Stop the Front Plate Insanity
Remember how excited we all got when the Camaro Z/28 was released with the super snazzy “Flowtie”? The engineers that fought physics in order to make a nearly two ton metal brick do unbelievable things, non-muscle things, like turning… and stopping.
Remember how excited we all got when the Camaro Z/28 was released with the super snazzy “Flowtie”? The engineers that fought physics in order to make a nearly two ton metal brick do unbelievable things, non-muscle things, like turning… and stopping. This was a car that had race everything, right down to the Chevrolet logo affixed to the front grill, and it was magnificent.
Apparently by just hollowing out the logo, they increased the airflow to the radiator by a staggering 3 cubic meters per minute helping the car lower oil temperatures by 2 degrees… TWO FREAKING DEGREES. Okay maybe it doesn’t sound that impressive, but we still knew it was cool (cool… get it?).
So why the hell is it that people strap their front mount licence plates in a way that covers the radiators of their cars? I get it, I do, no one wants to drill holes in their sexy bumper because the government officials demand that cops can check your plate from the front.
How big is the flowtie? I don’t own a Chevy so let’s guess and call it about 15 square inches of furious air blocking surface area. I do have a license plate so I measured that and it was about 66 square inches. That means the plate is blocking 4.4 times the amount of air as a flowtie.
Let’s keep this awesome grade six math going here! We know that hollowing the logo increased airflow by 3 cubic meters per minute so: 3 x 4.4 for the much larger plate = 13.2 cubic meters per minute! That’s a lot of air you’re preventing from getting to your radiator, as a result you’re raising your oil temperature by: 2 degrees x 4.4 for the increased size of the plate = 8.8 degrees of imperial temperature measurement units! Does it work like that? No, probably not, but I failed math and you’re not paying to read this so this is what you get.
Here’s the thing, I get why you do it. I get that you don’t want to damage your baby. But the truth is you’re putting more strain on your cooling system and therefore potentially damaging your engine over time. It’s not worth it. If only… if only… there was another option that would look good, while leaving your bumper un-molested AND would allow the air to flow through as unimpeded as a college freshman streaker.
Oh, right! There is! For almost every car on the market you can get a tow hook mount. Drive something without a tow hook on the front? First of all, why? That’s stupid, what do you do if you actually need a tow? Second, maybe you could go with a nice solid 3M removable adhesive.
There are options here people. Friends don’t let friends cook their engines in the name of form besting function.
Comments
‘Does it work like that? No probably not, but i failed math and youre not paying to read this”
Atleast youre honest dude XD
Disclaimer: I’m an electrical engineer, therefore, aerodynamics is black magic to me.
When he went full math I thought to myself, that’s probably not how it works… And then he says the same :D
Hey, why lie right? ;)
Matt Robinson
somebody already addressed that problem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jADLOe8HAi4
The next problem is that some places you have to have your plate on a fixed place on you car.
there is a big black bar going across the grill of that audi, in the UK they are mounted across that
In Dubai, you can get permission to put on a smaller sticker like plate if you want to place it on a curved body panel
Motorized plate holders
Problem solved
Yes, I get your point but more air into the Radiator, in this case “66 square inches” will increase drag on the car. Instead you could just let that air flow around the frontal area like a Tesla with that license plate 😂😂😂 and make a lot of difference when doing a long distance highway commute. Of course all of this doesn’t really matter because none of what you and I said is true and the engineers who made the car are more clever than that. Does the front license plate ruin the looks? To that a big YES!
That’s not really how it works. The turbulence from the plate can disrupt the air flow going through and also going around the car, which can actually decrease your mileage. Also, many cars are designed without the plate, so a front plate will mess with the designed aerodynamics
Pretty much every other country in the world has to have front plates, and the cars are designed with that in mind, Is it really so hard for Americans to stop whining and follow suit?
Exactly my words!
We don’t even have front plates in Pennsylvania lol
“follow suit”, why would they need to do something just because others do it? Front license plates are pretty much useless, especially due to the fact that when you look in your rear view mirror, the license plate is unreadable .
Most states have front plates Michigan isn’t one :D
Ha
If your car isn’t overheating then it’s not damaging the engine whether or not the cooling system is being strained. And I just don’t see any way that it’s straining anything anyway. Cooling systems are designed to handle extreme conditions and unless you’re working your engine hard in those conditions you’re not really straining it.
that’s true if your working your car hard enough to need to have the air blocked by a plate you should be on a track where you can just take your plate off
No front plates needed where i live yet ther are many fools who put “decorative” front plates
I just find it stupid that some states require front plates and some don’t. Some states that do are incredibly strict as to where and how you can affix your front plate, where as others allow free reign as long as it’s reasonably visible from the front end of the car (example:you can display your front plate in the corner of your windshield). Then you have wonderful states like mine that require a front plate, but allow you to purchase a plate that says “Vermont strong” to go in place of the front plate which, in my opinion, is no different than not having a front plate at all. They need to just normalize the plate rules and regs across all states. Not to mention the factory plate brackets are absolute garbage and wear through the paint on your front bumper due to vibrations no matter how tight you make them.