This product review will go over the quality, installation, fitment, and function of BRZ mud flaps.
Mud flaps are not always the first thing that comes to mind when someone is looking to upgrade their Subaru BRZ, Scion FRS, or Toyota 86. However, mud flaps can be functional while also providing a visual enhancement to the car. The purpose of mud flaps is naturally to help keep rocks, mud, dirt, or other debris from flying off the car tires and onto the body and paint of the car. They do stick down and out a little bit from the standard car body. This design allows the mud flaps to deflect a lot of debris that might otherwise chip or damage your cars paint. If you are fortunate enough to have purchased a nice new Subaru BRZ or Scion FRS, it is probably in your best interest to protect the paint as much as you can.
Quality
The mud flaps are a pretty basic part made of plastic that is molded to fit the design of the car. The installation kit includes standard clips and screws to use for mounting the mud flaps. The clips and screws were durable and well made pieces, much like what the factory uses. The plastic BRZ mud flaps have a sort of rough finish to them. They are not at all shiny or glossy. Being that the part is intended to protect from rocks, mud, dirt, etc – I found the quality to be very good for what they are.
Installation
Installation of the mud flaps is pretty straight forward. However, you will not find installation instructions packed with the mud guards themselves. Scion provides the online instructions at the link below. These instructions also apply to installing the mud flaps on a Subaru BRZ.
http://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/installation/MY13%20FR-S%20Mudguards%20IssB.pdf
Each BRZ mud flap has 2-3 screws and a couple clips that secure them to the body of the car. Clean the area on the body of the car where the mud guard will be installed, prior to installing the mud guards. The installer will have to drill small holes in the plastic fender liner of the car, in order to secure the inside section of the mud flap. Drilling holes in the fender liner, while harmless, is about the only part of the installation that requires a little bit of caution. For detailed instructions on how to install these mud flaps, you can watch my video below.
Fitment
As I mentioned earlier, the quality of the BRZ mud flaps was pretty good to begin with. After installing the mud flaps onto the car, I did notice some minor fitment issues. On a couple of the mud flaps, there was a gap between the flap itself and the car body. I also noticed another small gap between the fender liner and the inside of the mud flap. These were minor flaws and probably have no impact to the function of the mud flaps. But, I did notice them none the less. The only likely downside is rocks and dirt might make their way into these gaps.
Function
Now of course mud flaps are not the end all, be all, when it comes to protecting your cars paint and body. They do, however, provide sufficient protection over not having them installed at all. Consider them another layer of protection in addition to other paint protection products (ie: paint protection film, or clear-bra). For the small cost, I believe these are a good upgrade for the Subaru BRZ or Scion FRS. In addition to protecting the paint, they also enhance the looks of the car with a contrasting black piece.
Rating
The BRZ mud flaps almost got a 5 star rating for my review. However, I had to knock the product just slightly because of the minor fitment issues. The benefit of the BRZ mud flaps is much greater than this small downside.
BRZ mud flaps rating : 4 out of 5 stars
For roughly $50.00, you can purchase these genuine mud guards for your 2013+ Subaru BRZ, Scion FRS, or Toyota 86 at the link below.
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