I'd love a Prelude!
Discussion
Ren Esis said:
Only thing I ever hated about my Prelude (and the reason I sold it) was the lack of rear space. They should of done away with the back seats and just made it a 2 seater Coupe. I'm not tall by any stretch (5'10) but having the seat in a position that was comfortable for me meant the driver’s seat was pretty much touching the rear seats.
Madness.
Yeah I dont really understand how they made the back seats so small in a car that big Madness.
Ren Esis said:
Only thing I ever hated about my Prelude (and the reason I sold it) was the lack of rear space. They should of done away with the back seats and just made it a 2 seater Coupe. I'm not tall by any stretch (5'10) but having the seat in a position that was comfortable for me meant the driver’s seat was pretty much touching the rear seats.
Madness.
It was possible to fit small children in them, provided you were a little creative about legroom.Madness.
My son in the back of mine, about 15 years ago now I'd guess...
And whilst I'm rooting out old photos, here's the beast itself. You can just about make out the rear wheel steer in this pic (it was obviously very slight compared to the front). It was about two years old I'd guess when this photo was taken.
It looked fantastic back in the late nineties! I adored the styling almost as much as I loathed going any distance in the thing.
It looked fantastic back in the late nineties! I adored the styling almost as much as I loathed going any distance in the thing.
Schporty! 
Actually this is quite a good emoticon to describe driving it, if you assume each gearchange is another downshift in a desperate quest for urge!
I'm being cruel, looking at those photos reminds me that it was fun to blast about in on the very odd occasion the time/road/circumstance was appropriate.
Seem to recall Performance Car mag describing it as "virtually 911 quick on the right roads". Of course 911s weren't as quick then as they are now.
Actually this is quite a good emoticon to describe driving it, if you assume each gearchange is another downshift in a desperate quest for urge!
I'm being cruel, looking at those photos reminds me that it was fun to blast about in on the very odd occasion the time/road/circumstance was appropriate.
Seem to recall Performance Car mag describing it as "virtually 911 quick on the right roads". Of course 911s weren't as quick then as they are now.
Ari said:
otolith said:
I think performance VTEC engines suit a certain driving style. If you are more of a "reacting to stuff" driver than a "planning ahead" driver, they must be quite frustrating.
Ah, so it's not the car, it's because I'm a crap driver... 
otolith said:
Dunno - I'm no driving god, but I've had a few high revving cars and I've never found it a problem to be in the right gear at the right time.
It's not a problem, just that in the Prelude with such a narrow "power band" it's fun to begin with, but eventually it just becomes a total bore. I'm having a huge 'itch that needs scratched' moment for next year every time I look at one of these. They look fantastic and much better than my previous Celica gt that I owned. Not sure how much of a better drive it would be though.
Anyone owned the two and care to share their experience?
Or shall I screw it and go back to an MX5.
Anyone owned the two and care to share their experience?
Or shall I screw it and go back to an MX5.
Ari said:
It's not a problem, just that in the Prelude with such a narrow "power band" it's fun to begin with, but eventually it just becomes a total bore.
You sound like the kind of guy who would love a nice, torquey, low-revving diesel. I totally agree with Otolith, VTEC engines don't suit reactive driving styles. You get people these days who expect to cruise in top gear and get instant torque without having to change gear gear. This is great if you are just driving reactively, but if you are reading the road and the conditions behind you, you should not have any trouble being in the right gear at the right time. In owning my EP3 for 15 months now, I've not been caught out once, but as Otolith rightly points out, it's all down to styles.As for complaining that the Prelude gave you a bad back, that is not the car's fault, some people just don't work with certain seats, and moaning that it made you feel sick, gave you a headache or exhausted you, don't get down on the car just because you didn't have the fitness to drive it. It's a sports coupe, they aren't that hardcore.
These are on my list of cheap and vaguely (very vague in some cases) cars to replace my FTO which is getting a bit ropey in its old age.
One question for owners, can you remove the rear seats easily (takes seconds in the FTO) and does that give you a decent amount of load space - do you get a space straight through to the boot?
One question for owners, can you remove the rear seats easily (takes seconds in the FTO) and does that give you a decent amount of load space - do you get a space straight through to the boot?
Mastodon2 said:
You sound like the kind of guy who would love a nice, torquey, low-revving diesel. I totally agree with Otolith, VTEC engines don't suit reactive driving styles. You get people these days who expect to cruise in top gear and get instant torque without having to change gear gear. This is great if you are just driving reactively, but if you are reading the road and the conditions behind you, you should not have any trouble being in the right gear at the right time. In owning my EP3 for 15 months now, I've not been caught out once, but as Otolith rightly points out, it's all down to styles.
As for complaining that the Prelude gave you a bad back, that is not the car's fault, some people just don't work with certain seats, and moaning that it made you feel sick, gave you a headache or exhausted you, don't get down on the car just because you didn't have the fitness to drive it. It's a sports coupe, they aren't that hardcore.
As for complaining that the Prelude gave you a bad back, that is not the car's fault, some people just don't work with certain seats, and moaning that it made you feel sick, gave you a headache or exhausted you, don't get down on the car just because you didn't have the fitness to drive it. It's a sports coupe, they aren't that hardcore.
Japveesix said:
These are on my list of cheap and vaguely (very vague in some cases) cars to replace my FTO which is getting a bit ropey in its old age.
One question for owners, can you remove the rear seats easily (takes seconds in the FTO) and does that give you a decent amount of load space - do you get a space straight through to the boot?
Yes, on the 5th gen you lower the seats with the key and they fold down offering a fairly large bootspace, the only downside is the opening is quite narrow when compared to the overall width of the boot but mine swallowed up a 40" boxed TV fairly easily.One question for owners, can you remove the rear seats easily (takes seconds in the FTO) and does that give you a decent amount of load space - do you get a space straight through to the boot?
I have owned two 4th gen's - a 2.2 non-vtec auto and a 1996 2.0 manual. I only owned the manual about 9 months but I had the auto for 4 years and absolutley loved it.
I used to regularly do 4 - 5 hour journeys in it and never found the seats to be anything other than super comfy and very supportive. I never felt car sick driving it either.
Road noise was a bit louder than your average saloon but never enough to give me a headache or to take away from the driving experience.
It was also bulletproof over the time I had it. Sold it to change for a 2.5TT Toyota Soarer and while the Soarer was a great car in it's own right and far faster, I always missed the Prelude and found it the more fun car to drive.
A shame there are so few good ones as I would have another 4th gen in a heartbeat - preferably a red one with a sunroof. Lovely...
And seeing that kid pictured in the back seat reminds me of the day my wife and I gave a lift to two of my friends in the back of the Prelude. They were both over 6 foot. Oh that was so funny looking back at them!
I used to regularly do 4 - 5 hour journeys in it and never found the seats to be anything other than super comfy and very supportive. I never felt car sick driving it either.
Road noise was a bit louder than your average saloon but never enough to give me a headache or to take away from the driving experience.
It was also bulletproof over the time I had it. Sold it to change for a 2.5TT Toyota Soarer and while the Soarer was a great car in it's own right and far faster, I always missed the Prelude and found it the more fun car to drive.
A shame there are so few good ones as I would have another 4th gen in a heartbeat - preferably a red one with a sunroof. Lovely...
And seeing that kid pictured in the back seat reminds me of the day my wife and I gave a lift to two of my friends in the back of the Prelude. They were both over 6 foot. Oh that was so funny looking back at them!
Mastodon2 said:
I'm glad that the humour inherent in your previous posts has become apparent to you, you made it sound like you were driving a Fisher Fury with a Hayabusa engine day to day
Actually it was your rampant fanboyism that made me laugh. I considered replying but what's the point? You clearly were unable to read my previous posts.
If it makes you happy, yes, absolutely it was my s
t driving that was at fault, clearly I should have just driven everywhere at 6,000rpm then I'd never have needed to change down.And the car wasn't excessively noisy at all, all cars are no louder if you open a window at 70. Or I've got over sensitive ears, you choose.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to swap my "turbo diesel" for a Civic Type R.
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