Cling vinyl vs. magnetic sheet

Hey all:

I'm looking to update the numbers for the Miata. Instead of the touring-car style card stock panels I've been taping on, I want to go with a removable self-adhering setup.

I definitely want a background, and on the Miata I'm thinking of a meatball, 16" or 20" or whatever looks comfortable on the door. Then I'm thinking about 10" or so numbers (65 is my usual), offset inside the meatball so A) it looks more dynamic, and B) so I can add a 1 for a prefix is necessary.

My first thought was to buy 4 feet of 24" wide white vinyl faced rubberized sheet magnet from McMaster-Carr, in .036" thickness. That will get me 2x 20" circles and maybe enough left over to do some small corner numbers. Apply large black sheet vinyl letters and call it a day.

However, I ran across a place that does static cling vinyl meatballs, and that sounds like it would probably look better on the car. I have two concerns, though -

1) How well does the cling hold up to getting put on and taken off? I don't really want to leave the numbers on it, and be "that guy", but I want to get more than a season out of them, too...

2) What about adherence at speed? I know the cling stuff is normally very effective at high speed because it's so thin, BUT: the NA Miata has that inset rib that runs right down the side of the door. I am worried that if the vinyl bridges across that, it will let air in behind and either flutter or pull the whole meatball off. The magnet material is thicker and stiffer and probably has better gripping power in that size. OTOH, the magnet material is thicker and has more drag and therefore may be more likely to pop off anyway.

For autocross I'm not worried either way, but I do intend to run track days with the car and expect to see 100 mph from time to time. Anybody have any thoughts or experience? Thanks.

Duke wrote: My first thought was to buy 4 feet of 24" wide white vinyl faced rubberized sheet magnet from McMaster-Carr, in .036" thickness.

I've had some bad experiences with sheets of that stuff. The iron particles in the magnetic material can rust and stain you paint badly. Probably won't be an issue if you only leave it on the car for short periods of time though.

I don't have any experience with the cling vinyl, but I've used the magnetic numbers and panels on various vehicles and they stay on fine at highway speed.

I've used magnetic numbers (although not a "meatball/number" combo) for years. I've had no problems at all with them lifting off once they are firmly in place. Sometimes, especially when its cold and they haven't been on the car in a while, they need to be warmed up to be flexible enough to conform to the car. (If there's no sun, I just slap them on the hood when I get to the event and let the engine heat warm them up) Once they are on, though, no problems. I've even forgotten them and drove about an hour and a half home at freeway speeds with no issues. If you aren't married to the "meatball" concept, just having the numbers as magnets works pretty well for me, especially with a co-driver. I usually run as "91" and if I have a co-driver, I have them sign up as "19" or "61" and either switch the numbers or flip the "9" over when we rotate drivers.

$6.95 plus shipping.

Sadly, I can comment on this.
I had these done to my request in magnet by Solotime many years back.

I used them for autocross.
I left them on for the trip home on a couple of warm days, they were fine, but... On a cool/colder day, they did not make the trip home.
I too blame that indented body line that runs through the center of the circle. The more rigid, cold vinyl likely lifted off at higher speeds.

We do not use dedicated numbers at the local autox, and I used to have a co-driver. I had no border of black on the white circle, just white. I then had separate pieces made that were white and had the number one on it. The font was such that it read number 1 when right side up or upside down.
When the circle and the side number one panel were together, it created an oval sort of shape.
As such, I could then run as 27, 127 or 271.

I used separate white magnet class letters placed on the car body near the circle which is good because the car class changed a few times over the years.

I bought the bulk magnetic sheet from a sign shop, applied 7" motocross numbers on it and then cut around leaving a 1/2" (white) border. That gave me the 8" size requirement and makes the numbers stand out on any color. I've run them on a grey, red, black, and burgundy car with good contrast on all.

If there is no body line, then there is no problem with them coming off at track speeds.

I have owned a sign/apparel business for quite a while so I should be able to help you out on this subject. I have used both types on my personal cars and sold both types to many clients. Personally, I prefer the static cling over the magnetic. Neither has ever come off of my car, but for aesthetic reasons the static cling comes up on top in my opinion! They are also probably an ounce or two lighter than the magnetic decals…hahaha

I have used the static cling in several track days/HPDE events and autocrosses and they have never once came off the car while I was driving it. As long as the panel you place it on is clean, you should not have any problems at all with these decals. I thoroughly test anything I sell before I actually give it to any clients the static cling decals included. I literally must have taken them on/off my car 1,000 times and drove around with them on for several weeks in all kinds weather conditions(except for below freezing) before I was satisfied that it was a good product. Through all of this I have had no problems. One thing to keep in mind is that like most things, its garbage in/garbage out. An inferior material will usually give you inferior results. I believe that either the material itself or user error is to blame for anything I have ever read about the decals coming off. The only thing that would concern me is bridging it over the trim, that MAY cause an issue. If I have any over run or slight screw up static cling numbers I can send you to try I will let you know.

If you have any other questions holler at me and I’ll do my best to answer them for you!

I've had no issues with magnetic panels. I tried static cling numbers before that though. I could not get them to stay on while the car was just parked. Car was clean and glossy too. Big flat surface (grand marquis)

Thanks for the input, gang, please keep it coming!

CLNSC3, thanks for the offer. I'll contact you offline and give you my specs to price, it that's OK. It may not be for a couple days, though.

I have a Miata and do TT's with meatball temp/sticky vinyl. The door groove isn't a big issue once you fold it in, nor is speed.

I got 2 seasons out of the 1st set and would have gotten more if I wasn't dumb enough to wash & wax the car a few days before an event. The leading edge peeled back and the adhesive got contaminated with brake dust. Never stuck well after that.

New stickies this year - learned from my mistake.