RE: SOTW: Honda Prelude
Discussion
Truly a great SotW! Potential buyers beware, despite the tall greenhouse there isn't all that much headroom for those long of torso. I couldn't live with one comfortably, though I fit fine in any MX-5. The great looks compliment some of the last really fine engineering that Honda ever offered. It's a driver's car, pure and simple, and even today it's a fantastic choice for the enthusiast.
stoney5122 said:
These were a brilliant old car. Only problem I ever had with them was the dreaded tin worm that invariably infested the rear arches of nearly all 90's preludes/accords/rover 600's.
The way you wrote that implied it was a UK built car, the Accord was (only the one that mirrored the 600 Rover) built in the US and Japan. The Prelude was only ever Japan.True though how the rust set in, but there seem to be more old Hondas around than British (UK built) cars of similar vintage.
grumpy52 said:
only thing honda on this is the badge and some of the main passenger cell,has a lot of carbon,cosworth yb ,hewland transaxle,ex spice brakes and susp .ex rod birley ex peter thurston .cost a bit more than a bag of sand tho !!
Is that the same Rod Birley that now runs an Escort WRC?A couple of mates keep sniffing at his heels in the Dunlop Classic Saloon Car Championship (or whatever it is that they now call it)...
Phil
Drove one when testing for my first ever car. This was a front runner but in the end bought an FC RX-7, but the Honda was a damn fun drive. The motor had plenty of revvy feel, felt taught as a chassis even 13 years old and was so tempted, but this one had hail damage... expensive to fix. 
Otherwise though, it was peachy.
The FC was a great car and I'd choose it again, but I think I'd have loved the Preude on the track more... had really tight suspension in VTi-R, or this one did. Bit harsher though and I doubt it'd have fitted campng gear for two people ike the FC.
Otherwise though, it was peachy.The FC was a great car and I'd choose it again, but I think I'd have loved the Preude on the track more... had really tight suspension in VTi-R, or this one did. Bit harsher though and I doubt it'd have fitted campng gear for two people ike the FC.
I remember my dad looking at these back when they first came out. It was between that and a BMW E34 530i. At the time I was glad he went for the BM but looking back the Prelude has aged better. The 4WS thing always confused me though, there are quite a few Japanese cars with this, but no one else seemed to have followed suit. Does it really work?
6potdave said:
The 4WS thing always confused me though, there are quite a few Japanese cars with this, but no one else seemed to have followed suit. Does it really work?
Yes, it does work as intended. It makes parking ridiculously easy, and at higher speeds, it does a pretty good job of keeping understeer at bay. If memory serves correctly, the 4WS was originally intended to make for more stable direction changes at speed.It's not without trade-offs though, the 4WS system adds more weight, with the non 4WS JDM BB4 car being regarded as the purest version of the 4th gen. The 4WS can also make the car feel a little bit artificially pointy at times.
6potdave said:
I remember my dad looking at these back when they first came out. It was between that and a BMW E34 530i. At the time I was glad he went for the BM but looking back the Prelude has aged better. The 4WS thing always confused me though, there are quite a few Japanese cars with this, but no one else seemed to have followed suit. Does it really work?
Its a fantastic system. Below around 25mph the rear wheels turn the opposite way to the front which really assists parking, when over this speed they turn the same direction.At first it feels like the back is coming around but you soon get used to it.
Had a jap import si version of one of these for three years, great car, very reliable. Got bored of the vtec on/off nature of it after a while but at least it always worked unlike some of the more sporty cars I've had since. Don't understand the comments about the interior... always found it a nice place to be with an unobtrusive and subtle interior (no where near as tacky as my old scoob for example).
Edited by dern on Sunday 2nd January 15:07
The electronic 4WS was very clever, but needed a large amount of cooling and 'fail centre' devices. I'm told that it used up to 80 amps at its maximum! Whereas the mechanical 4WS of the earlier version gave you finger-light steering and worked brilliantly with an elegant simplicity. It was strictly steering wheel angle related, whereas the later electronic version had inputs from steering wheel angle and rate, wheel speed and other factors..
The VTEC engine was very reliable. Also, if you rev to the limit and then change up, you will still be in the VTEC zone in the next gear - the ratios are very well chosen. But if you use VTEC a lot, expect it to be rather thirsty.
I didn't like the original 4th generation Prelude, but the '93-ish facelift tidied up the car, improved the dashboard and allowed more boot space, thanks to a space-saver tyre.
Only thing I never really liked was that the superb moon roof of the 3rd generation was replaced by a small steel sunroof which retracted back over the top of the roof structure.
The VTEC engine was very reliable. Also, if you rev to the limit and then change up, you will still be in the VTEC zone in the next gear - the ratios are very well chosen. But if you use VTEC a lot, expect it to be rather thirsty.
I didn't like the original 4th generation Prelude, but the '93-ish facelift tidied up the car, improved the dashboard and allowed more boot space, thanks to a space-saver tyre.
Only thing I never really liked was that the superb moon roof of the 3rd generation was replaced by a small steel sunroof which retracted back over the top of the roof structure.
nickwilcock said:
The electronic 4WS was very clever, but needed a large amount of cooling and 'fail centre' devices. I'm told that it used up to 80 amps at its maximum! Whereas the mechanical 4WS of the earlier version gave you finger-light steering and worked brilliantly with an elegant simplicity. It was strictly steering wheel angle related, whereas the later electronic version had inputs from steering wheel angle and rate, wheel speed and other factors..
The VTEC engine was very reliable. Also, if you rev to the limit and then change up, you will still be in the VTEC zone in the next gear - the ratios are very well chosen. But if you use VTEC a lot, expect it to be rather thirsty.
I didn't like the original 4th generation Prelude, but the '93-ish facelift tidied up the car, improved the dashboard and allowed more boot space, thanks to a space-saver tyre.
Only thing I never really liked was that the superb moon roof of the 3rd generation was replaced by a small steel sunroof which retracted back over the top of the roof structure.
I drove a friends older 2.0-16v with the mechanical 4WS and thought it was too light. I like the wieghted 4th and 5th gen.The VTEC engine was very reliable. Also, if you rev to the limit and then change up, you will still be in the VTEC zone in the next gear - the ratios are very well chosen. But if you use VTEC a lot, expect it to be rather thirsty.
I didn't like the original 4th generation Prelude, but the '93-ish facelift tidied up the car, improved the dashboard and allowed more boot space, thanks to a space-saver tyre.
Only thing I never really liked was that the superb moon roof of the 3rd generation was replaced by a small steel sunroof which retracted back over the top of the roof structure.
Ive had 2 4th gens, a Jap SI and a UK version aswell as 2 UK gen 5 red top cars(all Manual 2.2VTIs) I still think the Jap gen 4 was fastest top speed, I think the UK gen 5 red tops are lower geared as they redline in 5th gear at the claimed 143 MPH top speed
My 5th Gen Sunroof is back to being glass, the 4th Gen had a rust issue.
I like the front of the 4th gen, the back of the 5th gen, the dash on the 4th and the seating positions of the 5th. The 4th gen gave me a bad back.
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