War_Angel

Hi there all, im from Canada, Toronto. Turning 17 years old in about 2 months & i've been working for almost a year. Here's my introduction..

I've always one of the speedy type of starter cars such as Prelude, Civic, Integra, Celica, Supra{yea right... }. Currently I have about $14,000.00 saved on a car that I want to purchase in about 2 months.

A lot of my buddies currently own these old timer hatchback civic's, and they really dont apeal to me. They don't really show me any life, and any comfort or power. But i've always seen this one prelude around my area, that just apeals to me, and ever since i've always been serching these type(s) of 5th gen preludes. Looking over the car's performance, details, and customizable options. Along with earlier today looking at this one dude's post in this website, about his life story with his prelude. Which was pretty amazing and catched my attension.

So I am planning to buy a prelude within the next 2 months, but I need some of your guys answers to help my decision on the type of prelude I should buy aswell with how far I should expand the level of my prelude. I will have around 12 000k -14 000k saved for a Prelude. I was deciding if I should go ahead with buying a Prelude ranged from 6K-9k. And then afterwards, use the extra lawfee money to upgrade my car to the next level. I'm hoping to own the car from a range of 6 years to 8 years.

Some other subquestions are:

Why do I see so many Prelude having their engine's replaced ?

What are the type(s) of Preludes' ?

Are Preludes' actually heavy, and can't handle that well around sharp turns ?

What are some of the first things I should customize on my car ?

What should I look for when I purchase my Prelude ?

Do preludes have many ADV's & DISADV's ?


Thanks for any advise, and looking forward to seeing any helpful reply's

Rodmunch

There's alot of info here. Just search for it.

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pIERCE

I have to agree with rod.

However, please Don't buy an Auto. You will regret it. Period.

Good luck.

pIERCE

You really need to search, use the feature, it is located near the top of the screen.

However, it sucks going back to your thread to find people didn't at least tell you a little of what you asked. So here:

1) Because they are old and driven a lot. Often times they are not properly maintained.

2)search

3) Yeah, they are somewhat heavy. A little under/over 3000lbs., depending on model. And no, they are actually known for very good handling considereing their price(this is when they were new). They are pretty good handling cars, overall.

4) Your personal opinion. Do research on Preludes, look at other peoples cars, do whatever you want. Influence.

5) Low milage. No Automatics

6) That is in many ways opinion. They are relatively heavy and poorly balanced(but somehow have good handling). They are expensive(relatively). Gas milage isn't great. They are old and out-dated in many ways, which makes them more vulnerable and not as fast-in general-as other cars out there. Those are some of the bad.

Go find the good yourself

Good luck.

War_Angel

Indeed, I'm definitly not planning to buy an automatic

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War_Angel

That I need more information on. Not only the engines, but a lot of the times the car seem to have a struggle in majority areas of the car. Is that along due to the lack of poor maintance ? This is my First concern, which i'll be considering if I want to purchase the Prelude. Afterwards doing some researching i didnt get anywhere except for errors here and errors that. This results them to wasite money, and kill time off. The reserching only get's me more confussed due to all the possibilities that could occur. I do have some knowlegde about cars, and how they work. But not in-depth details.

Also I forgot to mention, is this car reliable for the winter.

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Rodmunch

It's as reliable as any other Honda.

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prepreludesh

I think that you see alot of people getting new* engines in their Preludes for the simple fact that when something goes wrong on their engine/transmission as a whole, it is around the same cost to replace the whole engine as a whole than to fix it. This goes for bending valves on a head, adding Forced Induction and burning the piston rings, having their SS transmission crap out on them.

Overall, I found that operating my stock prelude with 186,000 to start with all the way until I switched out the motor at 225,000 miles, I really only invested in minimal maintenance. But when the motor was pulled, it was evident that all the oil seals were either going or had already begun to fail. And an overhaul on the seals would've brought the engine back to life in terms of being low maintenance.

The H22 has another factor that contributes to its long lifespan, though. That's the FRM sleeves. They're shunned and hated on here for their inability to resist heat and pressure (which comes with turbocharging, supercharging or nitrous) but Honda designed them with the idea in mind of being a low-friction metal surface. Having low-friction properties increases the wear resistance (and makes parts last longer) and also decreases parasitic loses associated with friction, and gives it a slight bump in power and fuel efficiency. But for people upgrading their engines, sleeving and aftermarket pistons are usually a must.

Concerning the prelude's weight versus handling, the type SH scrubs away most of the weight you'd normally feel by inducing some oversteer (see: fishtailing) and that makes the car feel lighter around the corners.

Also, its going to be hard to find a Prelude with an interior that is in ****ty condition. The reason is because there's not much room to move around and mess with stuff in the Prelude. The interior is no-nonsense and the only areas that will be worn in it is the drivers seat, the steering wheel, floormats and the pedals. The rest will be almost like it came from the factory.

But don't be concerned with engine upgrades, very little power can be found in the H22 with simple bolt ons. Only big forced induction items or wildly built N/A engines are going to get power levels to increase any noticable amount as it is. The prelude's real value comes in handling more so than power.

To be honest, that's not saying too much. If you begin to drive many different cars around the price level of the Prelude, you're going to find a wide array of characteristics that each car has. The prelude will have significantly more body roll than many other cars out there. It also has a poorer power to weight ratio. For similar money, a Mazda Miata will out-handle a prelude and a Mitsubishi 3G 6spd V6 will beat it in the quarter (embarassinglly enough) Most factory turbocharged cars will embarass it actually.

The Prelude is a good bang for the buck car and you won't find styling like it anywhere else. But it does everything "good enough" instead of "great. What you want from the car will determine if the Prelude is the right choice for you.

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My Build Thread: http://www.preludeonline.com/f82/bes...-world-237309/

1998 Honda Prelude Type SH White Diamond Pearl
2010 Acura TL SH-AWD 6MT White Diamond Pearl
2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Brilliant Black

minilogoguy18

If you want the lightest prelude go for a 4th gen. Forced induction isn't needed to make enough power to make the car fast, JUN auto proved that. FRM is also a very good sleeve material, better at dispersing heat than iron and alot lighter, it wasn't designed for boost, that's why it doesn't handle it well. You can run forged internals with it you just have to get pistons and rings that are compatible.

War_Angel

woooooooow!!!, why is there so many models.. but anywho .. so techincally prepreludesh you got one of the following engines in this page, Just click the 5th gen on the table of contents and it will bring you straight to the engine models. Honda Prelude - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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prepreludesh

War_Angel, you PM'ed me these questions, but my PM response is too long. So I'm going to post it on here so you can read it and hopefully, others can too, so they can learn something if they're too lazy to search...





I'll give you your answers, but first you should know that by reading my whole build thread, you could easily obtain them without having to ask me. However, I'm going to try and steer you in the right direction.

First of all, my philosophy on parts is that only if you have the money should you be spending on things that are not needed. Upgrade the things you don't have yet. You have no business buying parts you do not understand.

Second of all, you must understand how your car works. You must understand the concepts behind engine power output, transfering power to the ground, suspension dynamics and wheel/tire specifications. These things only touch the surface of what you need to know. Later on you will need to learn about weight distribution and braking performance.

Third of all, I must stress the importance of realizing every part you put on your car will have consequences, good and bad. Are you going to put new seats in the car? Then your waist size better be small enough to accomodate the seat you're getting. Also, do you have money set aside for custom sliding brackets to be built and installed on those seats? Everything you buy for this car will in some some shape or form have a hidden cost, EVERYTHING!

For instance, I recommend you look at performance first. You have seats to sit on, you have a steering wheel to hold on to, so why put the pants on without the underwear first? Do you see where I'm coming from?

I tell you these things because you seem way too new to the car scene. Just like they tell athletes, you must be physically fit to play a sport, you cannot play a sport to become physically fit. How this applies to the automotive world is you have understand more than how a car works, but rather, have a deeper understanding of the culture of modifications and the consequences of getting hooked and going overboard with them. The last thing the world needs is another person modifying their car and not taking care of necessities or missing out on important life events because their money is going into their car.

Without further ado, I will now answer your questions.

With performance, you mentioned headers, but nothing about an intake or exhaust. Your header on your car is already a superb design. Purchasing a header by Kamikaze, DC Sports or Megan Racing is like basically purchasing a new header, only now you've purchased something that has questionable lifespans on the flange gaskets. If you develop an exhaust leak, all the HP you thought you gained is out the window. A good header is one that is welded for leak-proof seals. The most bang for your buck are SMSP or Hytech headers (both above $800). However, there is a company out there that has been producing a high-quality replica that have had generally good reviews, search for it on this forum under "hytech replica."

Intakes can do okay for power on the H22. Your choice is a short ram or cold air intake. Both will make roughly the same power though, but the power they make mainly comes from a larger filter element and a larger diameter, smoother intake tube leading up to the throttle body.

Exhaust systems from the cat back will make a little bit of power too. Always remember that stock exhausts are there as a compromise between performance and comfort (noise acceptibility). It leans more towards the comfort however. So uncorking an exhaust is going to make it louder, is it worth it to you?

Those are the main things your prelude should get for basic performance upgrades. Of course remember that the engine needs some basic maintenance to maintain any power upgrades. Sparkplugs should be changed out, plug wires could be upgraded and oil should be of a high quality synthetic kind (this is my opinion, but also the opinion of many others).

The most important thing you (or anyone) can do to their car is get a great set of wheels and tires. Since power is lost or gained through your rolling stock (aka wheels), you need to concentrate on this. The lightest set you can find with the stickiest tires will transform you car into the handling/acceleration/braking king of the road. The wrong set though, and you'll be having unpredictable handling with poor braking and possible wheels spinning. I don't need to recommend you wheels or tires, because the prices you pay will reflect what you get (especially true with tires). Get a summer kind and replace them in your canadian winters with an actual snow tire/snow wheel combination and you'll be safe then. Go to the discounttire sponsor website (on this forum) and see the reviews of wheels and tires that match your car.

As for brakes, upgrading your pads, brake fluid and some stainless steel brake lines as well as some slotted rotors is probably your biggest bang for the buck with bolt-on only power. EBC is a well known company for rotors and pads, motul and endless make very respectable brake fluid and goodridge offers a lifetime warranty (i think?) on their brake lines. This should be all you need.

Now for paint, I don't know why you asked me this. Asking me for what a good paint color is, is like asking me what you should wear for your wedding. F*ck if I know, choose what's best for you, but inspect the paint in person first! If the car was in an accident, a body shop might have a very hard time matching the factory paint. Then you'll look like a "ricer" rolling down the road with mismatched body panels.

Okay, now for your interior. I wholeheartedly agree that you should spend money on the place that you spend the most time in on your car, which is the cabin. However, this should be lowest priority because if you've followed my advice in the above written areas, then you won't have money for this step. A steering wheel is priority over seats. The stock steering wheel is large and is a 4 spoke, which doesn't suit well for racing-oriented folk. A 3 spoke wheel is best, just look at any true sports car. This is all your preference too, because style is everything and you're going to sacrifice your airbag with an aftermarket wheel. But you're probably young so you live life on the edge and think you're invincible. It's cool, I'm still like that too, but at some point, you'll want that airbag. A smaller steering wheel gives you increased feel and response and will aid in quicker turning, just remember that.

As for seats, I'm gonna be honest that if you're looking for seats to increase performance by decreasing weight, you're dead wrong. The recaro's I have in now weigh more than the stock seats. They also will squeeze your hips if you're anything size 36 and up, if they have anything remotely resembling side bolsters. Installation of a seatbelt needs to be a priority (I'm talking your stock seatbelt, not a 4 point harness) and depending on the seat, the female part of the seatbelt will rub on the center console on an aftermarket seat because they tend to be wider.

As for seats though, you need a brand to trust because a seat could save your life or kill you. Recaro, Sparco and Bride all make seats that I would deem "safe" but moving outside of that realm and you're really looking into poor crash results and shoddy materials. Stock seats are best for daily driving, hands down.

Now finally, as for the car itself, if you're set on a 2001, then fine, so be it. But you probably want a 1999 or higher with low mileage. The 2001 prelude in canada came in either type sh or se (which replaced the base in that year). If you're looking for handling, go with the SH. If you're looking for upgradability and power farther down the road, go with the base (or SE).

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My Build Thread: http://www.preludeonline.com/f82/bes...-world-237309/

1998 Honda Prelude Type SH White Diamond Pearl
2010 Acura TL SH-AWD 6MT White Diamond Pearl
2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Brilliant Black

War_Angel

http://cfs1.tistory.com/upload_contr...NoLzAvNDIuanBn


Thank you lorder for this picture !!!, just made the days of engines 1000x more complex

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golfradict

Best bang for the buck. I could not be more pleased with my prelude. I found a "one owner" completely stock type SH (5 speed) which is a blast to drive. It had 100K miles on it, (currently has 120K) all the 100K maintenance was done and I got it from a Honda dealer March of 2007 for $10,000. I put a carbon fiber hood on it, OEM fog lights, and a Skunk-2 shift knob. Thats all I plan on doing to it, handles great and with 200HP and a top speed of 148 I really don't need more speed. My advice is to find a stock one that hasn't been tinkered with.

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"2001 Type SH"
"We are the people our parents warned us about"

www.discounttiredirect.com

Shawn F.

I will just make mine short here for you... First, decide if you want a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th gen. From the years you are mentioning you will want to look at the 4th and 5th gens. I own a 4th gen and love the looks of it and it rides and handles fine. Preludes aren't the best handling vehicle due to older technology and their weight but they will do just fine for street racing and can be tuned with different suspension, sway bars, etc to handle better. I have driven and ridden in many 5th gens and love them as well. Just decide on this first.
Then decide on the engine between a 2.3L non vtec or the sought after 2.2 vtec engine. I own a 2.3 which IMO the bottom end pulls much harder but overall the 2.2 with vtec will be to your advantage in the mid to upper RPM range for sure. With the 2.3 (also called H23) you can run more boost if you decide to go turbo or super charger than you can with the 2.2 vtec.
Transmission... 5th gen automatics are JUNK. Stay away from them and go with a 5 speed manual. I dont even care for the Honda manual transmissions. They have a typical 4th to 5th gear transition grind that gets annoying but can be helped by using GM Syncromesh tranny fluid.
The cons on these cars: (remember this is just my oppinion). They are a bit on the heavy side but not too bad, outdated (I dont care because I am actually more into 20's-50's cars anyways so my Honda was a big step up in technology for me), the interior is VERY tiny. Pretty much the back seats are useless, noone will fit back there. IMO I dont care for front wheel drive so that is a little bit of a con for me and also lack of power but again that is my oppinion. For a Honda and a small 4 banger motor these things haul butt, but again I am use to old cars with V8's and pro street drag cars, etc with heaps of torque.
I say for a first car with decent power and front wheel drive that wont get you killed, the prelude is great. Spend around 6k on a decent one, use the extra money for maintanance items it may need, wheels and tires, exhaust, intake, have the computer sent off for retuning, etc and you will have one fun little car.

Shawn F.

Oh one more thing I am not sure that was mentioned which can be a con as well... Make SURE the timing belt is changed at every 60,000 miles or when needed. If the timing belt goes, these motors are interfearance (sp?) engines and you will end up doing head and valve damage. So keep this in mind when looking for a Prelude over 60,000, make sure a timing belt job has been done which should include, cam seal, water pump, thermostat, balance shaft belt, tensioners, etc etc.
Good luck!