[Foxpaw]

I just bought an Insight and I noticed that it get's really dirty, really fast. It was filthy by the time I got it back from the dealer. It's a pretty mucky time of year what with all the snow thawing and all, but it still seems like it accumulates dirt at an excessive rate.

After a short examination, it looks like this is because of how the body kind of curves in behind the front wheels a bit, and there don't seem to be any mud flaps to stop the wheels from chucking snow and such straight up the side of the car. Is the Insight supposed to come with mud flaps? If not, has anyone installed them, and how did they work?

 

[redgiki]

No mud flaps

No mud flaps on the Insight. And yeah, I've noticed also how the body shape lends itself to a really big streak of muck along the doors, including going into the seams.

I just wash mine every two weeks or so during the salty, disgusting winters here near Salt Lake City. Seems to do the trick.

I think mud flaps would partially spoil the aerodynamics of the car. If I were only driving in the city, it wouldn't be a big deal, but I have a daily 44-mile commute in my CVT, so I try hard to do everything possible to maximize the time between fill-ups...

 

[Yves M.]

Hi,

I too do not think that mud flaps are needed. From driving into snow it shows that what goes out of the tires end up under the car.
What you see on the side are the result of the fume that is comming out of the wheel and that will not be stopped from a flap.

The car side design being narrower than the wheel, fume will always go there.

 

[Foxpaw]

So, does everyone have this problem, or can something be done about it?

 

[Yves M.]

Hi,

Of course this my personal opinion,

I do not find the car to become more dirty than others. In fact I find this car to be less dirty than me previous cars.

In spring time when the roads are dirty and are not washed by rain but are kept wet by melting snow, I find the car to be equally dirty as all other cars: following other cars and receiving their fumes, driving on the highway or on wet pavement... gets any car/truck dirty (all over the body).

I find that it takes more time for my windshield to become unclear compared to my previous non-aerodynamic car

On dry pavement, it is there that it is better. I do not know if it is aerodynamics or the fact that the body is mostly aluminium but I find that dry dirt is not sticking as much as other cars. I can go longer than usual between car washs. Also this car takes less windshield liquid than my previous cars.

I agree like you wrote that there is a zone that is dirty, different than other cars but in general I do not find that to be a problem as the other parts seems better.

Only solution is not to follow other cars closely and not to drive on wet pavement, which is not what reallity can bring.

Best regards,

 

[Holicow]

Probably the #2 reason I got silver....

 

[redgiki]

Rocks

As a plus side, I've had three powerful impacts with rocks on my winshield since I bought it just a few months ago. No, I don't drive very close to the cars ahead of me -- usually, I'm being passed because I tend to drive under the speed limit.

In any event, my windshield hasn't broken yet. In my previous subcompact here on the crowded, chewed-up roads in Utah, I replaced my windshield every... single... year... Here's hoping my luck keeps up. The Insight is so low to the ground, I tend to take the impact right on the windshield, whereas in my van I can look at the front radiator and see all the smashes...

 

[figgy]

I too have survived some boulder impacts and not had a crack yet.

I have an Element as my other Honda, and that windshield is near vertical and has a reputation for cracking more easily than some folks wish it would.

For the driving I have done, which is normal driving and not sitting behind trucks or rock spewing gravel spreaders etc., I would say that I have had more windshield impacts than average vs. taller cars - as would be expected.

 

[Foxpaw]

What about rocks and such flung up by the front tires? Is the dip behind the front wheels going to get bead-blasted the first time I drive down gravel?