You could argue that the success behind Dodge’s current-generation Challenger (but also Charger) has a lot to do with the bulky, squarish muscle shape that you simply can’t go wrong with. There are owners, however, who thought the Challenger and the Charger needed a little design spicing… with splitter guards.

More precisely, a lot of owners choose not to remove those protective bits of plastic found on the cars’ splitters during delivery. And the fact that they’re painted in bright yellow makes them quite visible and in-your-face, standing out quite obnoxiously. We guess some people crave that sort of attention.

What started the Challenger and Charger splitter guard craze?

Well, it’s hard to pinpoint ‘patient zero.’ However, our best guess is that some owners just like what the guards looked on their car’s splitter and didn’t want to take them off. Apparently, Dodge does not approve of this practice, for a couple of legitimate reasons.

First of all, Road & Track reported back in October 2019 that Dodge and SRT design chief Mark Trostle wished people would take the said guards off immediately, arguing that ‘when we did the sketch for the Charger and Challenger, it never had yellow strips on it .’

Car and Driver now points out that Dodge introduced the splitter guards after it updated the Charger and Challenger for the 2015 model year, so the trend has a four-year span already. The outlet also reached out to a couple of Dodge dealers that indeed confirmed that ‘they remove them per the instructions given by FCA for the pre-delivery inspection process.’

In addition, C/D noticed that the yellow splitter guards are now gone, with hot pink ones replacing them. Is FCA trying to persuade people to remove the splitters with the new color? Could be.

FCA, however, is aware of the situation and ‘may shift them yet again to black,’ acknowledging at the same time that ‘wherever we land, this is another example of how our customers are passionate about every part of their Dodge muscle cars.’ Don’t get us wrong, but from where we’re standing, this sounds like FCA is actually enjoying this whole splitter guard craze. Is it because it gets the conversation going about its models? That might be the case.

How do you like your splitter guards? On the car or in the garbage can? Let us know in the comments below.