Until last summer I hadn't autocrossed since 1983. I still took 2nd in class and 2nd fastest time of the day but that was in my 125 shifter.

 

It was fun to get back out there.

 

Nice pic. Hey, get that license plate off before you overheat!

 

What?

 

The Best Motoring Heat Race. Someone might have posted it in this forum at some point.

 

Kidding, sort of... it's no biggie for autocross. But on a track weekend, where you're generating much more heat, it's better to remove it. Someone told me it made a noticeable difference on their coolant temp gauge. And with as much heat as our motors generate, we need all the cooling help we can get.

 

Since there is a big plastic plate behind it, how can it make a difference???

 

Yeah the plate covers about a 1/2" of open area, the rest of it is just solid anyway. Only someone that has not looked behind the plate would think it makes a difference.

 

Do you mean the license plate bracket? Take that off too, of course. It makes a difference in the amount of air getting to the radiator.

Look again.

Or someone who has removed the plate and seen the difference on their coolant temp gauge. Engine cooling is a very different matter for a 30-minute track run than for a 60-second autocross run.

 

I have no plate on my car so I have a clear view of the solid plastic that fills half the grill work.

Looks like this:

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...chmentid=77699

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...chmentid=77697

 

Ah good, I was looking for a decent pic like that first one. As you can see, the bottom half of that grill is open, and passes air through to the radiator. If the license plate is in place, it covers about the center 1/3 of that opening. That's a lot of air flow to block when you're spending the better part of 30 minutes at full throttle, with as hot as our engines get.

 

I don't think so.... The bracket puts the plate forward and up, covers part of the nose of the car. I still say it only covers about a 1/2" of the opening. Also the plate is not as wide as the grill.

Anyone got a pic of one on the car... I am to lazy to dig mine out.

 

here's a pic of the license plate on the front of the car.

 

Thanks.. I think we need a ground level close up to see how much it blocks.

 

OK had to dig the dumb thing out... I come up with a loss of area of 1"X12". Well under 1/3 of the grill. Also keep in mind the opening under the grill is very large and most of your air will come in there anyway.

Might make a tiny difference in a track day. However you should just take the thing off because it uglys up the car.

 

It blocks enough to make a noticeable difference on a coolant temp gauge during a track weekend. (I can't remember exactly what the difference was, but somewhere along the lines of 10-20 Deg F.) I agree that measuring the actual area that is blocked might be an interesting exercise, but it's the actual difference in temperature that counts.

 

And with that I violently agree.