Car Numbers Revisited

[Loren]

Been seeing some really awful car numbers lately. Had to call a bunch of people out on it at the Duel event, so I won't bother doing it here. But, it's not just newbs... even some long-time autocrossers who should know better are coming up with some numbers that are horribly illegible from a distance.

A few things to remember:

• CONTRAST - That means dark on light or light on dark.
• SIZE - We call for a minimum of 8" height with a "bold" stroke. Bigger is better. If using tape, use WIDE tape, never 1" tape.
• FORGET STYLE! - Most of the time, the people who put time into making their numbers "stylish" have the least legible numbers. Simple, big, bold font and contrasting color. That's all you need!
• CHECK THEM - From 200-300 feet away, be honest, are your number easily legible? At a glance? When you're traveling 45 mph? At a slight angle? In the shade?

A word about "meatballs" and other "placards". That's when you put your numbers on a large magnetic sheet, round (meatball) or not (placard). They can be GREAT when done properly. They can be AWFUL when not. I think the important thing to remember is... all of the tips stated above.

If your placard is 12" tall, you've left a tidy 1/2" border around the edge, then put a 1/4" accent border around it, and a 1" margin inside that, and you thought it would be cool to include some other text below your number... how big is your actual number??? If you end up with a 6" number, guess what? It's too small to see! Your actual NUMBER needs to be at least 8" high and very legible.

If your placard has a blue background and white numbers... in theory, that's contrasting... but put that on a white car and you loose the edge definition of your digits and it becomes VERY hard to read. Remember to check your placards ON the car... from a distance. Legible or not? If the answer is "kinda" or "not really"... fix it! We'd rather see large printed paper numbers or tape numbers or even well-done shoe polish on the window than to see fancy magnetics that are simply NOT LEGIBLE.

Here's an old thread with some examples of good and bad numbers:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1095

Let's see more of the GOOD ones!