Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC

Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC

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Discussion

Moose.

Original Poster:

5,340 posts

247 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
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Figured it was time to say something about these not so common cars having owned mine for a few months now, especially since it's been detailed. Seems odd that you don't see many considering the performance they offer for very little cash smile



Picked mine up for £900 with good service history and with the all important 2.2 VTEC engine. This has to be one of the best 4 cylinder engines made for a road car. It's got plenty of torque for wafting along but will quite happily spin to 8000rpm+ should you so desire (and you surely will wink). The VTEC cams kick in at about 5500rpm and are quite noticeable when they do, both acceleration wise and noise. It changes from a deepish burble to a manic, race car like howl as you wind it up. In order to remain on the VTEC cams between gear changes, you really have to rev it right up to just before limiter ~8000rpm.



Aside from the engine, there are plenty of other things to love about these cars. Namely the four wheel steering system. As this is the fourth generation Prelude, it has the electrical rear steering system. At low speeds (up to about 15mph) the rear wheels steer in the opposite direction to the front wheels, giving a great turning circle. Once you speed up, they turn the same direction as the front wheels. This gives the car a fantastic turn in which actually takes a bit of getting used to, as it feels like the back end is stepping out on you. Once you learn to trust it though, you can go round corners quite a bit quicker than you first thought.



The dashboard has to be another rather unique feature of the 4th gen Preludes:



It never fails to bring a smile to my face when you twist the key in the ignition and it all comes to life. It’s very 1980’s Nintendo, even though this is a 90’s car! The rest of the interior is traditional Japanese.



The front seats are great and really hold you in:



The rear seats, however, are very much for small children or legless adults only. The combination of no legroom and a steeply sloping rear window mean you wouldn’t want to spend a long journey there:



Other bad points are the small boot and non-foldable rear seats. However you can fit a mountain bike on the rear seats and the wheels in the passenger footwell, so it works for me biggrin

So there we go. If you’re looking for a cheap 2+2 coupe with decent performance and something a bit different to the more common Toyota Celica or Mitsubishi FTO, then why not try a Honda Prelude (oh and do make sure it’s a VTEC wink)


Bigfatnath

815 posts

214 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
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£900 Quid ???!!!!


8000rpm+.....!

Love it !



R60EST

2,364 posts

188 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
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nice write up ,the prelude was always on my 'to own' list but something else always caught my eye first , then they became too old , for £900 though it looks like a real bargain, happy motoring

TheDetailDoctor

8,828 posts

216 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
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Nice & shiney, who did that for you.........;)

renmure

4,396 posts

230 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
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I had one of these for a couple of years. It really was a great car. Dashboard lit up like the bridge of the Enterprise on start-up. 4 wheel steering as well. Went through the petrol tho!! smile

Ordinary_Chap

7,520 posts

249 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
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Great car for the money mate.

I had a Civic Type R (54 plate so the old model) and loved every moment of it.

Thats a bargin for how much you payed for it.

norman156

2,050 posts

202 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
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Looks like you've bagged a bargain there, loving that night rider dashboard, never knew the Prelude came with that. Front seats are interesting, almost like someone's covered a proper race seat in velour or something

FTJoe

237 posts

188 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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£900 sounds like a bargain, just out of interest how many miles has it done?

I bought my fto about 6 months ago and mainly chose it over the prelude based on looks (the fto still looks really pretty imo).

A decent prelude is probably quicker though and they do seem cheap if you can find a nice example (I couldn't so never got to drive one to see the difference sadly)

nice car though, love bagain jap coupes smile

Greendubber

13,686 posts

209 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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My mum had one of those back in the day, quality motor.

TPB1

168 posts

199 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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I used to have a Gen 5 Vti Lude, loved it.

Still might fancy a another one for a cheap sl4g...

krallicious

4,312 posts

211 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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Lovely. A god friend of mine has one of these and I have to agree with you, the turn in does take a lot of getting used to. Fantastic car though.

RobCrezz

7,892 posts

214 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
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Cool.

I had one the exact same colour and spec!

Loved that car, great engine, great dashboard, great seats!

Zippee

13,549 posts

240 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
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I had a dark green L plate 2.3 manual and loved it. Handled well, was quick, had lots of toys (cruise, ABS, air-con, 4WS) was reliable, comfy and above all fun.
I still miss it now!

Xenocide

4,286 posts

214 months

Tuesday 24th March 2009
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Think i might get one for my next car! Mmm

minimatt1967

17,199 posts

212 months

Wednesday 25th March 2009
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Nice car go to love the 4th Gen prelude, sad to see alot are falling in to the 'wrong' hand and ending up with 'Type R' badges etc on them. Good to see such a fine original example thumbup

Rob_F

4,133 posts

270 months

Sunday 12th April 2009
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Very very nice, sort of car i'd like to try next.

Cheers,
Rob