Hey guys... just carrying over and opening up discussion from what i saw on the "Hint at Re-Designed Front End" thread concerning the location of the license plat on the production version.

well, a long time ago (ya, like a couple of months :p) on an earlier thread i suggested that the holder SHOULD (not that i think mazda is that bright, considering what they subjected the FD to...) go in that vacant space above the brake duct and below the headlight (on one side or the other, depending on laws like what side of the road the car is driven on).

sorry, but i haven't provided a pic of the front end so that newbs can easily imagine what i mean (there've been MANY new members since i last was here!! WELCOME EVERYONE!! :D), but in the Pictures section there will obviously be plenty to look at.

What do y'all think?? good idea?? i like this solution as it not only puts a big flat surface out of the way of the car (spoiling the lines), but also increases its functionality... it's function of course is to alert police to the registered owner of the car. i know that there are some police haters out there, but you know, we kinda need 'em...

 

I like symmetry so ideally, I've have centered placement.

If I put it on the top of the grille, it looks like rabbit teeth. If I put it on the bottom, it looks like a gopher. But, if CA lets me, I'll put my license plate in the middle of the lower grill and punch it full of holes for better airflow. :p

Really, it seems a a greater crime to put a plate on the front of a car like this.

 

I'll just carry this one over then, thanks for creating a new thread, I was gonna do that last night but I had to sleep!:-

I don't think I can move... it's a bit far to go for a licence plate.... and I don't think they'll buy it if I had the car registered in the US! LOL.

I'm thinking that the E type style is the only option... but I'm not sticking anything permanent to the paintwork.

Like this, if anyone is unsure what we mean...

http://www.ian-andrew.co.uk/original...(original).jpg

 

Are you sure that one would fit there?

---jps

 

N American licence plates are all the same size, right?? i'm pretty sure it would, 'cause the brak ducts are very small, and the headlights up pretty high... but i like BlueAdepts solution: PAINT IT ON THE FRONT!! :D

 

I'm sure a sign writing company could make up a removeable self adhesive plate... I'm damned if I'm gonna have the kind of evilness that was on the front of the RX-7's

Somone somwhere should PAY for this kind of sacrilege....

http://www.mtv411.com/auto/Mazda-RX7.jpg

 

BlueAdept , you brits & euros are lucky your plates are long and skinny. Our Yankee plates are too tall and will block the front air intake enough to ruin the look. The Euro plates will probably look fine in the front.

 

Yeah, they are better, but not NEARLY small enough ... it's still gonna be a serious problem.

 

maybe if they had a euro plate holder that ran above the intake duct... maybe keeping it close to the bodywork... ??

 

Also, it's not legal for us to print our own plates. That's probably more jail time here then killing your own kids. (sorry for the crass comment)

 

Hey, that's weird... why, it's just a number right?

Here the size and colour are specified, as is the font, but people bend that often... by making smaller ones for bikes or using italic fonts etc...

I once saw one in gothic script, apparently the guy got away with it for AGES!

 

I'm going to take my chances and run around without a front plate (they are required in Ontario).
I'll pay the fine once in a while if necessary, but I WON'T ruin the front of this fine car!

 

Amen,

But I don't mind getting one done as a sign written "Stick on"... as I can get it done tastefully to match the paint or somthing.... infact on a yellow car I could get away with just sticking the numbers directly on...

Check this out:-

http://www.autoreg.net/frames.htm

 

Not sure that would fly with the police over here. It seems that most don't care/notice if you don't have a front plate (but will fine you if you are pulled over for something else just to pour salt in the wound), but with a stick-on number plate, that might attract more attention.

 

For those of us that are required to use front plates.. Be careful when you buy the car. The dealers sometimes drill screws right into the bumper, as it was in my case.. So if you are planning to go without, make sure you specify that to the dealer.

 

I sincerely hope the front of the RX-8 won't be altered for production to accomodate a license plate like the last RX-7s had. A big ugly rectangle on the nose would be a huge turn-off. I say give us a couple screw holes at the top of the center grille so we can put it there if we want to.

 

Or, even if you are planning to have one up front, make sure that they don't drill, so that you can make/get a bracket that connects from below the bumper, instead of through it. That way you won't permanently damage the car.

---jps

 

I like the trick the guys and gals over on the miata forum use. Carry around a mangled licence plate bracket with a licence plate barely hanging off it. If you get pulled over, complain to the officer that someone backed into you recently, and you've got a new bracket on order. :D

If you are going to go front-plateless, make sure you ALWAYS feed the parking meter and NEVER park illegally, because its within meter maid's power to ticket you for no front plate as well as give you a parking ticket.

 

I also have one of those.. but with two screws.. the idiots drilled another two into the bumper..
I like the Miata guys idea!

 

The best way to mount the front bracket is just like the Miata. The bracket attaches underneat the front bumper. If you don't want or need a front plate, you can remove the bracket completely leaving no visible holes in the front.
:p

 

Exactly (us Texas boys seen way too many bumpers "pierced" to install license plates).

---jps

 

I like that trick (bout the mangled licence plate) putting that regtangle also makes it less aero dynamic

 

The land of the mandatory front license plate. But I can't even remember the last car I had where I ran a front plate. Must have been the '76 Chevy Malibu Sedan I was forced to drive after wrecking my '85 IROC and before getting the '92 Miata. Aside from that car though I don't think I've ever ran a front plate. Sure I got hasseled in High School and the first couple years of college but I bet it's been 15 years since cop1 has troubled me over no front plate. BTW have you ever seen a C5 with a front plate? I don't think i have yet.