I have just had new plates made for my 93 Roadster. The rear plate has a fairly small font which I believe is correct for imports. The front plate is a stick on and this has come with a larger font. Now, does the font on the front have to be bigger or can it be the same as the rear? I know that strictly speaking stick on plates are not legal but I would like to keep the font legal [8-|]
All the facts are here---------------
Thanks for the reply Geoff but not what I was after. I am aware of the stick on plate situation it’s the font size I’m confused about.
I have been advised that I should use the 79mm uk height on the front even though the rear is 64mm motorbike size.
As it is an import the rectangular import plate and font can be used, if you are using the standard 20.5" x 4.5" plate then it has to be standard font size IIRC. Now certain areas of the country are more harsh on plates than others…Wales is a no-no for ANY modifications from standard… nowt else to do if the sheep aren’t playing [:D]
I ran this plate 
for 18months with no tugs… a few quizical looks but the font was clear and readable. Took a bit longer for the ANPR cameras at fuel stops to read it though.
Gotta say… LOVE the front on that beauty. Where did you get it from? And whats the rest look like!?
Grilles from Lockwoods the rest stock RX8
As your car is an import you can have standard motorbike font on the front plate which is legal. You can also use a stick on numberplate on the front too say on the bonnet ot nosecone. The police dont even know all the regs, it was deemed ‘illegal’ a while back as peeps bought stick on caravan plates and the spacing of the letters was made by an individual to spell a name or initials etc but even DVLA will NOT say that a stick on is illegal Its not and if you challegne a plod on it you will be in the right.
Sorry mate but that lot is just plain wrong
This is a quote from the DVLA website [you can find it via the link in my earlier reply
Are stick-on number plates legal?
No, number plates must meet the British Standard requirements and we are not aware of any self-adhesive number plates that are able to meet these requirements.You may get away with having a stick on plate on your car, a lot of people do, me included when I lived in the UK, but it is illegal. If you bump into one of the guys, who you disparagingly refer to as “plod” , who knows the regs, and most traffic cops do, you will get fined at least £30
Hi Geoff, I contacted DVLA and spoke to numerous people and none of them would say that a correctly spaced stick on plate was illegal, What they did say was that it would be up to the plod who stopped you and his ‘discretion’ but no-one I spoke would be quoted as saying that a stick on plate CORRECTLY letter spaced was illegal. Read into that what you will, all I will say it I owned a mariner blue 1.6 eunos for 3 years with a stick on plateon the nose cone and was stopped numerous times by plods all over the yorks and north east anddespite checking over the car NONE of them ever commented on my front plate.
If its a regulation size stick on you MUST use the normal sized and correctly spaced font no matter what else you read hear stick onfront plates are NOT ILLEGAL despite what you may read. I have been stopped numerous times by plod over the years with a stick on front plate and never had ONE comment. If you go for a smaller acrylic plate to screw on the as your car is an import you can legally use motorbike font but ONLY on the front plate.
Last comment…you pays your money and takes your chance I guess as everyone has there own ideas, these are mine as I have been told but dont hold me responsible if you get pulled!!!
Go to http://www.5ive-o.org/forum/index.php and get a difinitive answer from the boys in blue themselves…and its a great forum to join too. [;)]
and the answer was…??? Anyone??
Hi Hedge, did you read the red part of my reply above? The quote is straight off the DVLA website, they say quite clearly that to the best of there knowledge, no numberplate manufacturer makes a UK compliant stick on plate, therefore anything you may stick on yourself is illegal. Simple enough…
Geoff is right it does say that on the DVLA site… moving the disscusion on… Why can’t a stick on be made legal If it has the right font, spacing and relective material? Come to think of it my rear plate is held on by 3 sticky pads so thats a sticky as well. [:P]
I would guess that the manufacturers can’t be bothered when the potential market is so small. The only legal plates come from registered suppliers, and I doubt if they are geared up to cut vinyl.
There is of course another issue with stickons, and that is that the regulations also call for the plate to be mounted as near to the vertical as possible. This is obviously not obtainable on a '5
http://www.hillsnumberplates.com/legislation/MoT%20Regulations.pdf
shows the rules for number plates and the MOT
http://www.hillsnumberplates.com/legislation/169_Hills%20Bsau%20poster.pdf
shows numberplate legislation
http://www.hillsnumberplates.com/legislation/169_Character%20Height%202.pdf
shows the correct specifications and letter sizes including the rear plate for imports
ok last post from me on this…I wastold from DVLA as long as the font was the right size and spacing then a stick on plate was NOT illegal as would be a motorbilefont size front plate as I own an import car registered in 1993.
Last one from me too, on this thread. Although I guess it will come up many more times.
It doesn’t matter what someone from the DVLA told you, the important thing is what the law says in writing. This is what you will be prosecuted for, not some guys say so.
Enough, 32 deg out there so off for a drive