course, I'm supercharged, so I had a little more power than some of the cars out there. But in the advanced group, you don't know what's going to be fast! I still have my track car, but wanted to take my daily driver G as a shakedown. It did everything well! As you said, it's surprisingly good on a track despite it's weight and size.

Splitter

iTrader: (1)

I'm in the market for some tyres to do the same as you in my Coupe. How are you finding the wear? I was leaning towards perhaps purchasing some RE-11s to help with the longevity a little bit. The last thing I really want to do in my daily is go through a set of tyres a month.

Also, how are the brakes holding up besides the new colour? I have stainless lines and Carbotech XP10/8 combo, but eyeing up some custom cooling ducts to help. I will be on track in Austin in August (Expecting 100 degrees and 100% humidity) and most certainly want to drive the car home again without having to sacrifice and baby it. No point being on track if you're not flogging it

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

I agree that most of the B13's are gone. Most of them probably have died a slow rusty death. You can still find a few B14's and some of them even have the package with baby Brembos and a limited slip diff. Fun car and not too expensive, but I should know better than to buy another car.


I had a hunch it would be ok since it uses the same brakes, suspension, engine, trans, and chassis as the 370Z, but didn't realize it would be almost as quick as my Evo. As Colin McRae used to say, "straight lines are for fast cars, corners are for fast drivers." That sure rang true on Sunday for me.

Funny you should ask about those 2 tires as my Evo had RE-11's on them. From what I understand, the RE-71R is the replacement for the RE-11. They have the same treadwear rating and nearly the identical tread depth so wear should be similar. Just don't be surprised if you measure the tread depth on the RE-71R's expecting the listed 8/32's and you only come up with 7/32's.

I was told that the RE-71R is more advanced and has better grip. I would say it has slightly more grip than the RE-11, but both tires are great and break away predictably on the track. I am just not sure about grip in the rain yet with the RE-71R's. The G37S is definitely easier on tires than my AWD cars. If you do 99% street and live in an area with lots of rain, I would probably get the RE-11's. If you do a fair amount of track days and want to get the best lap times, I would go RE-71R and don't look back.

My brakes held up great. Make sure you are running a high temp fluid- I run Motul RBF600 and have never cooked the fluid. I was running Hawk DTC-60's and the pads held up well. Actually better than on the Evo, maybe because it was a lot cooler, but probably because the G37S has better weight distribution. The track I was at is notorious for cooking brakes and I had no issues. I may go to 2pc. rotors up front eventually. Let me know what you come up with for brake ducting. This is the 1st car I have tracked without brake ducts and it held up pretty well.

Splitter

iTrader: (1)

The RE050A's on the car at the moment at 140 treadwear and they are MILES harder than the RE-71R's I had on my miata. I felt the RE-71R's were more like an R-comp in disguse and I guess my concern was that the extra weight on a relatively small tyre (I will be keeping stock rims, so 245 front and 265 rear) would just wear away the soft tyre too quickly.

I also don't want to over tyre the car, the stock suspension probably won't like it too much and will reduce enjoyment rather than add, plus it's a daily and I'm in Houston (I never knew what rain was until I moved here!) so I will go with your advice on the RE-11s then, sounds like what I'm looking for. Thanks!