[andrewdelvard]

Looking at my car just a few minutes ago and well...I think it's just about perfect, love it just as much now as when I bought it.

But unfortunately that opinion seems not to have been shared.

I don't understand it.
Can't actually see the fault that led to such poor sales.
Can you?

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[ahcjar103]

Well, the price + a small target market (how many people are looking for an essentially 2 seat sports coupe) + relatively high insurance rates = not very many buyers

 

[Lude2k]

The Lude is/was poorly marketed, you rarely saw anything about it other than the inital launch with that hula doll on the dash. That paired with the popularity of the Integra did the Lude in, well, only real die-hard know the quality of the Lude

 

[ahcjar103]

plus a lot of people just have bad taste and get somethign else

 

[Jacques]

Don't forget that the redesigned Accord coupe, and the 1st gen Acura CL further cut into Prelude sales. There's also the rise of small SUVs like the Honda CR-V.

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AIM screename: jsarino
'99 Ficus Green Pearl Type SH:
AEM cai, DC Sports SS header, Mugen exhaust, RH Evo CP-035s, GC/Konis
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US http://www.planetstarseige.com/allyourbase/

 

[Jspec81]

Preludes are rare as hell in HK or japan...Why you ask? Well, why buy a prelude when you can get a s15 silvia, wrx, or Lancer evo, for the same price?

I'd give my right arm for a s15 silvia, the finest overall Japanese car ever built. 247 hp, sr20det engine, .95 lateral G's, 13 sec quarter mile stock all for 20K. Why does America have to be so crappy?

 

[5Gen_Prelude]

I think they made the mistake of not tuning it better over the years. I mean the H22 has been around for some time and it's increased in hp by what 10 HP over the years, while the car has gotten heavier? The lude kicked a lot of ass in the mid nineties because nothing could touch it so people didn't mind paying a bit more for it. Now you can get similar performance in a Maxima, GSR, Celica, GTI, 1.8Ts. Honda hit the nail on the head with the lude - it just didn't upgrade it over time. Also you've got TL and CL Type S cars over here but no Type S lude (EVER! why!?!?) I think they should have either gone for an I6 (secretly this is my hope for its reincarnation) or a V6. Alternatively bump it up to 2.5L and get close to 250 HP out of it. I also agree about the marketing. My memory of the lude is the wonderment of 4ws and then a car and driver ad (only 1 in the last year). Again - the name is Prelude, not Postlude - there's nothing really outstanding in the car anymore.

You know what is interesting though? In CART they are talking about changing the engine displacement and removing the turbo. Out of all the manufacturers, Honda is the only one who wants to have things stay the same. Of course this is because they've got a winning formula already, but isn't it ironic that they don't offer a blown engine to the general population?

 

[etherealude]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Jspec81:
I'd give my right arm for a s15 silvia, the finest overall Japanese car ever built. 247 hp, sr20det engine, .95 lateral G's, 13 sec quarter mile stock all for 20K. Why does America have to be so crappy?

</font>

practically impossible to enjoy an s15 silvia without a right arm.

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-Eric
97 Nordic Mist Prelude

[This message has been edited by etherealude (edited April 01, 2001).]

 

[andrewdelvard]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Jspec81:
I'd give my right arm for a s15 silvia, the finest overall Japanese car ever built. 247 hp, sr20det engine, .95 lateral G's, 13 sec quarter mile stock all for 20K. Why does America have to be so crappy?

</font>

Well not sure about the amputation issue

I'd need to see a picture first! Have you one mate?



[This message has been edited by andrewdelvard (edited April 01, 2001).]

 

[Harlem2k]

Yeah I agree with you Jspec... For example, in Japan, you can easily get a Silvia S15 for the price of a prelude. And not just the price, but with Silvia, you get a SR20DE engine, and a RWD, which is better combination then FWD in a Sports car.

I wish Honda could give us a RWD sports car besides the S2k... If the Lude was a RWD, I think there would be a lot more of them on the streets... And I guess the interior may be a little "plan" for some people...

 

[andrewdelvard]

So at the end of the day...
POWER = SALES
Is that what we are saying?
mmm...

 

[ed'98]

Where's the RX-7, 300ZX (ok, it's returning), the Supra?
Where's the Camaro/Firebird headed (well, no loss there)?
What do you see all around you? SUV's and pickups. America is in love with big, fat cages that isolate them from the driving experience.
You lament all of the great cars that the rest of the world has available, I see the same thing in motorcycles. Here it's big, fat, clumsy cruisers that have the public's fascination.
Goodbye Prelude, many loved you.


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1998 San Marino Red SS
1998 VFR800
1991 2.0Si "first 'lude love", was still great at 146k miles

 

[ImagePree]

thanks for reminding me about the end of road.... i'm still running around lobbying for people to buy new ludes.

everytime i hear someone say, "I'm looking for a new car..." i'd jump in and say, "Prelude!!! you won't regret it."

eh well... no one has listened to me eventhough they see the damn grin on my face everday after driving the car!!!

 

[ThatPreludeGuy]

Well I look at like this...at least I got one of them. I never had a chance to get a 300ZX, SupraTT, or a RX7 so at least I got to have one nice sports car while it was still around. I think just like everything else the trends will turn. People will get sick of driving these big obnoxious SUV's and turn more towards a car. The Solara was a nice addition to the car market even if it wasn't what I was looking for. And if the F body GM's ever do die that would turn a crowd of people away and hopefully sooner or later we'll get some more real cars back in the lineups chasing their business.

 

[HondaChick89]

being at many many car shows.. especially that last one in philly.. what i noticed the most "i don't care what the insurance will be.. it doesn't come with leather.. and the options are horrible" a lot of people complained about leather option not available!!! hehe.. i think that could be another point......

Irene

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**Moderator for the forum "Club Events"**
President of the Pennsylvania Prelude Club
Member of: Girlie Girl Racing
Team Interlude
AIM and ICQ: PreludeChick89

 

[azninvazion]

http://sr20det.nismo.org/s15.html

What I would do to transplant a sr20det into my sentra...Oh well, There's always a turbo!

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SR20DE...Sorry

 

[Carisear1]

i think alot of things killed it.

1.) in north america, only the type sh and base vtec model were offered. if they had released a larger model line (MAINLY the lower end models -- like the 135hp and 160 hp models ... but to a lesser degree, the type-s and sir-spec models) and had more in showrooms, it would appeal more to the mass market.

2.) the rise of the big 'ole SUV pretty much killed off MANY lines of sport coupes. i see this trend turning around soon though.

3.) in japan, performance just wasn't there when you compare it to all the other car lines.

 

[Peregrine]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by andrewdelvard:
Well not sure about the amputation issue

I'd need to see a picture first! Have you one mate?
</font>

More pics and info are available at http://www.freshalloy.com/cars/nissan/silvia/ .

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2001 Prelude 5-speed
Milano Red

[This message has been edited by Peregrine (edited April 01, 2001).]

 

[Lude2k]

With the WRX and EVO VII entering the US market, where is the Silvia? Forget the new Z, I rather take the Silvia and spank the new Z.

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Pearl White
00'SS

 

[floundericiousFL]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Carisear:
i think alot of things killed it.

1.) in north america, only the type sh and base vtec model were offered. if they had released a larger model line (MAINLY the lower end models -- like the 135hp and 160 hp models ... but to a lesser degree, the type-s and sir-spec models) and had more in showrooms, it would appeal more to the mass market.
</font>

I've thought this for the last two years...they should NOT have dropped the cheaper variants....if they'd kept them around, they could have offered leather on the upscale versions....

that H23A engine was freakin sweet...I still love driving my old 92 around when I don't take my 2000 out!

OH well...

it's been nice

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2000 Ficus Green Prelude - Powered by WAAAAAAAAH PPPSSSHSHHHH

What stands between a Prelude Driver and an ear to ear grin? About 5500 RPMs!

my next mod:

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