I wanted to add:

The skirts are being held firmly in place and if anything are more secure than before due to ~75% of the material being removed. They weigh very little now. Also, the previus owner had used a screw on each side as I assume he lost 2 of the quick locks. I might even go a step further and used 4 short bolts with self lock nuts as the skirts no longer need to be removed to change the tires. In fact the only time they will need to ever be removed is for suspension work and that will still be optional.

I might also add a plastic wheel well cover as our cars don't have any and there is a lot of exposed metal. I guess they figured since you couldn't see it due to the spats they weren't needed.

 

I love the look of your mod.

I am just trying to get up the nerve to cut my spats.

 

it probably looks fine when you are sitting in the car so that its not so high anymore.

by the way, why are your spats darker than the car?

 

I'm guessing the original owner lost or damaged one and didn't do a paint match.

 

Looks great Mark - Can you post a side view of your whole car when you get a chance?

Thanks

 

Here is a side view:

 

Call me heretic or blasphemer and get it out of the way

Your wish is my command!! Burn the heretic!!

It's your car though you do what you want I just don't like the look.

 

The skirts are what gives the G1 it's personality....Now that is gone, it looks like all the other cars, but it's your car, do with it what you want.

Willie

 

I suspect that after time they will lose their shape as they are no where near as stiff now.

 

Since you already cut them. What always annoyed me with the insight is the rear wheel track is narrower than the front.

Put some light weight rims on them with some deep rims.

 

I would go with wider spacers or modifying the hubs before making a big change on potentially mpg killing rims. The only exception I know of would be the Honda HX rims which are supposed to be slightly lighter. RHDInsight (Drew) has some on his car with the potenzas.

As far as spat strength, even with the cuts the material is still firm and is very secure, I don't see these changing form or falling out very easily.

The rear track width bugs me too for practical reasons. If you are on a road with tire groove the car tries to track with the grooves. The same thing happens in snow in the winter. Ideally the car should have even tracks.

 

The rear track width bugs me too for practical reasons. If you are on a road with tire groove the car tries to track with the grooves. The same thing happens in snow in the winter. Ideally the car should have even tracks.

Willie of Little Red Rocket fame, gave me the answer to this over a year ago when I was out there meeting with him. 1/4" spacers (Back wheels ONLY!!) will change the track just enough to get you out of the grooves AND will still fit inside the skirts. I posted that info right after I did it on mine. I have had them on mine for a year. The only problem is that when you get new tires, they will not want to put them back and will put them in the car for you to put back on when you get home. Make sure you watch them or they will throw them away and not tell you.

BTW, dont try to put on spacers that are any thicker. I dont think you could get a single thread on the nut to catch if the spacer was 25mm, thats an inch. The lug bolts are not long enough!! Mine don't even come out the end of the nut now with the 1/4" spacers. There is enough to be safe, but any more and I would really worry about the strength. I would NOT do it on drive wheels!!! But the 1/4" spacers will get the rear tires out of the grooves.

My take on the cut out skirts...Its Butt Ugly...wouldnt do it to my car, but to each his own. Its an esthetic thing and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

Okay.

It looks good.

I think Honda should have just sold optional covers like this.

 

perhaps the spats should have been designed circular, so one could just take them off to have the normal look, (no cutting needed and easily reversible )

like this:

 

Wow!!!..that looks grate-its about time soomeone had the courage to do something about those horible spats on our cars . On related subject,if you ever happen to go to France and visit Paris , and whilst in Paris find yourself in the Louvre be sure to take a paintbrush and box of paints . There is a picture ther called the Mona Lisa - its a beautiful picture except that smug smirk on her face ; you know what to do .
Sorry about the odd speeling mistake . I'm typing this with my nose - they've put the jacket on me again .

 

Wow, I am amazed at the range of comments, reminds me of a political forum. No middle ground, either it looks great or omg you blasphemer I knew I would take some heat, but the contrast in responses is what has me scratching my head.

If it had an impact on mpg I could understand, as that is the main reason for owning the car, other than I am a techno geek who loves the electric side of the car. As stated erlier I also grew up in the 80's and absolutely loved the CRX HF's. Unfortunately by the time I was able to afford one they were old and worn out. The Insight ft the bill to the extreme.

This is the first, and probably the only visual mod I will do as I love the simplistic elegance of the car. But those spats were also the one thing that made the car look quirkish / ungainly / ugly / dorky / boatish (I have heard it all). Since I agree which the quirkish or dorkish part why not change it? To each their own. The function is still there. In fact today alone the car netted over 110 mpg over 15 miles on the way home, and only a small part of that was from battery.

And on that Mona Lisa bit, you made me laugh as I have a fond appreciation of sarcasm.

 

In fact today alone the car netted over 110 mpg over 15 miles on the way home, and only a small part of that was from battery.

Okay; Wow!

So, you answered my questions about spacers affecting MPG and the cut-out affecting MPG!!

I had a CRX Si - loved it! It moved from me to friend to another friend, and finally died (flipped) at around 260k miles. Great car - LOVE the CRX!

I think that's what's so appealing about your skirt-mod - brings me back to my love for my CRX. So, I need spacers and black trim. Would you cut a bigger arc if you were to do it again? Would you do anything different, now that you see how great it looks?

And - do you remember where you bought the spacers, perhaps even a part number?

Thanks Mark!!

 

Well we humans are a strange lot, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that. The main thing is we aren't saying don't do the mod we are saying we like/dislike it but you do what you want. Anyway I'm in the padded room next to bluesunbeam so what do I know.

 

When I was thinking about getting an Insight, the spats were sort of an issue because I didn't like them. In fact, I even mentioned that I didn't really like the spats to the seller and that factored into the purchasing equation. Fast forward a bit over a year. I absolutely love the way the Insight looks, and the spats are what gives the Insight its unique look. I think they look cool and would not have it any other way.

I even love the dish rims.

 

The spats make the Insight unique, I wouldn't have it any other way, it was also done for aerodynamic purposes, it WILL affect the mileage somewhat, but due to the terrain, the driver or even the specific car, your mileage may vary, it is very difficult to compare mileage even if it's on the same road, as the road conditions/wind speed may change and we all know it does not take much for mileage to go down the drain.

If making the modification makes you like the car even more... Go for it!

 

I think we have a clear demonstration for 'normalcy bias' no matter what side one takes.
As for 'moi' just call me Ab* and sign me in next to the guy who cut off his ear.

 

I already cut the circles bigger, however I didn't take pictures prior to that. For me the smaller circle hugged the tire too close and looked to different from the front wheel well. The pictures that are posted now are the larger cutout and the final project.

Ichiba WS-5410056C Suspension Wheel Spacers from Discount Auto Parts : AutoPartsBargain.com As far as I know any 4 X 100mm bolt pattern spacers should work. There is another thread from this spring on the topic: http://www.insightcentral.net/forum...ications-technical-issues/19479-25mm-rear-wheel-spacers-installed-they-fit.html IMO without some kind of spacers or extended the cutout mod will look weird as the tires are sunk in too far. As a bonus tracking and handling (IMO) is improved.

However I would look for the best price. These are the 25mm spacers and I know there are also 35mm spacers. There are also hub extenders for the Civic that would be even wider, but I am unsure of compatibility. Ideally the wheels should be just under flush with the skirt, but the 25mm spacers will have to be close enough for now.

 

The pictures that are posted now are the larger cutout and the final project.

So - I lost my passenger side spat - been driving without it waiting for the replacement to arrive. Wife says to me - "Wow - the Insight actually looks good without the skirt on that side. Too bad you can't fill in the other area so the wheel shows.

(2) Votes to blasphemer my skirts.

So - Mark, Do mind helping me a bit more? I love the distance on yours. Could you please give me the specifics of the radius, and perhaps a picture of how you measured? I figured I'd use a grease pencil, some string, and a bolt thru the center hole? Do I just drill a hole in the skirt for the center, and arc away? Help!

Thanks, Sir Blasphemer. Love your updated sig, btw.

 

I'm not really keen on radiusing the cut out, but thought some kind of bigger opening would look better. So last night I opened a picture of my Insight with microsoft paint and tried several variations of different cuts, and none of them looked better than the original skirts. However, what I thought looked really cool was fender skirts on the front fenders to match the rears, that made the car look truly futuristic.

 

But will fender skirts on the front allow the front wheels to turn as needed?

As far as wheel wells, most cars will use a similar design or shape on front and rear. The only issue with that is the cut becomes more difficult. The front also has weird aero shaping, that would be very hard to duplicate on the rear without building new skirt pieces.

 

I realize all that, I just thought it looked cool

 

Nice! That's what my Insight will look like someday! Similar to Basjoos from EM.

I like the front spats!

I will have to admit that the rear spats are a big pain in the winter time! The snow can sometimes get really packed in there, I find myself crawling on the ground in the salt/snow slush trying to pry the large chucks out from the wheel well on a cold day.

Other than that I like the rear spats.

If the rear spats get damaged somehow, I would remake them in foam/fiberglass with hinges on top for easy access, and better support.

Jim.

 

time to find a spare set so I can choose which splats I use.
The open ones would be great in snow and closed on normal city days.
How about someone make some Wide Body Splats! lol

 

Remember the old Nash Metro?

Willie

 

Hey Willie, I don't have to remember, guess what's parked next to my Insight in the garage? Who needs any fender skirts...

 

if anyone wants cut out wheel spats PLEASE TRADE ME YOUR NO CUT SPATS!

I hate the cut out so much I took them off and just have open wheel wells