1988 Honda Prelude 2.0 4ws from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

The A/C has failed.

A hydraulic line for the clutch split causing mass leaking of the clutch fluid. A friend replaced the line with a non genuine part for $80.

Front right (pop-up) headlight wobbles.

Tacho is about 1000rpm out.

Seats and carpet have some ware.

The Honda Prelude has been a favorite car of mine ever since I knew it existed. The old Preludes are attractive because of the sporty coupe looks and the long list of standard features that would usually be found on more expensive cars such as, an electric sunroof, curuise control and pop-up headlights. Mine looks even better with mag wheels, driving lights, blue neons, exaust tip and a clarion sound system. Despite the old age of the car it still looks great in a crowd of new skylines, supras, civics and pulsars.

I am 19 and this is my 2nd car so here is an honest rundown on a 1988 Honda Prelude.

Performance and handling (6/10) :

Nothing sounds better than a high revving Honda. 106kW out of a 2.0L engine sounds impressive, but that isn't achieved until you almost reach the red line of 6500rpm. Toque isn't this engines specialty either so with so little power until you hit 400rpm, performance around town leaves you wanting a little bit more...

Where it lacks in power it makes up for it in handling. The rear wheels turn up to 20% of the front wheels during sharp corning. The result is that it is impossible to over steer during cornering unless. A low snug and 1100kg body means sharp and easily controllable steering with less tire ware on the outside tires. The disadvantage of 4 wheel steering is expensive wheel alignments. The brakes are OK. There are disk breaks on all 4 wheels so they look nice with the mag wheels.

Comfort (9/10) :

The seats are multi adjustable with side walls for stability during cornering. There is ware on the seats, but the intetior has aged really well for a car that is just about to clock over to 300 000km!

The layout of the dash are similar to newish cars. The interior is so nice! It isn't ugly and square like most old cars from the 80s. I have a silver calrion cdplayer and it looks like it is part of the car.

There are many good features to help make driving more fun and comfortable such as, electric mirrors, windows, and sunroof, power steering, air conditioning (mine broke though), curise controll with buttons on the steering wheel and even a coin pouch with a light. The negatives, the back seat is very small for one person and even smaller for two. Also the lack of storage space can be anoing. There is no space in the center bit to put things at all and the glove box is really tiny. The boot however is quite roomy and the back seat is more useful for carrying shopping rather than carrying people. (This is a sports coupe so the lack of storage space and the small back seat do not reflect badly in the overall comfort mark.)

I hope this has been helpful so please vote for my review :-)

I just brought a 1988 2.0l SI 4WS. I'm really impress so far, the car runs great even though it has 300000km. for 500 bucks, I got all electric stuff that a new car have in option and so great performances too :) I wonder what are the specs of the car since I don't have the manual.

Maybe a suggestion to the lack of torque in the 1988 Honda. I have just purchased an immaculate 1988 Honda Prelude 2.0 it has just clocked 230,000km. I purchased it with a ECU chip which has raised the KW from 106kw (standard) to 122KW.

Although I have never driven a standard Prelude the previous owner has told me that the chip has delivered impressive results. Even with the 16kw increase the car is consistantly giving 8.5 litres per 100km around town and more impress 6.5lt/100km highway. That's roughly 32miles per gallon. I have been very impressed by the performance, comfort and especially the handling of the Honda Prelude. How impressive for a 17 year old car.

Nearly 2 years ago I set my eyes on my very first car. A Honda Prelude Si 2.0. For $300 it wasn't a bad deal at all! Minus the fact that it took $1300 to fix up. But overall this car was a great value. It handled long road-trips very well. The slave-cylinder (for clutch) had to be replaced several times and still leaked fluid profusely. But it got to and from work, school, and anywhere I needed to go in between for over a year. That's really all that matters anymore I believe.. On the day of its death, : (I was leaving work (it had been parked for about 6 hours.) and I heard a loud CLANK! then the car just stopped. I asked around what the problem might have been.. all I got in response was the timing belt. I also heard that when the timing goes out valves on the engine usually crack. I had been saving money at that time, but refused to pay $600 for a car that was on the verge of 300,000 miles. It had been a great car and as I'm coming to realize, it would've been better to invest in this maintenance vs. the route I'm stuck in now. Since my mother helped me buy my 1st car, my father bought my 2nd one. That was a total waste of money. $300 for that car (83 Chrysler 5th ave) and then $600 in repairs, plus money to get it on the road and legal. So I took matters into my own hands and spent the last of my savings on a 94 Grand Pr ix.. which is unfortunately stuck at my work once again. I recently purchased a key (ignition) at a retail (no names) store. The woman who made it obviously had NO idea what she was doing and made a key without the security chip in it. When I used this key I believe it shorted out the computer in the car, but really I'm not sure. I guess now I can just kick myself in the butt because I was so stubborn in not fixing my Honda. : (

Re the above comment, don't blame the woman who made the key for your own lack of intelligence. The key with the chip is obviously different from just a regular key blank. The only place you can find a key blank with a chip is the dealer or a locksmith. And, attempting to start the car with a regular key will not "short" the computer, the car just won't start.

You really should take someone who has some knowledge of cars with you when you look for your next used car. You don't seem to do very well on your own.

Reply to above comment. I don't know that a lack of a chip will kill a car. But I do know that if you have a coded key whose teeth have just died, you can actually rip off the plastic and glue/tape the chip to the new key and it will work fine. I did it to a Vauxhall Corsa. (something like a Geo Metro)