prelude advice!

[teggypimp95]

Tonight im going to look at a 98 prelude. I have never driven a prelude before or know much about them. I have owned other hondas but not a prelude. Any one give me any advice on what to look for? Which models have the good vtec engine in them? The guy said it had vtec but i wanted to make sure to double check for myself. Any adivce or anything about these cars would be great. thanks!

[euro_racer]

all 97 and up preludes had the same h22 vtec engines in them, only different model is he SH it has the same engine but theres something different in the transmissions, helps you corner better or something like that

*edit yea sorry 97 and up :thumbsup: *

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by euro_racer
all 98 and up preludes had the h22 vtec engines in them

actually 97 and up

[Tripz]

Originally posted by euro_racer
all 97 and up preludes had the same h22 vtec engines in them, only different model is he SH it has the same engine but theres something different in the transmissions, helps you corner better or something like that

*edit yea sorry 97 and up :thumbsup: *

I believe your referring to the ATTS (Active Torque Transfer System).


Honda fits Prelude SH models with its Active Torque Transfer System (ATTS), a hardware unit that can send as much as 80-percent of the engine's torque to the lest front wheel, which can spin as much as 15-percent faster than the other side. It's a seamless system that is virtually invisible to the driver unless the car is being powered hard through a turn.

[euro_racer]

^^ yep thats exactly it, Thanks Tripz

[teggypimp95]

Oh cool sounds good, well that answer my big question, anything else that is good to look for?

[Lo)2enz0]

stay away from auto trasmissions. they are so weak and love to blow. my friend's ex purchased a auto prelude and had to replace the transmission almost right after the purchase.

But i think they all come with heated mirrors, heated seats, ac, power steering, abs. and i think the sunroof was an option but most of them have them.

as for atts, boooo after what i have heard about it whats the point. base model ftw.

[euro_racer]

there is a rumor that the SE model MAY be faster in 1/4 mile than the SH...but you should ask Lo)2enz0 about that

also this thread might help you with any other questions:

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=75927&highlight=5th+gen+prelude

[1-Bar]

Originally posted by Lo)2enz0
stay away from auto trasmissions. they are so weak and love to blow. my friend's ex purchased a auto prelude and had to replace the transmission almost right after the purchase.

But i think they all come with heated mirrors, heated seats, ac, power steering, abs. and i think the sunroof was an option but most of them have them.

as for atts, boooo after what i have heard about it whats the point. base model ftw.

sunroof is not an option, comes on all North American Preludes. The Type-S Prelude in Japan never came with one....

[teggypimp95]

Thanks for the help guys!

[Lo)2enz0]

lol, i wanted a sh to come to race city to see if thats true. the atts actually restricts horsepower and your getting 10 less pony's. but the only other thing is everyone gets mixed up with aftermarket parts for these cars. some people will order headers and sh ones will come in which i believe are shorter than the base model ones. plus there are issues with going with a turbo or supercharger with the sh model, but i am sure your not looking into that.

really if your just looking at a nice daily driver you will love it. i enjoy mine and i am sure you will enjoy driving this one.

[Lo)2enz0]

Originally posted by 1-Bar


sunroof is not an option, comes on all North American Preludes. The Type-S Prelude in Japan never came with one....

i swear i saw one without one. oh well

[Fcuk]

Originally posted by teggypimp95
Tonight im going to look at a 98 prelude. I have never driven a prelude before or know much about them. I have owned other hondas but not a prelude. Any one give me any advice on what to look for? Which models have the good vtec engine in them? The guy said it had vtec but i wanted to make sure to double check for myself. Any adivce or anything about these cars would be great. thanks!

I think prelude is by far one of my favorite cars to drive, the car is just amazing. I hope you find what your looking for!

I miss my prelude :( good luck!

[teggypimp95]

Thats guys, how would you say the speed is compared to an integra gsr?

[euro_racer]

^^ their very similar stock to stock, all depends on driver i guess

[5hift]

Originally posted by teggypimp95
Tonight im going to look at a 98 prelude. I have never driven a prelude before or know much about them. I have owned other hondas but not a prelude. Any one give me any advice on what to look for? Which models have the good vtec engine in them? The guy said it had vtec but i wanted to make sure to double check for myself. Any adivce or anything about these cars would be great. thanks!

Good choice, the 5th gen prelude (97+) is fairly economical to maintain, and is a good daily driver while at the same time giving decent pick up for what it is. Despite year differences, 5th gen ludes all have the same engine are are pretty much the same excpet for some small feautres.

Heres a few things I would keep in mind ...

1) 5 spd is a must, the auto is like a completely diff car

2) SH isnt the "super handling" its made out to be (not a huge diff over the S or SE). Besides the leather seats and paint matching mudguards (which are nice), your paying for a 200 lb sales gimmick. Dont get me wrong though, a stock SH looks much better than a stock S.

3)Make sure when you do get a prelude, that it comes with the master key (should be a red key). The prelude keys have a chip in them, so without this master key you cannot make copies of keys and are fucked if you ever were to lose your key.

4)This gen lude is known for burning oil, so keeping on top of maintenence is a must. I'd ask to look at service records and find out the type of oil and fuel he has been using.

5) I know its not always possible, but try to get one as close to stock as possible. There are so many ludes for sale now, dont settle and dont go for one with too many kms.

6) Dont expect much use out of the back seat, much more cramped than a tegger or civic.

Also, I dont know why, but there is a lot of confusion with the prelude performance wise. It is a FWD 4 cylinder "sports coupe", its not a sports car. In other words my v6 auto accord had more pull off the line.

Finally if you do get to test drive it, vtec doesnt click in til 5500 on the tach, so let er rip.
:D

[EK 2.0]

Originally posted by Lo)2enz0
i swear i saw one without one. oh well


I dont think I have ever seen and Gen of Lude here in North America without a sunroof...:dunno:

[teggypimp95]

haha nice thanks man

[Lo)2enz0]

oh ya i forgot about the buring oil issue. mine seems to love eating the mobil 5w30. the more i hit vtec the more it eats.

but i don't know, i haven't had problems with the back seats an no one has complained. but i have only had a few people back there, including myself when a friend who didn't drink said i could and he would drive it. and i found them to be not to bad, mind you the state i was in.

but well put 5hift

[5hift]

Originally posted by Lo)2enz0
lol, i wanted a sh to come to race city to see if thats true. the atts actually restricts horsepower and your getting 10 less pony's. but the only other thing is everyone gets mixed up with aftermarket parts for these cars. some people will order headers and sh ones will come in which i believe are shorter than the base model ones. plus there are issues with going with a turbo or supercharger with the sh model, but i am sure your not looking into that.


Im not sure if its the ATTS that drains power, or simply the fact that SH ludes weight a few hundred lbs more than the base that makes the slight difference.

And I have seen a black turbo'd SH on cardomain, but that guy spent a riduculous amount of money on it.


Originally posted by teggypimp95
Thats guys, how would you say the speed is compared to an integra gsr?

Performance wise, a stock lude and gsr are probably the same, with the gsr responding better to mods. However you sit in a gsr and you sit in a lude, and you'll notice a huge diff. The gsr feels more like a civic, where as the prelude is more solid in feel.

[Lo)2enz0]

Originally posted by EK 2.0



I dont think I have ever seen and Gen of Lude here in North America without a sunroof...:dunno:

well maybe i was on crack lol

[Lo)2enz0]

Originally posted by 5hift


Im not sure if its the ATTS that drains power, or simply the fact that SH ludes weight a few hundred lbs more than the base that makes the slight difference.


come guys on honda tech dyno'd the 2 and the se made 10 more hp compared to the sh

[QuasarCav]

On your test drive constantly hit VTEC, the car loves to rev and you want to know that it can!!

[5hift]

Originally posted by Lo)2enz0


come guys on honda tech dyno'd the 2 and the se made 10 more hp compared to the sh

I stand corrected.

But either way, your not buying a prelude if performance is your main concern, so dont make your decision on which model to get by performance/hp. IMO paying extra for the SH is paying extra for leather seats, and some small subtle appearence upgrades, but nothing else.

[euro_racer]

oh yea, the oil burning issue...not too major but it is there.

my vtec kicks in at about 5400 rpm in 1st gear and the redline is at 7500 rpm but it revs up to 8000 :D ( i have a 01 SE)

one thing i dont like is that when driving on the highway it seems like the car is missing a gear, the 6th lol...driving at about 80 you will be at 3000 rpm in 5th, 120 you will notice the rpm's will be high at 3500-4000 rpm and at 160 you will be able to hit vtec in 5th gear making this car not to great for the highway but im sure you had the same issue with the gsr and sir

(the rpm's listed are a bit off my head, they are aproximate but they are at that range, i payed attention when i first got the car but some time passed and i don't really care about it no more)

[teggypimp95]

Yeah i found the high way to be that in my sir and gsr as well. What is the best fuel and oil to put in them? premium and synthetic? will it burn less with synthetic?

[5hift]

Originally posted by euro_racer
it seems like the car is missing a gear, the 6th

:werd:

If there was one practical change I would have Honda do before they released the 5th gen, it would have been to have it be a 6 speed.

Oh that and like 40 more ponies in the stable.

[1-Bar]

Originally posted by 5hift
Performance wise, a stock lude and gsr are probably the same, with the gsr responding better to mods. However you sit in a gsr and you sit in a lude, and you'll notice a huge diff. The gsr feels more like a civic, where as the prelude is more solid in feel.

cause its a boat.....driving one and then sitting in an Integra/Civic, you notice the difference right away. But oddly enough, the lude can handle great for such a heavy car!!

3 gear vtec FTW!!

[euro_racer]

it is recogmended/required to use premium fuel (same as all vtec engines) and alot of people use syntetic, but my car is fine with the recomended 10w30 :thumbsup:

[rc2002]

Originally posted by teggypimp95
Thats guys, how would you say the speed is compared to an integra gsr?

I have the Car and Driver where they did the comparisons. Prelude beat the GSR in the 1/4 by a couple tenths of a second.

Daily drivability I'd take Prelude over the GSR. Much more comfortable - heated seats, heated mirrors are standard. Plus it's not just a screamer - it also has some power downlow.

[5hift]

Originally posted by 1-Bar


3 gear vtec FTW!!

only on the track though
because no one goes 110 km/h+ on city roads :angel:

[Lo)2enz0]

Originally posted by euro_racer
driving at about 80 you will be at 3000 rpm in 5th

i tried this out today to double check it and i was going 80 in 5th and was only at 2500

[euro_racer]

Originally posted by euro_racer


(the rpm's listed are a bit off my head, they are aproximate but they are at that range, i payed attention when i first got the car but some time passed and i don't really care about it no more)

:D

[euro_racer]

also, i ran my car 8 times in one sumer night at RC and the best i got for 1/4 mile was just a 16.3 (the times were pretty much repeditive, i attached a k&n cone to the stock intake and at the time i had 17's on)...im guessing a stock one would be a bit faster :banghead:

you will notice that your 1.8t gti is much faster

[teggypimp95]

Well i talked to this guy today on the phone about the prelude, i ask him every question i can think of, i ask him alot about the condition of the car, (rock chips, door dings, scratchs, rust etc) before i go and drive to the other end of town. So all sounds good, no rust, no door dings, few-average rock chips the thing is well taken care of he tells me. i arrive there and its sitting on his drive way. Right away i notice that the drivers side door is totally rusted, i then walk to the front of the car, and there was honestly more rock chips than paint. continueing to the passangers side i look at the door and after counting at least 20 door dings i turn to him and ask.

is this even the same car you were telling me about?

yes why?

This thing is in fuckin horrible shape! it looks like it has been totally miss treated and abused, i dont even wanna see the fuckin interior. Thank you for wasting my evening. and i jumped in my car and took off.

i was really pissed off. And i felt sorry for that car too.

[EK 2.0]

oh that was YOU?!?...I would have cut you a good deal if you stuck around for a test drive...haha...just joshin

[Lo)2enz0]

ouch sorry to hear dude. check a few more of them out. btw how much was he asking for it?

[arian_ma]

Originally posted by euro_racer
it is recogmended/required to use premium fuel (same as all vtec engines) and alot of people use syntetic, but my car is fine with the recomended 10w30 :thumbsup:

Isn't 5W30 recomended? I got like 50-90 KM more per tank with 5W30 than with 10W30.
Also, at 3000 revs, you should be around 100 KM/H.

[Lo)2enz0]

ya it even says on the oil cap 5w30 is reccomended

[euro_racer]

my bad, 10w30 is for my golf and 5w30 is the lude....it happens when you have more than 1 or 2 cars :D

i stand corrected :)

[Skyline_Addict]

the base prelude (97+) with MT is the way to go. if you want the added luxury of leather seats, go for an SE (2000+). if you're indifferent about ATTS, it wouldn't be a bad choice...but the base model is the most sensible choice.

[rc2002]

Originally posted by euro_racer
also, i ran my car 8 times in one sumer night at RC and the best i got for 1/4 mile was just a 16.3 (the times were pretty much repeditive, i attached a k&n cone to the stock intake and at the time i had 17's on)...im guessing a stock one would be a bit faster :banghead:

you will notice that your 1.8t gti is much faster

That's brutal. People on these boards have run low 15's with basic boltons. Is yours auto?