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Got my first performance award last week on a trip through some rural small towns in E
ast Texas. City limits of a sleepy little burg sneaked up on me and I was braking when the he hit me with his radar. Just didn't get slowed in time and got nailed for 51 in a 35 mph zone. I just pulled over and waited for him as soon as the turned his lights on going in the opposite direction. Had my license and insurance ready when he approached. Maybe I was just lucky, but he never walked to the front to the vehicle and saw I wasn't running a tag on the front. I've had this car 2.5 years and never been stopped for no front license plate. A front plate destroys the looks of these cars so much I actually think I would consider getting rid of it if forced to display one. As far as the ticket is concerned, looks like I'll be able to take an online course, pay the fine and keep it off my record.
I just went through this as well. I had a very nice removable front plate frame. On for driving, off for shows, etc. Then on my way to the Bash, I hit a dead raccoon, and bent the crap out if my plate, etc., because it was so low. Then yet another member in our club got a ticket for no front plate. At that point I got pissed with the license plate game, on, off, on, off, hope I dont pass cops when off, etc., and I watched a Rick Conti video on the lunacy of all these plate brackets, removable, flip up, etc, when GM provides a very nice frame that snaps in and matches grill bend perfectly, tge Aero frame. I dug in my cabinet, pulled it out, and in 5 min had it installed with no drilling. A day later A half dozen members in my club were looking at it, and said they were going to do the same. All of us were just tired of this license plate game. Would you remove your turn signals if you didnt like them? No. Why? Because turn signals are the law and so are front plates in most states. The Aero frame looks very nice, can be removed in a few minutes if wanted. I was tired of the silly license plate game, and now drive confident I wont get a ticket for something so silly. If you dont have the Aero frame, it only costs about $40. If you want to even look nicer, add a flexible urethane plate edge for $10. For those tired of the plate game, install tge Aero frame from GM!
using the aeroplate bracket you can drill to small holes thru the license plate. for #1 Phillips screw driver shank, allowing the remove in less than a minute. Also consider trimming the bracket edges off so none of the bracket shows around the license plate.
Not having a front plate gives the ossifer an easy out between perhaps giving you a speeding ticket, which is a pita to deal with for you and him, versus a missing plate and him issuing a fix it ticket. I once got pulled over for a "few" miles over the speed limit in a speed trap. The officer said she would just just give me a warning for speeding and a fix it ticket for no front plate. When I couldn't instantly find the current registration slip (it was registered) she decided to just give me a ticket for not being able to produce the paperwork. While writing it up I found the reg slip, so she signed off the ticket, and I sent it in when I got my ticket paperwork in the mail.
I've actually had the no front plate deal work out twice for me. Not all officers are asshats.
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
MO Events Coordinator
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St. Jude Donor '03 thru '25
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To consider getting rid of the car if you had to display a front license plate is a rather drastic step but it is a choice that is available. The aero plate holder offered by GM is actually a very well designed piece and looks good when mounted on the car. Plus you don’t have to worry about LEOs stopping you for not running a front plate if that is the law in your state.
In the 21st century why do we still have these archaic steel plates fastened to our vehicles for registration anyway? Most modern vehicles are squirting telemetry up to the manufacturer and third parties anyway via Onstar and other mechanisms. How hard would it be to utilize something like a toll tag for registration with a constant data stream police cars could receive? Then run software on their vehicle computers to detect expired, stolen vehicles. Some police departments spend tens of thousands of dollars to acquire license plate scanners to read the ancient metal tags we have now it looks to me like the state and the cities would save money moving to an electronic system and no one would have to have an ugly metal tag anywhere on their car. There is a business opportunity in here somewhere I’m certain.
From: I live my life by 2 rules. 1) Never share everything you know. 2)
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Originally Posted by ftrusty
In the 21st century why do we still have these archaic steel plates fastened to our vehicles for registration anyway? Most modern vehicles are squirting telemetry up to the manufacturer and third parties anyway via Onstar and other mechanisms. How hard would it be to utilize something like a toll tag for registration with a constant data stream police cars could receive? Then run software on their vehicle computers to detect expired, stolen vehicles. Some police departments spend tens of thousands of dollars to acquire license plate scanners to read the ancient metal tags we have now it looks to me like the state and the cities would save money moving to an electronic system and no one would have to have an ugly metal tag anywhere on their car. There is a business opportunity in here somewhere I’m certain.
Main reason for a front plate is to guarantee a reflective surface for LIDAR
Agree that the car looks so much better without the front plate! I had my C5 for 18 years without a front plate here in CA and never had an officer comment on it even when getting a speeding ticket. Haven't put the front plate on my C7 yet. Its my understanding that CA changed the law so that it is an automatic fine, not a fix it ticket. With the growing number of tracking cameras on patrol cars, think it is big brother ensuring that they can track everyone.
Most local law enforcement officers don't care about the front plate requirement in Texas. However, the same is not true of the state police. They will pull over for that reason and that reason alone. They pulled my wife over in her SUV for no front plate. Since we frequently drive on toll roads around DFW and those are patrolled by the state police, we have front plates. I use the aero plate holder on the C7. IT is by far the best plate holder solution the GM has offered since the C4.
Got one, an Escort Max 360 mounted on a Blendmount on the mirror. But compared to my older Escort 8500 with the blue display, the readout is not near as bright and it's certainly not as loud. I have a severe hearing loss and combined with the car's noise, it's sometimes hard to hear. I was heeding the Max360 warning, just not soon enough.
Thanks, I looked for nearly a year before I found this car used. It's heavy loaded and stickered for $79800 and saved a bundle on it by buying it with 4k on the odometer. I probably wouldn't have ordered one exactly like it before I bought it, but now that I own it, I probably would.
As KenHorse mentioned, the front plate does a very good job of reflecting laser and makes it easier to get a reading on you.
Most people don't know that it also increases the "radar signature" of your car quite a bit. I was able to do some extended testing on our-then 1998 Camaro, and could get radar readings from noticeably further away with the front plate installed vs removed. Since the Camaro body had a lot of steel, I suspect the reduced reflection on a C7 with a lot of plastic parts would be even more significant. But not enough to be invisible.
Front tag
