As you know, most of the RX8 owners who live in a state that require front license plate in their vehicles simply choose not to install it. We all agree that a front license plate in the 8 simply obstruct the design aesthetics of the front end. And for those owners who lives in states that do not require the front license plate, good for them...
I don’t want to start a battle of opinions regarding the front plate. Therefore, I decided to do something about it because of the following reasons:
1) I got a fix up ticket because I didn’t have a front plate in my previous car. I didn’t wanted to go again with all the hassle in proving that you got your plate installed in which translate to a waste of my time.
2) The stock front license plate holder sit a bit high, making the front end of the 8 to look like Bugs Bunny; specially with white color plate like here in Caly-forn-ya (good job Arnold! :D)
3) Because of the previous reason, the front license plate holder rubs the top painted section of the grill. So far there is no apparent scratches but I am sure with time, dirt will collect there and eventually will scratch the paint.

1) Remove you front license plate and front license plate holder. If you haven’t installed your plate, skip this step :)

2) From the original holes, drill the pilot holes at one diamond lower than the original by using a 3/16” drill bit, 1/2 ” deep. Skip this step if you are using self-tapping screws.
Looking closely at the grill you will notice that there are several dimples in the solid area of the grill. These dimples indicates where the tech need to drill out so that will expose the back nuts to secure the holder (I think that those nuts were factory installed) I also found the dimples to aid the installation of the long Euro plates holder. Note: I am not sure if this mod will work for the Euro plates. http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/09_015_03.html

3) Using two #10, 1 1/2” long round headed screws or self-tapping screws proceed to install the plate holder at the next lower diamond. Do not over-tight! Notice that the OEM holder has these guides that sit inside of the diamonds so that you don’t have to guess if the holder is level with the vehicle. That is one of the reasons I decided to reuse the OEM holder.

4) At this point the front plate can be installed. However, this mod you loose the third attaching point because there is no more solid diamonds to tap into. Instead I decided to reinforce the holder by using two #10, 2 1/2” long round headed screws and some high-density foam as a spacer. See picture.

Now I can truly wash and wax my front bumper, and no more bunny like front end (at least not too obvious ;) )

i swear if i could pay 200-400 bucks a yr to not have a front plate
i would.i tried the tickets thing for a while i guess the cops got tired of
handing them to me and threatned to tow my car from now.
so front plate is back on.

Yeah, can't win all the time. At least there is a less ugly alternative. Notice the gap in the new position, its about half inch. So works for me.

Nice DIY, Romulus! Great job! :D

Nice .. My dealership positioned the front plate rather low already... but I still left it off. I'm going to try and find out why Vettes don't need to have front plates. At least here in So Cali, I've yet to see a vette with front plates. 5 today, and no front plates. Are they exempt?

I had ordered special number plates. These plates are a lot smaller then standard issue. I therefore asked my dealer to remove the front numberplate frame altogether and bolt the plate directly to the grill.

Works fine, and looks great...no lumpy frame. :D

skc

The Foreign plates look cool... too bad the US plates look blah. At least here in California it looks blah.

Heard you could paint the plates into the bumper of the car in other countries?

Nice .. My dealership positioned the front plate rather low already... but I still left it off. I'm going to try and find out why Vettes don't need to have front plates. At least here in So Cali, I've yet to see a vette with front plates. 5 today, and no front plates. Are they exempt?

I believe so. I don't think they even come with holes to mount them.
My best friend has had 2 vettes and a viper, none of them had front plates.
I didn't have front plates on my mr2, and from what I have heard (but then again it's up to the cop in the long run) it isn't really a problem (in California) unless you back into a space. Which I believe is illegal if you don't have front plates.
I might be mistaken, so feel free to correct me.

I just got the green plates for my state (the old plates ) which require no front plate ... if you live in mass , just find someone who has a green plate ,offer them 200 bucks or so ,and boom you don't need a front plate

I doubt anyone cares ;). I spoke with my best friend about the vette plates, he said there is an adapter that snaps in that has the mounting screws. The viper didn't have one because it needs all of the cooling it can get.

Heard you could paint the plates into the bumper of the car in other countries?
Not painted, but in some countries there are stick-on front plates. I know back home in Hungary they have them. They are basically stickers that are smaller than the regular plates but have the same look.
I'm sure other countries have those too.

Nice job. After 11 months with the car and without a front plate, I got pulled last Friday for speeding. Talked my way out of it. Then, the cop walks around the front of the car and notices no front plate. I'm like, "well, he'll definitely give me the ticket now." I told him it fell off and it was in the trunk - I just needed to get the right size screws from the hardware store. He wanted to see the plate and I showed it to him. He let me go with two warnings.

I'm now taking a different route to and from work.

Nice .. My dealership positioned the front plate rather low already... but I still left it off. I'm going to try and find out why Vettes don't need to have front plates. At least here in So Cali, I've yet to see a vette with front plates. 5 today, and no front plates. Are they exempt?
they do.. here in Santa Barbara the PD will ticket even them,,,

But i do agree it seems that Vett owners get away with no front plate aloT !
:(

P.S. I mounted My front Plate with Machine screws. I did not use the Oem holder. I just Screwd through the Middel of the plate into the Grill.. Then i mounted the rx8 Frame holder to the plate. This way the plate does not stick out at all .. it lays down with the Grill .

Hi,

As an alternative, I put my plate right in front of the rotary accent.
I used 2 angle brakets, and 2 ABS (plastic) bars, crossed together to hold the plate.
The whole thing got screwed together with 8 5mm bolts.
The hardest part was to cut into the plastic bars, so that they fit all right. ;)

Front Plate fixation (http://www.deval.be/Thierry/RX-8/RX-8-Pages/Image12.html)

that blocks alot of Incomming Air down there :(

that blocks alot of Incomming Air down there :(
Not really, it's >2" ahead of the air opening, and air flows around it.
Nobody that tried that kind of placement did experience any extra heating.
I think that before it becomes a real obstacle, you would have to drive really past the limits. And if you do run track, you can easily remove the plate, by unscrewing the 2 bracket bolts. ;)

well yes.. reallly.. the airodynamics are designed to force massive airflow into the intake witch is on both sides of the Rotery accent. YOu plate will deflect some air.. I am sure its not enough to make a reall big diff.. but i just want you to be aware..

:)

The Foreign plates look cool... too bad the US plates look blah. At least here in California it looks blah.

Heard you could paint the plates into the bumper of the car in other countries?


yeah in india u are allowed to paint ur plate on ur bumper.
i was thinkin of getting the european type plate. i dunno what the rules on it are though

they do.. here in Santa Barbara the PD will ticket even them,,,

But i do agree it seems that Vett owners get away with no front plate aloT !
:(

and american pos muscle car can get away w/ it because most cops are uneducated jap car hating rednecks.

Nobody that tried that kind of placement did experience any extra heating.
I think that before it becomes a real obstacle, you would have to drive really past the limits. And if you do run track, you can easily remove the plate, by unscrewing the 2 bracket bolts. ;)

Last week i have placed my plate on that position. I DID experience extra heating, mostly on freeway on high speeds, high revs. There wuz also another problem, mesured outside temperature signal wuz 10 'C more than it really is. Today i will put the plates back or take them off completely.

ps. also, europe size plates are bigger than US so it is bigger problem here in europe

and american pos muscle car can get away w/ it because most cops are uneducated jap car hating rednecks.

My .02, most people who own "pos"(as you call them) muscle cars arent out doing the stupid crap that most people in jap cars are doing. i.e.- street racing, putting illegal stuff on their car. Not saying that you do the stupid shit to0, just an observation. Thats just from my observation here, might be different elsewhere.

I will agree with ya on the uneducated redneck part though! :D

corvettes have that plastic piece that says "corvette" in the front bumper, but it's removeable and underdeath is the license plate bracket. my friend's dad's camaro just has that chevy bowtie thing in the front bumper and no brackets, and the cop still made him put the plate on. i have this old bracket for my FD but i don't want to put it on!

took mine off when i got the car...got my first speeding ticket 2 days ago and the cop walked to the front of the car looked down then walked back and wrote my ticket. never said a word? but 2 years ago in my Ford Ranger i made a legal u-turn in front of a cop and the he pulled me over for not having front plates...sucks to cause i had it in the car but i had a warrant out and ended up going to jail. oh well, live and learn.

Doh !

If you are lucky enough, you can get away with. But for me, I rather avoid the hazzle.

same here.. thats Why i just try not to fight the law.. at least thet one. I dont need cops looking any more closely thatn they do now.

Added Tip: If you use the original DIY procedure, you can secure the third (lowest) point of the plate holder throught the grill with a bolt. Use large washer and nut to secure it behing the grill.

$4 license plate bracket from Pep Boys. Uses the original mounting points. The plate's also creased a little to cant the bottom inward and it's on the dealer's plate frame mounted behind the plate to hold the bottom.

looking good :) specially with a yellow rotary accent

A plate holder is available that allows to mount the plate in the lowest possible position about 7" above the road surface, instead of on the cooler grill.
The holder is made from ABS plastics and consists of two parts. One is put behind where the front rotary accent can be placed and is screwed together with the other part attached from the front. No drilling is required, no hurting of any part of the RX-8. Any kind of plate can be fixed on this holder with two screws.

The holder can be seen here:
http://www.ctd-germany.com/shops/rx8/shop_n/index.php (http://www.ctd-germany.com/shops/rx8/shop_n/index.php)
(Click on "Exterior" and find the Licence Plate Holder!)

See the attached pic to get an impression!

That's neat but:
- it blocks quite a bit of the airflow going to the radiator
- not sure how well it would work with the taller license plates like the ones in the USA
- covers the rotary accent

I did a similar mounting as G-ReX above - 1) due to wanting to mitigate the buck-toothed look and 2) I was beginning to get some chaffing of my paint from the OEM plate holder flexing (front nose above the upper right-hand plate mounting screw).

I too found my mounting plate at PepBoys, although I think mine is a different style that G-ReX's. PepBoys' SKU number for the mounting plate I used is 79150, manufactured by Cruiser Accessories. The price was $7.00. The mounting plate is ABS plastic and the mounting slots allow for the use of the original mounting bolts built into the grill. The plate's mounting frame does not touch any painted body part.

I've attached photos to show the mounting and final look.

P.S. I mounted My front Plate with Machine screws. I did not use the Oem holder. I just Screwd through the Middel of the plate into the Grill.. Then i mounted the rx8 Frame holder to the plate. This way the plate does not stick out at all .. it lays down with the Grill .


That's not a bad solution, Thew. But I have an idea that might help reduce the plate's visibility further.

Ever see those plastic covers sold to keep your plates nice and clean? They're sort of like this:

http://amos.shop.com/amos/cc/main/catalog/pcd/5743708/prd/8160639/ccsyn/260/_x_/JC-Whitney---Automotive-Smoke-Tinted-Eurostyle-License-Plate-Cover

Anyway, go for the darkest tint you can. I've seen some really dark tints in auto supply stores, and that should help let the plate blend in a bit visually with the black grille, and make it less obvious.

No plate tinty covers allowed in TX.

I first mounted my plate in the lower rad opening and it took over a year before I got a ticket (the police were on a blitz on modified cars). I tried mounting real low like RX_nbg but it kept hitting the ground. I made a new bracket to keep it low but not into the grill. You can see it in my avatar or in the photo here.

Not really, it's >2" ahead of the air opening, and air flows around it.
Nobody that tried that kind of placement did experience any extra heating.
I think that before it becomes a real obstacle, you would have to drive really past the limits. And if you do run track, you can easily remove the plate, by unscrewing the 2 bracket bolts. ;)


Hi Tertou,
I have also removed the front plate from the grill and placed it down below and atatched in the same way using L brackets. It looks much better and does not cause any heating problems with normal day to day driving.

or you could do this mod, grab front plate and stick inside cabin on passenger side windshield, most cops won't bother, but if the occasional NAZI chp (california highway patrol) stops you, just argue that your holder broke and that your plate is visible anyways, worked for me, and had the satisfaction of giving the cop a smug smile as the judge said "dismissed"

I got 1-2 miles per gallon more when I removed my plate. :D:

But I have the RB ram air duct where the license plate normally blocks 60% of it. :dunno:

:)

:icon_tup:

on the legality of front plates, check your legislation. It often has loopholes, in my state in Australia we have a little known rule that effectively says "you must have a front plate unless your vehicle can't have them mounted, you must have a rear plate no exceptions".

Nice!

Hello all,

Bought myself an RX-8 a couple of days ago and the front plate blew off on the way home :( I'm in the UK so front plates are a legal requirement. The plate took the mount with it, so while I'm waiting for my dealer to get the mount kit in I've built my own holder. I think it looks pretty good. Didn't need any drilling or damage to the bumper either :)

I like the original DIY in this thread. Really easy to do. I just used two self-tapping screws that were the same size as the original machine screws. Nothing on the bottom. Been holding fine for two years now.

As far as looks go...just get yourself a plate that says something your car will approve of. See attached.

Ken

My 8 didn't even COME with a front plate... only a rear one. Never got hasseled for it though thank god. *knock on wood*

Also, the 8 just doesn't look right with a front plate.