99 all the way

 

^^ will you quit posting your signature! Dammit, who cares about rx7s when that kind of crap is in your face BTW, I would still like to see your "collection" FWIW, I also feel that the "brick" was an add on, so-to-speak. The FDs body is like a drop of water... and that "brick" sure as hell is not part of the basic design... me thinks

 

well, then I must be ******* nuts .

I decided to keep the plate b/c for years when I used to cruise with Ihor in his silver FD and 99 spec plateless front bumper, I got sick of looking in my rearview and seeing his car smiling at me. Not very intimidating, in my opinion of course

 

Smiling, haha!

 

I don't think that the "smiling effect" is as prevelant in the darker colored cars (Black or Montego Blue), but that's just my opinion.

 

I was in your spot about a month ago. But I had to go stock 99' because its stock and I was going for a stock look. I haven't put a plate on mine yet but still looks very nice. Super glad I didn't stick with the stock 93' bumper. .
PS: In my opinion, plateless 99' just doesn't look right for some reason, Id rather go Mazdaspeed or something other then plateless 99'.

 

True, I see what you're saying here. The smiling effect is great on lighter colors! That black car up there with no plate does look good.

 

Not to be rude, but the bumper has an indentation on those vehicles. At least the vette for sure. and it comes with a cover that gives the front end a smooth flowing design for states that do not require a front plate. not many cars have a protrusion to mount the front plate. at least not high end sports cars.

I like the look both ways, however, for aero purposes, I would go without. For legality purposes, I would go with. I think it all depends.

Now that point that I see being made... without being said, is that the front end without the plate looks like it needs something. It seems to me that it is like a large canvas, waiting for a small accent. Perhaps a flying M logo? or efini badge woutl break up the monotony of the large sloped nose?

I am just trying point out why the plateless look tends to lead to a bland reaction. the plate brick breaks up a large smooth area on a car that otherwise has very purposeful lines and not a whole lot of large surfaces without some sort of curve or accent or texture.

just my .02

 

IMHO, it looks a lot better WITH the plate. I hate the plateless-99spec look. I used to think the brick was ugly and then it just started to grow on me to the point where I had to have it.

Really sorry you disagree, and apparently we are all idiots for having our own taste? If I ever buy another fd, it will definitly have the 99 spec front end w/ the front plate.

Plus, I never got pulled over for front plate anymore!--That used to be really annoying too.

 

looking at FD noses there are two considerations:

how they look

how they work.

how they look is an aesthetic question you like green i like blue. o k so most of you like a big nose w lots of intake area. i happen to like the smaller original nose w the R1 splitter. if those who have posted/voted are representative of the whole i am in the minority.

then there's how they work.

mazda worked very hard on all aspects of the FD to make as high performance a sportscar as possible and that included aero. they tried to have as small a frontal intake area as possible. less drag. ALOT less drag. what they apparently didn't know was what a thermal disaster the engine package was. (they actually needed more intake). so in 99 or thereabouts they came out w the new nose w more intake.

in a more perfect world they would have straightened out the heat issues and kept the low drag nose... put a single turbo on etc but it is not a perfect world. mazda took the easy road and changed the nose for engineering issues not asthetics.

many of us have reengineered our cars and don't have heat as an issue. i run AI alcohol injection and am trying to get my pre-turbo egts above 1200 degrees and am making over 500 hp. heat isn't an issue if you straighten out the powersystem. so i don't need to put more drag on my car. i also don't need a Hummer type nose because my intercooler (ASP large) is in the stock location. not blocking my radiator. not contributing to front weight. not sticking out to be punched in by every rock. i do run 2 oil coolers and i consider the 93 ducting to be excellent.

delighted to be part of the minority here.

howard coleman

 

Firstly, I fail to see how the presence of a liscense plate, let alone a big box to mount it on prevents the '99 nose from looking like it's "smiling". While I really don't notice the smile, I can see how the main radiator opening has a "smile" shape. However, the liscense plate on the OE model DOESN'T COVER the radiator opening shape, so I don't see how it's any different. IT'S THE SAME SHAPE. It just doesn't make any sense.

If you think the 93-95 bumper is better looking than the '99, I can totally accept that. I like the 93-95 too, but do feel that he signals became dated, and therefore dated the car. However, if you like the '99, if absolutely BAFFLES me that anyone would think the plate brick looks "more natural", "more normal", "less cheap", "less smiley".... let alone simply "better". The NATURAL shape of the nose is the shape w/out the plate brick. That's plainly obvious. Just like if you added the brick to the 93-95, the natural shape would be the way it is without it. It's an add-on.

This is backed up by the fact that virtually every vehicle on the road, and particularly the nicer ones like the brand I've mentioned, are styled w/out a liscense plate, and particularly any sort of built-in provision for a plate that interrupts the natural lines of the car. THAT'S how the "non cheap" brands do it, and "not cheap" is as not cheap does.

 

No they don't.

The C5 vette had a hole for a plate, and they gave you a plug to run instead if you didn't want to run it. You'll note that the designers made no such provision for it on the C6 model.

There's no plate box on a Ferrari 360. None on Astons. None on most Porsches. You can PUT a plate on there, but there's no built-in provision for one that mucks up the lines of the car...

You guys will note also that EVERY '99-based aftermarket bumper on the market has no plate box. FEED, CWest, etc. none. Not even the Mazda GTC.

The "blank space" on the '99 plateless bumper isn't any more of a blank space than the 93-95 bumper... you can mount an emblem on either one just the same.

 

I'm another fan of the stock '99 spec bumper with the 'shoebox'. It just looks goofy without it.

I do miss the '93-'98 bumper though. I like both just the same, but the '99 spec has larger openings for radiator and oil cooler flow. So that's what I went with.

 

HAHAHA

SO i guess thats what

99 plate holder - 2382328372

99 no plate holder - 3

LOL

Its not hard to know what looks better. Not whats "SUPPOSED" to look better.

::shakes head::

 

 

Didnt you buy a 99 front WITH plate holder??



Btw, hit me up on aim tonight, i gotta ask you something yo.

 

HAHAHA

And I quote P.T. Barnum who said "nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the american public".

 

I love this post because of the passion it demonstrates among RX7 owners! I think all of us plate vs noplate folks would join hands in a moment to protect our RX7 marque. Having said that, I suspect there is a silent majority out here who know it's just wrong to tie a shoebox on the front of a car (lol, sorry couldn't resist). I mean, maybe it would look good with a Papa Johns sign on top too? Another poll??

 

In three years of having my front bumper mounted, I've never had a single person tell me that my front bumper looked cheap/shitty/ghetto.



Re: protecting the RX-7 marque, we should all focus this energy on the people ripping out the hearts of the car and dropping in camaro motors. There, I said it.

 

Rich,
I don't think your car looks cheap/shitty, and so long as there's a plate on there it minimizes the affect of the brick (because a liscense plate is a brick anyway).

However, I think all sportscars (and most other cars) look decidedly better w/ out liscense plates as a hard and fast rule.... and without a plate, there's no reason for that brick/shoe box, and further, it just isn't a natural part of the cars shape.... and I do think that by comparison, Mfanto's car for instance is an example of how it should naturally look. Those are the natural lines of the car... and most certainly can't see how the car looks cheap or goofy this way:

 

99! Recently received the parts and will be installed soon.

 

Maybe I'm hung up on it, but the damn thing looks like it's grinning

 

No one will say that cause it looks gorgeous, doesnt look like an imitation or an ebay style bumper.

 

OKAY... but how is that NOT the case with the liscense plate???? The plate doesn't cover the "Grin"... it just looks like it's grinning with a little Hitler moustache...