at least on the golf, the plate is using the tow took instead of drilling holes on the bumper.

For the subaru it makes less sense since it comes from the factory with holes already on the bumper from the factory :screwy:

 

For the subaru it makes less sense since it comes from the factory with holes already on the bumper from the factory :screwy:

Those factory holes are spaced for Japanese plates, they don't work with US plates. For US plates you have to drill 2 holes.

 

like this?

 

 

Because they want to be as cool as Alfa Romeo

or maybe because they think it messes up their aero .

 

'cause I wanted to. I don't want to run a plate at all, as it looks like a big buck tooth on the front. Don't want it up covering the upper grille, nor do I want it covering the lower grille. No holes in the bumper face, so I used a custom bracket and mounted it out of the way.

It's a bit jaunty, and playfully non-conforming, while still being legal (blech!)

 

I could understand if the point was to just look unique, but I don't see how anyone can really believe it looks better!

It looks better because the front bumper isn't drilled with holes. If a car has to have a front plate, why ruin the front bumper by drilling it for a plate. The tow hook mounts are better for that reason. I could care less if it's off center, I do care about ruining an undrilled front bumper though. We have a vinyl guy that will make a front plate to stick onto the bumper, but we still aren't sure if a vinyl plate is legal in the eyes of the law. I'd be very certain it isn't. We do have a few customers that have them and I'm interested in what would happen if they got pulled over.

 

If the holes are covered by a plate they aren't visible!

The tradeoff to me is clearly worth it. With the drilled bumper and normal center mounted plate you have a plate that doesn't stand out to anybody and just looks normal. The offset plate leaves the precious bumper undrilled but sticks out like a sore thumb

 

scene points

 

For some cars and their grille openings, a center mounted license plate will restrict air flow to the radiator, which will cause the engine to run hotter, which decreases performance.

 

Sounds like the Oregonians trying to use what seems like "common" sense to state why pumping their own gas is a bad thing. In reality almost none of what they claim will ever happen and if it does, it will be a 1 in a million occurrence and not even be that big of an impact. Similar to the theory that a front plate will grossly affect anything and also that the car MFGs didn't think to test how the cars ran with and without a front plate, since nearly 30 states require them in the USA.

 

I looked into getting a bracket mount for my front plate on the GLI but I think they wanted 30-$50 and I was cheap and didn't care that much. My front plate sits in my trunk.

 

The other reasoning of an offset plate is not to impede the air flow (p/s cooler, condenser, fmic, radiator). Primarily the fmic as an addition to the oem system, I'd be unable to run center plates.

Edit: Ha..just posted as I was typing too.

 

Y'all are complaining too much. Great majority of countries in the world+states in the US require front plate, people just mount it and get on with their life. Why would 2 small holes drop a value of a GT3 RS? There's other things I would be worried about, not two small holes that make sense because they plate was mounted there.

 

Y'all are complaining too much. Great majority of countries in the world+states in the US require front plate, people just mount it and get on with their life. Why would 2 small holes drop a value of a GT3 RS? There's other things I would be worried about, not two small holes that make sense because they plate was mounted there.

Haha you are clearly someone who has never dealt with a GT3 customer, let alone one here in America who lives in a state that doesn't enforce the front plate rule. It absolutely matters to them. I watch GT3 owners who babysit the car while we are working on it in the shop. They will even spend the time while it's on the lift to detail the fender liners and the insides of the wheels. People in this country definitely care about the car having two small holes in the front bumper.

 

I agree an offset plate looks stupid and sticks out way more than a normal plate, but if it means not drilling the bumper, I'm all for it.

I live in a 2 plate state where every dealer drills out everything, so if you buy off a lot you don't get a choice. When I order new cars, I make sure they don't drill the bumper. Then what I'll do is buy a no-drill bracket of some sort, mount the plate to it, and throw it in the trunk never to see the light of day unless I get pulled over, then I play dumb and say "oh that's right, I took it off to wash the car and it's actually in the trunk, forgot to put it back on, see I have this neat special no-drill bracket I bought just for this car". I've been pulled over once for no front plate and that worked like a charm.

However a front plate isn't the end of the world like on a VW where VW provides a proper bracket that is molded to fit the bumper for a nice clean install. When the plate is literally just drilled into the bumper with no bracket, ewww

 

I agree an offset plate looks stupid and sticks out way more than a normal plate, but if it means not drilling the bumper, I'm all for it.

This.:thumbup:

 

As a non-front plate state car enthusiast, a non-drilled bumper is a huge bonus, people actually look for that.

In addition, people are 100% overlooking the damage the front plate does in many cases, that's visiable once it's permently removed.

All the scoring, rubbing & scuffing of the paint...not alone the plastic that's gouged out and requires filler and a respray.

 

My Evo 8 came with the plate off to the side stock. I assume it was because of the front mount intercooler...

 

On my Miata I use an offset plate mount. The OEM mount has the tendency to create large dimples in the bumper even though the OEM plate mount isn't drilled into the bumper. I like to remove the plate for car shows and when traveling out of state.

Dimples:

I didn't want to drill holes in the Golf R's bumper. Simple as that. I'm going to avoid putting holes in my brand new car. I typically don't like irreversible modifications and drilling 4 large holes would count as that.


I used a custom 3D printed plate frame from a fellow Vortexer. It stays out of the way of the AC condenser/radiator and the FMIC.

 

I thought this thread was about Pontiac Phoenix

 

Why go offset, when you can go removeable:

 

I buy cars out of state just so I won't ever have holes in the front bumper. Front plate lives in the trunk. /rebelwithhardlyacause

 

It's the cool thing to do, plus I ain't drilling holes in my bumper hell nah

 

Mount your front plate through the lower grille with these, remove as needed with never a sign the plate was there at all:

 

That's exactly how I mounted mine

 

When I moved from Indiana (no front plate required and where I bought my car) back to Virginia (2 plate state), I used a rho plate to mount the front plate. I originally had the plate zip tied to the lower grille, but I didn't want to have the plate rubbing and damaging the plastic. I didn't want to drill holes in the bumper either, so this was a reasonable solution to me. I have had a few co workers ask me about, and I'm sure people see my car and think I'm some scenster, but it works good enough for me, without looking too terrible.

This is a Mazda6, but mine's in a similar location:

 

Wait, but the Mazda has plate holes and an indentation in the bumper for the plate... It looks ridiculous exposing the holes and indentation, and putting the plate elsewhere

 

"Next across the block, rumour has it this car has had the front bumper replaced and painted to repair the license plate holes."

"Ohhhh that's gotta hurt the value on the bids for this otherwise numbers matching car Rick."

 

I'd prefer a hole-less center mount, but alas, nobody has mass produced such a design yet, if i'm correct.

Off-center looks ok though, its slightly growing on me.

 

I personally don’t run a plate, haven’t in like 15+ years... refuse to drill holes in my bumpers.. only received 2 tickets for it in that time... I guess the $120 ticket every 6-7 years is worth the price of playing the game.... the last one I got, I got pulled for speeding, but the fine for no front plate was greater... so that’s what I got and he dropped the speeding charge, so no points on the liscense... :laugh:



I’ve heard of people gluing rare earth magnets to the inside of the bumper cover, and then the same on the back of the plate with something like felt covering them as to not mar the paint... supposedly works really well, and is easily removable for shows,etc.

 

This thread needs more Sunbird

 

We're not in England or Japan so put your offset front plates on the drivers side you asses.

 

I live in California, we require a front plate and if I go to sell my car and can't find a buyer in California to buy it, I'm pretty much ****ed whether my front bumper has holes in it or not.

For those who don't run front plates in states that require it, I don't get that either. Getting pulled over for not having a front plate does not seem worth whatever perceived "cool" factor there is.

 

For those who don't run front plates in states that require it, I don't get that either. Getting pulled over for not having a front plate does not seem worth whatever perceived "cool" factor there is.

Yep. I used to not run a front plate cause I thought it was cool, until I got pulled over for not having a front plate and walked away with a state ref ticket.