Front plate for cross country drive??

[Old Guy]

Posting here as this is more or less technical. Early next week I'm driving solo to Dayton, OH and back. Plan to get up to I-70 heading east; drop down to I-40 coming back. Driving the Carrera which normally has no front license plate, and due to the color, does not blend into the background. I have a Rennline plate bracket the fits the tow hook opening. I'll be crossing many states as a look on a USA map will show you. A year ago we drove cross country to VA, then down to TX, and back in our MacanS and had no issues with not having a front license plate. On the other hand, a few weeks ago I got a ticket in LA for not having a front plate...car was parked. So on my mind: should I mount one just for this many-states trip? Or do without? Your experience? Opinions? Thanks.

[ttweed]

There are many states that don't require a front plate, so once you are outside CA it probably wouldn't make a difference. That said, I would put the plate on, myself. I ran all my Porsches without a front plate for many years, until I was finally cited for it. My rationale was that it made the front end of the car look bad with the plate hung on it. Practicality eventually overcame vanity in this case. If you can mount the plate without having to drill the front valence using the tow hook attachment point, what is the downside? A miniscule aerodynamic penalty? Why give any law enforcement officer a reason to pull you over, as slight as that may be? I just leave mine on all the time, now.

That's my $0.02,
TT

[Old Guy]

Good advice. I'll take it. Last thing I want is to provide coffee chat material for some bored Indiana or Utah State Trooper. If I could figure out how to import a photo I'd show you what the installed unit looks like.

[ttweed]

Jim,

To add an image to your post, it must be uploaded to another image-hosting website and then the direct URL of the image entered between the image BBCode tags in your message.
Here is a pic of my US Millworks 991 tow hook attachment that has worked well for me. If you quote this post, you can see how the img tags are used.



US Millworks site

TT

[Old Guy]

Good info Tom, thanks. The main difference for my fitting is that due to the proximity sensor I had to move the plate completely to the left (looking from the front). Removed the unit today, to be truthful. (But have it handy, plus one for our MacanS, should we drive up to LA.) Worked great the entire trip (had to retighten once...just WHY is the tow hook on a new Carrera left-hand threaded? The MacanS' is right hand threaded.). 4632 miles in 6 driving days; to Dayton OH and back: I-15, I-70, then I-70, I-44, I-40, jumped down US 95 to Blythe, then I-10 to 60 to I-215 to I-15 to 76 to home. Don't worry about toll roads; cheap. One 15+ hour day. Others 10-12+ hours in the saddle. 911 cockpits are amazing; never any aches/pains; never felt drowsy. Carrera gave 29-32 mpg running 75-80+ for most of the drive. Interstate here and there in the Midwest is so smooth I could comfortably listen to my SiriusXM radio, Pirelli P-Zeros notwithstanding. Want adult stuff? Cruise I-70 thru eastern Missouri. Want cheap gas? ANYWHERE outside of CA, not to mention 93 octane and pumps that don't ask for your Zipcode. Road Wrap lasted to western Missouri; didn't replace it for the rest of the trip. ClearPlex windshield film (installed by Modern Image) paid for itself at least twice: one huge impact on the way to Vegas and then a rock that made me literally duck hitting the windshield passing thru St. Louis. Big chips in the film; glass underneath OK. At least a dozen other dings in the film; windshield OK. Several hours driving west thru OK, Panhandle, NM, AZ in pouring rain and lightning storms. Film acted like regular glass. Last leg: Kingman AZ to home without stopping. Computer says I can go another 100+ miles. Week after next: RT to Ruidoso NM...reckon to do it in one day there; one day back. Will be fun.

[Old Guy]

Technical: Did not bother to install the front plate for the drive to Ruidoso. Did the 842 miles there in one day (left home at 0318 am). Was in AZ before the sun came up; Ruidoso about 1700. Not a gambler so notwithstanding staying at the Inn of the Mountain Gods casino resort, made local road trips to Billy the Kid country and such. Diverted on return to take two lane roads from Lordsburg to Phoenix. Good stuff. About 5 miles west of Lordsburg running 80 on I-10 I was passing a tractor-trailer when its left side tractor tire(s) blew out. Wow, was that a loud bang! Tire pieces flying everywhere; he slowed, I accelerated. Yes: damage to the 911, body and especially the front wheel. Buy hey, the point of a 911 is to take road trips! Again, windshield ClearPlex paid dividends. Tire chunks simply bounced off. Radar detector saved me running east thru NM - crawling with Troopers; probably a couple of other times as well. 1900 miles in less than 5 days (stopped in Phoenix for a night on the way back). Great stuff. Contrary to CA, in the rest of the USA Porsches are not common. In the mountains of New Mexico I had construction workers asking me if they could take pictures of the 911. Yikes. Another technical point: averaged 29-32 mph running 75-80.