What's your opinon on the mudguards?

[Runninglizard55]

i'm wondering what everyone's opinion of this piece is

Personally i don't like them at all, i think they make the car look ugly and too wide...then again i like 4 wide cars. if a mod could add a poll to this that would be great. if not thats still cool too.

Edited February 8, 2009 by Hinckley
added poll

[CP5670]

I'm not a big fan of these either, at least for their original purpose as mudguards. They look exaggerated and are too large for most vehicles. I love the modern city vehicles in general, but this is the one aspect of them that I think has room for improvement. These pieces do have several other uses though, unrelated to vehicles.

Edited February 8, 2009 by CP5670

[Runninglizard55]

I'm not a big fan of these either, at least for their original purpose as mudguards. They look exaggerated and are too large for most vehicles. I love the modern city vehicles in general, but this is the one aspect of them that I think has room for improvement. These pieces do have several other uses though, unrelated to vehicles.

exactly they're way too big and what other uses do you have for them i can't think of anything

[Patriot720]

I am not a big fan of this piece either. But I think the city vehicles look better with this piece on than no mudguard at all

[Ricecracker]

exactly they're way too big and what other uses do you have for them i can't think of anything

Chairs, window awnings, etc. There are many uses for every piece, you just have to be creative.

[Derek]

I personally love this piece. This, and the 4x4 and 4x6 curved piece used in car construction are in my opinion some of the best pieces to come out of the City line. Sure, they may be <insert that tiresome argument> (Especially the mudguards) but they make vehicles look more realistic. I personally would love to see some of these in different sizes.

[CP5670]

Chairs, window awnings, etc. There are many uses for every piece, you just have to be creative.

Yes, I've seen them used as outdoor chairs, and as greebles on space models.

Sure, they may be <insert that tiresome argument> (Especially the mudguards) but they make vehicles look more realistic.

I have hardly ever seen a car or truck in real life with mudguards this big.

These parts would look a lot better if the semicircular part was thinner. The problem is that they're just too big and prominent for typical city vehicles.

[Runninglizard55]

these are much beter mudguards in my opinion:

[Ricecracker]

I have hardly ever seen a car or truck in real life with mudguards this big.

Ever heard of a Dodge Nitro?

[CP5670]

Ever heard of a Dodge Nitro?

That is why I said "hardly ever." But even the ones on that SUV you posted are pretty understated compared to what this vehicle, for example, has:

[Darth Legolas]

They aren't too good over wheels, but they do quite well as other things. Like in exo-force you can use it as a banister, in Star Wars you can use it as a gunning turret, and if you ever want to make a super Humvee, those things are right for you.

[Captain Green Hair]

The only thing i don't like about it that it has a 2x2 plate behind it, a 1x2 would be nicer.

Other then that i like it a lot, it gives the new vehicles something extra IMO.

[rriggs]

I think that they have their uses and when used correctly I think they look good. I like them on vans, SUVs and trucks. I think they look wrong on cars (the police car above is a good example of them looking out of place). I think that the combination of wide wheels and wheel arches on these 4 wide cars is not at all right. On trucks (the cement mixer, rubbish truck, etc) they look good.

Basically, I think that at 4-wide they are bad. At 6 wide they are good. At 8-wide they are unecessary.

One thing that does annoy me is that TLC use these comprehensively in the models they sell but you cannot use them in LDD. They are there in Creator mode but not if you are trying to build something for purchase through Factory. Why is this?

Cheers

Rog

Edited February 8, 2009 by rriggs

[Capt. Kirk]

Chairs, window awnings, etc. There are many uses for every piece, you just have to be creative.

I agree with this... it's a good piece.

[Hinckley]

I really love that particular mudguard piece. And I think it looks good even on 4 wide cars:

I think the old mudguard pieces are too limiting and two dimensional:

They limit you to either four-wide or two-wide (??) cars because the tires have to be two studs apart.

I think the new piece has some problems-namely that you can't always close the gap between the outside of the arch and the next brick over. This is problematic because I think the mudguards add realism but having a sloped brick come up to it in the back ruins the effect:

This piece is designed to close that gap (see how the back is curved at just the right angle), but you need a four or eight (or any multiple of four) wide car in order to use it:

I used upside down cheese tile to close the gap in this six-wide, four-seater car with doors:

I'm excited to start using this new mudguard:

But not so much for vehicle as windows and roofs...

BTW, I added a poll to this topic. Although it's not exactly the intention of the original post, I think it encompasses a good mudguard discussion.

[Erdbeereis]

I'm excited to start using this new mudguard:

But not so much for vehicle as windows and roofs...

I agree, I hope that we'll see it in many more sets, as it has a lovely effect.

As for these mudguards, I'm sort of undecided. While they don't always look great because of their large size, like Hinck said, when used well they can look excellent. They have other great uses as others have said, such as above windows.

[Freddie]

I voted for the 1 x 6 wheel-arch, because I see so many more uses for that piece than just for wheel-arches. While I didn't see the same with the arch above it, it's been proven that it can be used for so much more - just look at the Vestas set (patio chairs) and Café Corner (awnings). I didn't quite like them at first, but have grown to like them much more than the old arches, since they don't restrict the width to four-wide.

As for that police car (and any other car, for that matter), replace the wide 2x2 axles with the older 2x2 axles. It'll give the car a narrower track, and fit the tyres inside the arches. Improves the looks immensely.

[Runninglizard55]

wow hink you made my little topic awesome with your improvements you rule.

[brickzone]

I like the new mudguards. The old ones have pretty much had their day in my opinion, as they only suit four-wide vehicles built in classic style.

The most recent flat 1x6 ones work very well as arches as well. They also look quite well for the size of wheels in the Lego Agents Turbochase car (Nice car).

The clunky ones used lots in City '05+, give a new look to the vehicles. I agree they are OTT on the 4-wide cars, but even then I kind of like it. It's like overemphasising an element the way you do in a cartoon - Lego isn't about photo-realistic models, at least at set scale. With the mudguards, a 4 wide vehicle may still have few enough bricks/elements composing it, but it's a bit less plain I think. On 6 wide or 8 wide vehicles they work very nicely. Most importantly, they suit the bigger wheels - the old mudguards weren't really any good for anything but the smallest wheels. I like how they are used in Café Corner.

[Rijkvv]

I don't like the new ones. The example of the Dodge Nitro is only limited to a few cars I think. The old ones are better for 4-wide cars (the size they should be IMO).

What I want is a mudguard like the new one (only one side) with the shape of the old one, so you can build it in the shape of the vehicle. Somethimes I build 6-wide trucks, but I use the plate 2 x 2 with wheels holder wide.

This one:

Then the wheels are perfect for six-wide vehicles, without the unrealistic offset.

[DarthPineapple]

I really like the 5th one. It's easy to use and looks beautiful. I wish I had some more.