Honda Prelude, the greatest car ever. #blogpost

This is my first blog post.

First Gen - The ugly beatiful.

The first gen Prelude was made from 1978 to 1982, on November 24th, 1978, the Prelude was launched to the Japanese market. The struts, brakes and engine were all borrowed from the first gen Accord (below).

The wheelbase was only 60 millimeters (0,19 feet) shorter than the first gen Accord. The Prelude was the first Honda model to offer a power moonroof as standard equipment, which eventually became a Prelude trademark. It completed the quarter mile in 18.8 seconds at 70 mp/h. The Standard engine was a 1.6 Inline 4, with 80 horsepower at 5000 rpm, and 93 lb-ft. Later, a 1.8 engine was made too, with 90 horsepower. The transmission chocices were: 5 speed manual, 2 speed auto and 3 speed auto. It weighted only about 900 kilograms (1980 lbs).

Second Gen - First Prelude with pop ups.

The secong gen Prelude was released in Japan in 1982, and worldwide in 1983, and was made until 1987. It was available with an A18A engine, that produced whooping 105 horsepower, or an interesting B20A which made 160 horsepower at 5 300rpm. The European B20A1 engine produced only 237 horsepower. The desginer was Shinya Iwakura. This Prelude only had 2 transmissions to choose from, a 4 speed auto or a 5 speed manual. The car weighted 918 kilograms (2023 lbs) or 1340 kilograms (2954 lbs) depending on model.

Third Gen - Greatest car ever made?

On April 9, 1987, the third-generation Prelude was released in the Japanese domestic market and released later that year worldwide, being an 1988 model in North America. Featuring evolutionary styling from its predecessor, it shared design cues from the Honda NSX that would be introduced later in 1989. The Prelude featured innovative features for its time such as a 0.34 drag coefficient, roof pillars made of high-strength metal and its signature feature, the available option of the worlds first mechanical four wheel steering system available in a mass-production passenger car. Honda had expected 30% of buyers to plump for four-wheel-steering, but the car was a runaway success in the home market and 80% of buyers did in the first year. The engine options were: B20A3, B21A and B20A, all of them making around 150 horsepower. This gen had the smae transmission options as the second gen, a 4 speed auto and a 5 speed manual.

This was also the only gen that had mechanical 4WS. The third gen outperformed every car in slalom, including exotic cars like Porsche or Ferrari, which is impressive.

Fourth gen - Modern design in the old days.

This gen was made from 1991 to 1996. The car had a 58% front and 42% rear weight distribution. The four wheel steering system was changed to an electronic version and the engine was increased in capacity from 2.1 litres to 2.2 litres for the base model “S” (SOHC F22A1 engine, 135 PS (99 kW; 133 hp) at 5200 rpm, 203 N·m (150 ft·lbf) at 4000 rpm) and “VTEC” model (DOHC VTEC H22A1, 190 PS (140 kW; 187 hp) at 6800 rpm, 207 N·m (153 ft·lbf) at 5500 rpm), with a 2.3-litre for the “Si” (DOHC H23A1, 160 PS (118 kW; 158 hp) at 5800 rpm, 212 N·m (156 ft·lbf) at 5300 rpm). The Japanese Si came with the F22B (2.2 L DOHC non-VTEC, 160 PS (118 kW; 158 hp)). The VTEC model had an upgraded brake system, going from a 10.3” (262 mm) front rotor to an 11.1” (282 mm) front rotor and utilizing larger brake caliper and pads, similar to those found in the Honda Vigor. (This was used from Wikipedia, would take way too long to write all this). This was also the end for pop up headlights. The rear end was rounded and fairly high in comparison to the previous square trunk line. The front fascia of the car became wider with fixed headlights. The glass moonroof made way for a steel sliding sunroof which no longer retracted into the car but extended out and over it. All VTEC and SE models had leather interior. The fourth generation Prelude also shares some suspension components with the fifth generation (1994–97) Honda Accord. It also shares many suspension components with the 5th generation Prelude’s that are not equipped ATTS system.

Probably the nicest dashboard of all times?

Fifth gen (last gen) - Ugly but quick.

This gen was made from 1996 to 2001, in my opinion, it is the ugliest of all gens. This car was featuring many different engines that had up to 200 horsepower. The Prelude was only available in three models for Canada and two models for the US (the Base and Type SH) Canada’s market included the SE as well. All models came with 16-inch alloy wheels and 200 horsepower. The 2.0i and JDM Si trims came with 195/60 R15 88H, and the JDM Xi came with 14-inch steel wheels. Unlike the US market Preludes, JDM Preludes came with rear wind screen wipers, except for the Xi.

Honda also released a special edition fifth generation Prelude, called Motegi. The name of this special edition derives from the ‘twin-ring Motegi’ motor-racing circuit, located in Haga District, Tochigi, Japan. This track was built in 1997 by Honda as part of their effort to bring the IndyCar series to Japan.
The Motegi edition Prelude featured an OEM Honda body kit, 17” Honda alloy wheels, lowered sports suspension and a Motegi badge on the trunk lid. All of these items, with the exception of the trunk lid badge, were optional on non-Motegi models.

The Type-S model.

One version of the fifth generation Prelude, a high-performance model called the Type S, was only available in Japan. It was equipped with the 2.2 L H22A, featuring VTEC and producing 217 horsepower at 7,200 rpm and 163 lbf·ft at 6,500 rpm. The gearing on the Type S matches all other fifth-generation Preludes that had a manual transmission except for the five-speed 2.2 VTi VTEC and had a final drive ratio of 4.266:1. The Type S had an Active Control ABS system, different from the others which had the standard ABS systems. The interior featured newly developed synthentic materials called Cabron and Excene to upholster the seats which most people see it as leather and alcantara laced with red stitching. Manufacturer styling options included seat lettering. The exterior styling of fifth generation Preludes was standardized for most models. All had a sunroof except for the Type S model.

Sales: 1st gen: 171 829
2nd gen: 336 599
3rd gen: 160 909
4th gen: 98 627
5th gen: 58 118
Total: 826 082 Preludes were sold.

Please excuse my poor English.