RE: Spotted: Honda Prelude Motegi

[silvermog]

Anyone else remember LJK declaring the earlier models of the Prelude his favourite road car?

Preferred this as a driver to the subsequent Accord R, although the Accord was great as a dual purpose family/fun car

[Black S2K]

mikey77 said:

I've just this week retired mine - old age has driven me into an Accord again. Bought it 8 years and 85k miles ago, intending to have a laugh for a year or two, now I'm heartbroken it has to be retired. It still runs like a sewing machine but I might put it at the bottom of the garden as an ornament, as my neighbours in France do, because it still pleases me.
Incidentally, at one time we had the Prelude and an Accord coupe - the coupe was better made and had useable back seats but was an uninvolving drive. We bought the Prelude for a bit of fun on weekends and trips.
Years ago I had a series one and a half twin-cam Prelude - that was a hoot as well.

Bought mine on exactly the same basis, ostensibly to find out just what LJKS was smoking! Sobranies...

That was 2005 and I'd be loath to part with it.

[Black S2K]

silvermog said:

Anyone else remember LJK declaring the earlier models of the Prelude his favourite road car?

Preferred this as a driver to the subsequent Accord R, although the Accord was great as a dual purpose family/fun car

He had a silver 5G (with a sill kit & some extravagant wheels!) right up until the end, I understand.

[Lloydie33]

Had mk4 and mk5 vtec versions, not motegi kitted mk5 though. Very nice and as said earlier, these feel bullet proof. Main issue is that they understeer somewhat when pushing on. Not much torque either. They don't actually feel very sporty. My silver with red interior was an acquired taste...

[LuS1fer]

I quite liked these though always saw them as Honda trying to gravitate towards Mercedes SLK type styling, more upmarket. Looked classy in its day and being clean, has stood the test of time.

[405dogvan]

The engine in the Accord Type-R was astonishing but it was attached to the wrong gearbox

Is this any better, I wonder...

Mind you - you don't get the seats from the Accord Type-R which are, arguably, the best seats I've ever sat in - they are SOOOOO comfy and SOOOO supportive (Recaros)

[Gary C]

Krikkit said:

Gorgeous. I've always really liked the shape, and that colour suits it really nicely.

I'll be the first to remind anyone of Setright's love of these too.

Thats hardly a glowing recommendation, the man had no taste.

Ugly a sin.

All imoho of course.

[nottyash]

Love these, had 4 All 2.2VTI versions.
2 were the last 2.2vti Motegi 200bhp versions.

If another decent one comes up, I would have it.
Couple of pics......

[skinny]

Gary C said:

Thats hardly a glowing recommendation, the man had no taste.

Ugly a sin.

All imoho of course.

I think interesting, or challenging if you must... But not ugly. Imo of course

[Gary C]

skinny said:

I think interesting, or challenging if you must... But not ugly. Imo of course

Ok, challenging. Tonge a bit in cheek. Quite liked the gen before pictured above in blue, but the last model was odd.

Edited by Gary C on Thursday 14th March 21:34

[monkey11477]

nottyash said:

Love these, had 4 All 2.2VTI versions.
2 were the last 2.2vti Motegi 200bhp versions.

If another decent one comes up, I would have it.
Couple of pics......

That is making me want a 4th gen again

[tali1]

havoc said:

tali1 said:

Integra =hard
Prelude =medium
Accord coupe =soft.
Remember Integra TR was UK for short time only - so not part of Honda Uk mainstay.
Accord coupe very niche as can't recall rivals .

Disagree with the bit in bold.

DC2 Type R was a UK for from 1997 "R-plate" to end-00/early-01 "X plate", which is all of it's Japanese run bar the first year. Non-R DC2 was never sold here officially as it was too close to the Civic Coupe (which it has a similar chassis to).

DC5-R was never sold here as the DC2 wasn't a big seller and they didn't want to take sales away from the UK-built EP3-R (which turned into a bigger success than expected).

Similar story with the ATR - the Swindon-built CH1-R was sold over here but never in big #s, so they left the Jap-built CL7-R for the Japanese market only.

...and then the same story with the FN2-R / FD2-R Civics - the UK-built car was sold here, the Japanese-built car wasn't.

Can't believe that DC2 aside, domestic-production has been the driver behind Type-Rs offered in the UK, but that's what's happened...

Yup - for some reason i was thinking of Mitsubishi FTO -doh!
Can't recall Honda UK promoting /advertsing ITR much though -it seemed to be virtually ignored - afaik

[forzaminardi]

Lovely car, I have to say I'm tempted by that.

[carinaman]

tali1 said:

Yup - for some reason i was thinking of Mitsubishi FTO -doh!
Can't recall Honda UK promoting /advertsing ITR much though -it seemed to be virtually ignored - afaik

I think anybody that was in the market for an Integra Type-R would have known about it. I can't see Honda trying to get their usual customer base into a hard riding, stratospheric revving Coupe with racing seats and white wheels and thin glass and manual windows.

How many people would need such a car for shopping or taking the kids to school? It would be a big marketing spend to reach a tiny likely customer base. Imagine what promoting a racing car for street use would do for the average Honda customer?

It's a bit like the RS2, those likely to be able to buy one would have known about it.

I seem to remember an issue of CAR in '97 that had both the Type-R Civic (grey import) and Integra and a separate article on grey import Impreza and Lancer Evo. I seem to remember the importer was called Warrender?

[kpb]

The Gen 5 has grown on me but I think i'd be seeking out a red top or Type S if I ever went in that direction.

The sweet spot in prelude history is the Gen 4, BB4 with LSD gearbox. Lightweight, 2ws and 200bhp.

I'd love to drive one back to back with an ITR to see what the actual difference is. I suspect very little apart from the Prelude being quicker outside of VTEC.

[carinaman]

It was the May '98 issue of CAR Magazine that had a piece by the late Russell Bulgin on the ITR and CTR. Seems the ATR at least had some torque:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-MAGAZINE-BANZAI-BARG...

Anyway this thread is about the Prelude not the IT-R.

[Black S2K]

Lloydie33 said:

Had mk4 and mk5 vtec versions, not motegi kitted mk5 though. Very nice and as said earlier, these feel bullet proof. Main issue is that they understeer somewhat when pushing on. Not much torque either. They don't actually feel very sporty. My silver with red interior was an acquired taste...

They shouldn't understeer - the 4WS allows one to dial it out with a slight lift and set up beautiful four-wheel drifts. It's also useful if one approaches a tight bend way too fast...I think it's probably wheel/tyre/geometry-dependent.

I actually prefer that (and the refinement!) to the EK/DC chassis.

[dfh81]

Had a few different Preludes over the years including the Type S, which was a great car.

I now currently run a 2000 Motegi Ha22-A8 redtop (same as in article)which I bought for 1400! I'd say this is the best one i'm owned.

I sold my 330ci before buying the Prelude and made a tidy bit of cash in the process! Much more involving drive then the BM, although not as refined. The VTEC crossover makes up for that though.

[Amirhussain]

Always had a soft spot for the Honda Prelude.

[carinaman]

234,000 miles:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000-HONDA-PRELUDE-VTEC-...