I know some people have brought this up and now I am starting to think about it as well. Some people feel like the lines of the Z look much better withOUT the splash guards. One reason I do not like 90% of the body kits out there is because it detracts from the original lines of the car and looks out of place. An example I think about is that I would never put a body kit on a 911 or a 360, and most Z kits don't look right to me either. With this similar train of thought, I do NOT see many 911s or 360s with splash guards and now the more I looke at the rear splash guard the more it bugs me (the front I like a lot, very small and clean) as it seems to take away from the smooth lines.

does anyone else agree, and what shoult I do??

A. do NOT remove them
B. Remove the rears only
c. remove both F&R

I am leaning towards "B"

 

Get rid of those ugly rear splash guards. I ordered my 350Z with no splash guards, and then got a front set from Courtesy Parts. The front ones are great, but I would never have those rears.

 

To each his own, but I agree with your general statement. I like the clean Z lines.

My Z came with them even though I didn't want them, so I took them off as soon as I got home. I can't see any sign of splashing on the sides of the car that the splash guards would help prevent.

I don't object to the overall shape of the guards, but I do despise the obvious lines where the parts join to the body. I think the darker colors like SB and BY are more successful than the lighter ones for this reason. I find the front ones less offensive than the rears, but they all just look so stuck on to me. However, there are a lot of Z owners who love them.

So just please yourself.

 

i dont know! it doesnt really bother me, i'd rather have the car paint protected than style. since it's already have the 'style'!

 

I don't care for the factory rear splash guards. I got the Top Secret ones instead.

 

my splash guards are staying on because they wore down the paint where they meet the body of the car. took them off once to see how it would look and noticed this. i really can't say it looked noticeably better without them tho or i'd just get my bumper repainted. if they were molded into the bumper i think they'd look perfect.

 

got any pics?

 

Don't want to thread jack, but here's a small one.

 

wow that looks great. where'd you get them and approximately how much were they? (you can pm me if you want to avoid a thread jacking )

 

Mine came without and I added the fronts. I didn't like the look of the rears and thought the fronts would be functional with my setup as well.

 

I have wider tires and 12000miles, never found dirt or dings from a rock kicked up by the tires.

maybe Im lucky, but I doubt it. I think the lines of the Z for whatever reason just dont really get in the way of rocks.

I personally dont like them, but its if you like them isnt it?

wouldnt worry about any issues with chips from removing them though.

 

I'll be selling my silverstone splashguards when I install my NISMO body kit. I am waiting about 1 month after painting to install the body kit becuase I don't want to drive it without clear bra.

 

I like the splash guards. Mine came without, but I noticed that Zs with them look lower and wider from the back.

 

i got the splash guards with the car and they are staying on.
only reason i would take em off is if i gotta a body kit of some sort.

 

WOW, just ran outside and removed them, I like the look so much better (from what I can see in a mildly lit garage). I do have some slight scratches, some I was able to get out with swirl remover, but I might have to color sand the others out (looks like I better learn how to do that).

The new look makes it look like the wheels are wider, lips are deeper and rear end is actually lower. I actually thought that the rear would look higher, but I think that now, as I look at the side, my eyes are drawn further down the body, instead of stopping at the guard-since this is where the body lines effectively stop/change. The lines on it are smoother too. I am surprised it made that much of a difference, but I do tend to over analyze things. I just hope that I don't see as many scratches when I am in the sunlight VS florescent lights in my garage, and I am able to learn to color sand some old ones out.

As for the fronts, I like then, they look much more subtle.

 

keep both.

Bat™

 

I started by taking off my rears, MUCH better, then I said to hell with it and removed the fronts as well, I deffinitly do like it better without either attached to the car.

Why don't you try to remove the fronts too just to see what you think? Then you can put them back on if you liked it better the other way.

 

This may sound dumb, and maybe you did this already, but you could have removed *one* rear and then compared left and right sides. Then if you liked it off, removed *one* front and compared left and right sides again. Maybe you did this.

 

I did just that. Took off 1 side, then checked it out back and forth, then took off the other.

 

I know that Colorado is a horrible state for driving in. In the picture that I (hope) attached, you can see the white on the guards from the gravel they use on the roads where it's sandblasted the paint off.

You can even see the still red lines from the tire tread. My buddy's Vette doesn't have any kind of guards and he's starting to get nicks in his wheel wells too.