R.I.P Prelude, hello FRS. (review)
 

New owner here, my 92 Prelude SI was stolen and trashed. So time for an upgrade.

I worked on my Prelude three years ago when I was 16 and never thought I would ever let it go. Now the things I miss about the prelude was the uniqueness, the digital gauges, and the nostalgia it brought to former prelude owners wanting to talk to me. TBH I'll buy one again in the future (: Those H series motors pull, and they pull hard.

Now onto the next. Here's my review coming from my prelude.

Interior: 8.5/10
Coming from the price point of 25,000 I didn't expect much of luxury, but I expected to attention to detail. This consists of touch points in the car such as the steering wheel, Brushed pedals, shift knob, the leatherette touch points like knee pads and door arm rests. The only complaint is the AC Controls but even those I only touch once per car ride. Seating is spot on, steering wheel feel as well, and clutch and shifter are relatively short which isn't a bad thing.

Exterior: 9/10
Lots of curves, bodacious butt, and aggressive front. 2015's look amazing with shark fin and larger exhausts. Aftermarket Aero makes a lot of room for customization. Rims personally look good, aftermarket is a little over the top for me with this car already being so flashy. I'm more about that OEM+

Engine and drive feel: 10/10
Comparing from my prelude 160hp and 156 tq. This car does not feel anemic, but it does make you work for its power. Driving hard consists of shifting into 3rd or 4th and really engaging the driver, now if you want a car to stomp on the pedal and accelerate I'm sorry but this isn't the car for you. This car is built to really involve the driver when wanting to have fun. Shifting from neutral to first is a tad hard to get smooth but this is my first manual car. Comparing driving from my brother's Civic SI the clutch engagement is relatively high and i'm sorry but Honda's shifters are smooth like butter. Taking hard turns have turned into a smile because this car simply has hardly any body roll. Merging onto freeways really pushing revs high has turned into a competition of how well I can control the car, and turning into merging 35mph freeways at speeds well beyond that really makes one's drive worth it.

Overall:
You're not paying for the engine in this car, you're paying for the chassis, you're paying for the feel you get in how much it engages the driver through bends, through the relatively short shifts, you're paying for a car that will make your daily driving a reward instead of a boring car ride. Now if you want a car that can accelerate with low driver involvement this isn't the car for you.

Complaints:
1.AC Controls are cheap
2. I suck at first gear in this car
3. Few cabin noises on a new car already
Edited* 4. Personally I believe this car should only be available in manual, as coming from the Honda Community the S2k, Civic SI's are only available as manual. As a business major it creates a car that is only marketed towards car enthusiasts who want to have a little bit more control over the average car. It's almost as though when you see a S2k only being available in manual the crowd it markets too really diminishes into a car enthusiasts car as not everybody can drive it. This is just me though, as I've heard the automatic in these cars really do a good job.

That's a damn shame about what happened to your Prelude. I love that body style. Nice pictures of it too. You will find that most people on the forum agree on most of the points you said.

Also, you should look into the DIY for clutch height adjustment, and for removing the spring that's attached to the clutch pedal. Doing both makes it feel way better in my opinion. I hate the "recurve bow" feel of most modern sports cars with spring-assisted clutches.

You have an interesting attitude for a 19-year old. Welcome to the forum!

Oh alright thanks! I'll look into it (:

What makes you say that? Haha and thanks man

Well done review! Exact reasons why I want this car in the same color. I had a two generation older '87 Prelude Si back in the day. Loved the low hood, that today, would feel like I'd be peering over a rear-engine exotic compared to today's vehicles with high cowls and side windows. Handling was top notch too especially for a FWD vehicle. The interiors in 2nd generation 83-87 Preludes were not the best, but great car nonetheless. Really hard to find a stock model from the late 80's and 90's that hasn't been butchered, trashed or badly modified (oh, and has a manual transmission).

Agree this car makes you work hard for the power, but that's part of the fun/involvement. Welcome!

Oh man I can't even imagine. Yeah there's just something about older cars that really give you a raw feeling of handling, and that sense of nostalgia of driving a car that people can't even buy anymore really makes it unique.

Thanks, I looked at your build and nice mod list! It's always great to see function over form. Personally I think the quality of mods through function on a build are what really differentiates a quality build from an all show and no go build haha

Nice review, I agree with everything you said. About the A/C controls -- order a set of milled dress up rings. They not only look good, but they make the controls feel better, ie. less "vague".



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y44...pse0376e6a.jpg

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First off, congratulations on the new car, sucks to here about the prelude.


Just commenting on what I quoted, this being just my opinion. That's a little closed minded to assume that anyone who bought the auto is a teenager buying the car for looks, from what im reading aren't you also a teenager? I don't know many uninformed teenagers who bought this car at all, not saying there isn't any. Majority of the people I see in these cars bought them as a project and are true gearheads looking for a good drivers car. I bought the auto, not because I cant drive a standard trans, but after test driving both, I preferred the paddles, theyre far better than the bad impression given to people 10 years ago on other cars where they weren't so good. Its fun when I want, and I can just leave it in auto with all assist on when im doing my daily commute in the city. If I were buying this purely as a weekend toy/track car, I would have wanted the stick.


Just trying to give you a little insight before you make assumptions like that. Theres quite a few people on this forum who bought the auto because they enjoyed the paddles.

If I'm being honest, the automatic transmission these come with is probably one of the best automatics in any car below $80k. Don't hate.


From,
A 6-speed driver with a very strong left leg due to Long Island traffic

Thanks and yeah I'm more function over form, but I'll take both if possible! :)

BTW there are some really nice builds on this forum if you browse the member pages.

Sorry about that, that's very much true. I guess coming from the Honda scene I really appreciated that the s2000's, and Civic SI's only came in manual , thus anyone who wanted a sports car of Honda's really had one choice which was to learn manual. As a business major I really appreciated this because it primarily marketed it towards people in the car enthusiast scene. But yeah I get what your saying (: I heard the GTI dual clutch transmission is spot on amazing haha