I think cut plastics look good if done right. I have rode both cut non cut and no fenders never noticing a difference in getting muddy really or getting pelted with rocks, by the end of the day you will have the same amount of mud on you.
My wheels are far enough past the fenders that they don't do any good at all. However I like the way mine looks. If cut right they can look great, if not they can look terrible.
My pipe went where the front fender support is supposed to go, so the fenders flapped like a humming bird ... I cut'em down ... The rears where cracked and stitched back up in Frankenstein fashion ... I cut that off ... so I still run the original 89 plastic, just trimmed a bit ... that's my "point", I'm cheap and it's what I got ... I enjoyed watchin the suspension so much I cut the fenders on another quad ... if I worried bout gettin dirty I wouldn't ride in the dirt ... Check the vid in my sig to see stock fenders in the mud ... it's all fun ... I still have stock plastic on 1 Blaster so I can pretend to be a purist, ha,ha ... everyone's got a "point", most often just following the pied piper ... why do peeps run funny lookin bumpers? ... why do peeps that don't race run nerfs? ... why do peeps try to make their Blasters look like Raptors? ... why do peeps put stickers all over their plastics? ... Did you really wonder why ... or where you just tryin to stir it up? ... we can always use that around here if it comes with pics How bout a thread like "How do you like my stock fenders" with pics ... oh, like Demon7 said, if ya wanna win BOTM, cut fenders are a big advantage over say, a suspension upgrade or a functioning engine ... lol ... I always like lookin at Blasters that have been personalized ... burp