Without mud flaps the damage would b twice as that, quaranteed.

I doubt these guys cared about getting their car dirty.

 

But that's my point, they're proper mudflaps, 'function over form'. 

 

Modern car mudflaps aren' anywhere near as effective.

 

I doubt the damage to the Superb would be much worse. And even if it was the damage to large parts of the paintwork is already done, a few extra square inches of protection isn't going to help much.

29 minutes ago, Carkus said:

That seems to be a very extreme example. Cant say I've ever seen anything remotely close to that. That must be a million mile motor driven hard on gravel 🤣

It's not an extreme example at all, they're just pics of road dirt.

If you left click on the pics to expand them, you'll discern that the mud flaps deflect very little of road grime away from the underside of the car. Only the small area just behind the flaps remains clear of grime, the rest of the body is as if there were no flaps fitted at all.

If you don't believe the pics, take two trips down a muddy road/track, one with flaps fitted and the other without. Take pics of the results after each run and study them, after which you'll realise that the above pics are true to form.

For the most part, mud flaps are an aftermarket money making exercise.

I appreciate the estate is different but I fitted mudflaps to my Superb MkII and they've done a good job - no paint damage at all. Have had it 8 years 7 mths now (am looking at a Kodiaq next, for the 7 seats).

The paint damage on my MkII Superb was hidden, underneath the sides of the front flaps.

 

Gently prising them away from the front wing it was clear they'd damaged the paint and corrosion had set in.

 

Like you though, this was well into the cars usable life, almost 8 years old and 160,000 miles. Assuming the rust crept around the mudflaps after another couple of winters the car would be 10 years old and have covered 200,000+ miles, at which point it could be argued a little rust is to be expected.

 

The good thing with the Kodiaq is that the mudflaps aren't in contact with the paintwork i.e. metal, they're attached the plastic bumper and/or wheel arch mouldings.

 

I'm still not overly convinced with their effectiveness though.