Hmm. This is very good to know.
When I bought the car I arm-twisted them into throwing in a set of the Honda All-weather mats, but I'm not happy with them. All winter, the snow and salty water would just run right off the edge of the mat right into the spot below the plastic dead pedal, which was wet from December until like...last week. And when it dried, it dried whitish even though I used carpet cleaner gently on it.

Also, the "finish" has worn on the rubber so now there's like a discolored mark where my feet rest. I clean my car weekly.

I noticed a photo on eBay of a year-old Fit Sport with factory carpet mats where you could tell there was a wear mark almost totally through the carpet at about where the driver's right heel would hit the transmission tunnel, so I think you are right about the carpet being delicate.

Now I'm wondering if I should get the WT digital fits if I'm just gonna wear through the floor rug no matter what...

Or resort to clear plastic film over the rugs like I did in my old Volvo with IVORY carpeting.