2012 Civic "Spoiler Fender"

[gdaybruce]

My daily is a 2012 Civic 1.8 EX. It's unassuming and easy to live with. A little while ago I noticed that a neighbour's similar car had little aero vanes positioned at the rear corners and running between the bumper and the rear light clusters - see: https://www.coxmotorparts.co.uk/honda-shop/genuine... This discovery prompted me to look closely at every other Civic I came across and while many seem to have these vanes (or 'spoiler fenders' as they are described in the link), plenty more are like mine and don't have them.

So, does anyone know which versions of the Civic had them and what their purpose is? They remind me a bit of the original Ford Sierra which had something similar fitted to the C pillar to improve stability in side winds so perhaps that's what these are for. Not the most important question of the day but I'm curious!

[anonymous-user]

I think their purpose is to detach the air passing over the car, which reduces drag on the car. Without them, the air will follow a path around the bodywork and cause turbulence behind the car. Cars like the old volvo estates with dead flat rear ends are relatively low drag cars, as the air passing over the roof is easily detached by the abrupt angle between the roof and hatch.