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Today I put on a fresh coat of wax. Then removed the mud guards. I think it looks better this way, and it's easier to clean now and there's less chance of damage since mud can no longer hide between the guards and the bumper. There was a crapload of dirt trapped in there.

I like it better without the rear guards, I think I'll keep it this way. Opinions?

Yeah. It looks a little better from the back, but I think it looks better from the side with them on, especially if they were moulded. If you wanted to keep them, and not have build-up, you could fill them with spray foam.
I bought some, since my car didn't have them, so if you don't want them, you could sell them on here.

I vote no muds and replacing them with a rear lip! Also add a front lip and some full OEM sides. In my opinion that's the best style that still maintains the OEM look (not to mention the style on my own car ahaha).

I like urbanconcepts idea ^^^^^
I wish they made an OEM rear lip... I've always felt like something was missing by just having rear muds...

what do u have for rear lip urbanconcept..

looks better with them on, thats why I got mine for my SE, looks even better with OEM side mouldings.

You can put a chin spoiler (lip) on the rear bumper. It looks better if you mould it.
I don't know if anyone cares, but rear lips, and low rear bumpers cause alot of drag, reducing you MPG, and top speed. They may affect drag times, too.

I care, thanks that's good to know.

I'm also wondering if these mud guards cause any amount of drag at all, I'm guessing no since they're directly behind the tire, and relatively small.

i dunno i prefer mud guards on... when i lowerd my car and put them back on it like 100 times better with then without...

I'm on a forum, gassavers.org, and people make something like rear mudguards for better MPG, because they help the air return to the rest of the airflow, without causing vortexes. I wasn't going to say anything about an upcoming mod, until I did it, but here it is: I'm going to make rear wheel skirts that will attatch to my sideskirts, the fender, and mudguards. It will be flat over the sides of the tires, for less drag. I'm also covering the entire bottom of the car with 1 sheet of high tech foam core plastic sheeting, bumper to bumper, and doing a little aero mod to the front. I calculate that this will give me 5 more MPG.

I'm a rear mudguard guy. I don't like Mx-3's without them

Nd4SpdSe wrote:I'm a rear mudguard guy. I don't like Mx-3's without them

So am I. Unfortunately, I painted my set black to match the car's colour and put 3 clearcoats on them, I can't install them now, they're too bright and glossy. I must "wash" them in sand.

I'm a huge fan of the rear mud gaurds as well. Mine, being a RS, didn't come standard on it... so, a few years back, I bought brand new ones, color keyed in Blaze Red, straight from Mazda. To me, the A$$ end of MX-3s just don't look right without them.