1994 Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC Si from UK and Ireland - Comments

Alarm has a mind of its own sometimes, hardly the car's fault though.

This is without doubt one of the best looking cars Honda have ever produced. Even at nine years old, after some TLC, the car still looks absolutely fantastic. This is the first car I've owned that people have come up to me and commented upon.

The metallic silver finish looks wonderful on a sunny day and shows off the (some might say womanly!) curves of the bodywork. The standard polished alloys look good too - I had planned to replace them, but they've definitely grown on me.

Inside, it's surprisingly small - the backs of the comfortable front seats almost touch the rear seats which are a bit of a joke. All of the gauges and warning lights are set behind a dark, sweeping pane of perspex - which light up like a space ship when turned on. Even the ventilation/air con is digital - a super climate control system, which is also very easy to use.

Driving the car is easy when you just want to get from point A to point B - and yet it can also be extremely involving when you want to "drive". This is a Honda that doesn't need to be thrashed to make decent progress, although all hell breaks lose at around 5200RPM and up to the redline! My car is an automatic which I love, although many people prefer this car as a manual - to better exploit the VTEC engine. I suggest you try both if you're looking at one of these.

At low revs and cruising speed, the engine is almost inaudible. As the revs rise, it starts to make the most beautiful noise - I have been known to turn the stereo off just to listen to it!

Steering is sharp and cornering fantastic. Mine is a BB4 model, which does away with the four wheel steering system found on earlier (and UK) models. As a result, the turning circle is surprisingly large considering the car's size.

For a 2.2 sports coupe, the fuel consumption is not bad at all. 20 around town, a little over 30 on a run. This is just an estimate however - if I was bothered about MPG then I wouldn't have bought this car.

Excellent value for money these days.

I must say I am the partner of the Honda Prelude fanatic and only now have I come to realise how mens minds actually operate when thinking about their preludes.

As a woman I feel quite impressed, but rather jealous about how a man can express so much emotion about a car!

It is however nice to hear a man say such nice things, I now know that men can be affectionate! there is no excuse any more boys!

Original Poster here!

Yes of course us blokes are capable of getting emotional over something this special. There's just something about the Lude.

Hard to see why sometimes - it's in no way perfect, has a drink problem (only 98RON will do) and costs a fortune to keep in top condition.

One of the last Japanese cars with real personality?

5200rpm to 7400 rpm v-tec

or

3000 rpm to 7500 rpm turbo power

think about it the vtec is the type of car that you have to thrash to get it to move. ignore 197 bhp look at the torque figure that's what matters.

No! I disagree!...I was a HondaFan all my life, lucky enough to have owned all the type r's Honda produce... but wanting absolute perfection-and not content with just 2-wheel drive, I 'crossed over' to Subaru, and got myself anawesome WRX. Now thinking as a purist that 4-wheel drive, turbo charge was the only way to go, I sold my Accord type R (in hindsight the best car, I've EVER had!) and settled into my new wrx-yeah, as the previous writer said (and I also said till a few months ago-torque is the way to go) but there was something very WRONG!!! I missed that VTEC driver satisfaction, and everything now seemed detached and remote! turbo-lag, was also a downer... NO I disagree very strongly with the previous writer- in real life situations, you need positive feedback from your car, i. e the steering input, an informative chassis, a very responsive engine, on ALL these fronts (and more!!) HONDA WIN HANDS DOWN!! THIS FROM A GUY THAT'S HAD TOP-END PERFORMANCE CARS FROM MOST OF JAPANS FINEST!!

I've driven turbo cars and V-tec civic, prelude, integra, etc.

Theres just something special about the V-tec engine; the sound change is awesome and the way the car delivers the power is brilliant. I would take a V-tec over a turbo any time.

I just sold my turbo Integra Type R... best of both worlds; turbo and vtec.

I've just purchased an accord type r in black, you must be a brave guy selling it and buying a wrx, what was going through your head, the accord type r is awesome in every way, I would never sell mine.

I've had an Integra Type R (best car I ever owned). Never heard of an Accord Type R... any idea what that's called in Australia?