Stop the Front Plate Insanity

01 Nov 2016

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

I just refuse to move to a place that requires a front plate.

So 99,5% of the world?

Over here in California its a law that you “have” to have a front plate. Most cops wont give you a ticket on it if your smart. Its for camera lights btw or if your speeding and the cops facing you. There are many reasons why ots required wether us as enthusiasts like it or not. My way of dealing with it is i have my OEM braket at home if i get a fixit ticket ill put it back on and get it written off then take it back of. I commuted for a year near enough 180 miles a day. I noticed an increase in fuel economy. Im planning on getting a front tow hook plate mount for daily driving the swapping to an actual tow hook on the track (i have the screw in style so not tools will be needed). Most muscle or super cars dont run front plates here. Also for those of you saying the car was designed for a front plate not 100% true i mean if your driving a BMW it was designed for the euro styled plates if your driving an American it was for usa plates you can tell certain designs are made for certain cars. I wont put a sticker style one on my paint if we had the option due to paint fade. The amout of cooling lose from re locating your plate is negligible do you drive at redline 24/7 in 100+ degree weather? If so then yeah dont do it but if you drive like a “normal peeps in normal temps” then your fine

Tow hook license plate mounts aren’t a good idea. The bumper is made to absorb impacts, save the frame of the car and not transfer the force to the driver. A license plate mount screwed into the tow hook is basically a solid straight shot into the frame, meaning any impact is tweaking the frame (and more easily totaling your car), sending the jolt to the rest of the car, and breaking some shins if you happen to hit a person.

Sitting here in the Philippines where most newly released cars don’t even have a plate, instead, cars have paper/cardboard plates that show the conduction number. Why? because all license plates are stuck on container vans locked away by the customs.

Oh and if you somehow don’t have a plate, just create an imaginary plate number and write it on a cardboard or something then add the following word “Lost Plate” and the police won’t even give a damn about you unless you ride those below 200cc scooters/motorcycles. Long story short, if you have a car and just casually driving around town not doing violating stuff, even if you don’t have a license yet then you’re fine, but if you are driving a motorcycle, prepare to stop at every police checkpoint/inspection zones even if you have all the papers and legal stuff

That’s why Europe cars have bumpers with special mounts for number plates… murica couldn’t think of that, couldn’t they…?!

He never said they didn’t, They do, in the middle. When he’s talking about drilling your bumper he means off to the side so the plate wouldn’t be blocking the air dam in front of the radiator.

You show me the tow hook mount on my Charger and I’ll be happy to put it there. For now, though, I’ve mounted it in the same location as the OEM plate holder, but with an angled bracket that screws into a horizontal surface, so as to avoid the holes in the front of the bumper. I can adjust it, too, both the angle and vertical position. So, I guess I could angle it to feed more air, faster, into the radiator…?

So what does the picture of a plate over an area of solid body work have to do with the article? Wouldn’t that be the very thing that you’re arguing for?