Okay, it's an important question for me, at least...
I've had a 3G Honda Prelude Si4WS since 1993. The car is, as you know, great!! But the story doesn't end well.
I moved to Minnesota in 2000. As you know in Minnesota, they salt the roads every winter. And we all know what the salt does to the car.
I love this car. Nothing I've driven compares to the way it feels when I drive this car -- ugly though it may be. It feels and handles better than you can imagine. The car was raised in Montana where the speed limit is very liberal and drove it regularly and for long periods of time between 100-130 mph. The car now has >250k miles on it, appears to be falling apart, but still handles beautifully and most happily at 100mph. No engine rebuild! It's great! It's almost like the regular high-speeds were a furnace to make the engine upstoppable.
And I've finally found a forum of people who know what it's like to drive a 3G Honda Prelude Si4WS!!! Nice to meet you guys!
Okay, now here's the question: What is there out there in the world of cars that compares to the way it feels to drive a Prelude Si4WS? I do, in fact, need a new car. This is no longer a pretty car...
Thanks guys. And happy driving!
Rich
Very Important Question!
Moderators: RedRacer, spiffyguido
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JockDoc75
- Prelude Enthusiast
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:57 pm
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spiffyguido
- Moderator
- Posts: 2196
- Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:55 am
- Prelude Model: 1991 SE-SR
- Location: Alberta, Canada
- Contact:
Rich.
First of all, welcome to the PreludeDriver.com forums. We're very happy to have you here, and personally, I'm especially excited to see yet another 3rd gen owner.
I'm sorry to hear about your car. It's true; salt is very hard on Preludes. I have to combat the same problem with my ludes.
Your question: what other cars can deliver a driving experience like a 3rd generation prelude? I'll do my best to answer. By the way, were you looking for a newer car, or just another car?
I've driven a lot of cars, but I haven't been impressed by many of them the same way I have been by my 3rd gen.
If you're looking for something newer, you could always go for a newer Prelude. I would suggest a 4th generation over a 5th generation, both for looks and for performance. If you like your 4ws system, the 4th generation has a similar one on some models.
4th generation preludes handle very well, but with a slightly different feel than the 3rd gen. The 4th gen feels slightly thicker than the 4th gen on a twisty road. The grip and turn-in is still fantastic, and all in all, it's almost as good a drive as the 3rd gen. I don't really know what the big difference is. I've driven 2nd, 3rd and 4th gen preludes millions of times, and every time they've put a smile on my face. The 4th gen is a great car.
I think the subtle differences in the feel of the 3rd gen and 4th gen driving experience might stem from the way you sit in the car. Anyone who's driven a 3rd gen knows that when you drive a 3rd gen you don't so much sit in the car as you do become a literal mechanical part of the car. This, apparently, is akin to piloting an F16. The 3rd gens superb visibility (it held the record for the most radial visibility for some time, I think) and super low bonnet line (again, a record breaker) makes the driving experience something else.
The 4th gen is slightly different. You sit "IN" a 4th gen, and the big rear fenders really cucoon the driver somehow. It's a good feeling.
There's a member on this forum, RedRacer, who's going to come in and tell you all about how great a 4th gen is. He owns one, and he loves it dearly. I highly recommend the 4th gen if you're looking for a newer lude. A superb drive, and the H22A VTEC engine is a fantastic motor, truly one of Honda's masterpiece. WHen you drive an H22A equiped lude and the VTEC kicks in, you feel it in your spine, the engine starts to shout at you (H22As sound fantastic), and then you just have to smile.
Have you considered a 5th gen?
Not wanting another Prelude? Well, you still have options.
If you would like something a little bigger, I happen to believe that the older 2-door V6 and H22 Accords are good cars. The ones from 1998-2002 are great. It's a bigger car than the lude, not quite as fast, but you'll still love it. I drove a 2000 V6 Accord Coupe a number of years ago and enjoyed the experience very much.
Moving away from Honda......
If you can afford one, a Nissan 300ZX Turbo. A little like driving a grenade with the pin pulled. Great fun.
The older 2.5RS Subaru Impreza. An excellent machine, and a great AWD system. Not as much fun as the lude, but great in the winter, and it makes a good noise.
If you can find one, a Mark III or Mark IV Toyota Supra is also a pretty good car. They're generally expensive to buy, and its not easy to find them for sale, at least not where I'm from. The Mark IV will get you lots of speeding tickets.
That's all I've got for now. Hit us back with more specifics and we'll find something for you.
Preludes are hard to replace. If you can get another lude, I say "do it". I've owned 3 Preludes and I've loved every one of them. There's even a member on this board who owns a Infiniti G35, and he'll tell you he still loves his lude dearly.
Thanks!
First of all, welcome to the PreludeDriver.com forums. We're very happy to have you here, and personally, I'm especially excited to see yet another 3rd gen owner.
I'm sorry to hear about your car. It's true; salt is very hard on Preludes. I have to combat the same problem with my ludes.
Your question: what other cars can deliver a driving experience like a 3rd generation prelude? I'll do my best to answer. By the way, were you looking for a newer car, or just another car?
I've driven a lot of cars, but I haven't been impressed by many of them the same way I have been by my 3rd gen.
If you're looking for something newer, you could always go for a newer Prelude. I would suggest a 4th generation over a 5th generation, both for looks and for performance. If you like your 4ws system, the 4th generation has a similar one on some models.
4th generation preludes handle very well, but with a slightly different feel than the 3rd gen. The 4th gen feels slightly thicker than the 4th gen on a twisty road. The grip and turn-in is still fantastic, and all in all, it's almost as good a drive as the 3rd gen. I don't really know what the big difference is. I've driven 2nd, 3rd and 4th gen preludes millions of times, and every time they've put a smile on my face. The 4th gen is a great car.
I think the subtle differences in the feel of the 3rd gen and 4th gen driving experience might stem from the way you sit in the car. Anyone who's driven a 3rd gen knows that when you drive a 3rd gen you don't so much sit in the car as you do become a literal mechanical part of the car. This, apparently, is akin to piloting an F16. The 3rd gens superb visibility (it held the record for the most radial visibility for some time, I think) and super low bonnet line (again, a record breaker) makes the driving experience something else.
The 4th gen is slightly different. You sit "IN" a 4th gen, and the big rear fenders really cucoon the driver somehow. It's a good feeling.
There's a member on this forum, RedRacer, who's going to come in and tell you all about how great a 4th gen is. He owns one, and he loves it dearly. I highly recommend the 4th gen if you're looking for a newer lude. A superb drive, and the H22A VTEC engine is a fantastic motor, truly one of Honda's masterpiece. WHen you drive an H22A equiped lude and the VTEC kicks in, you feel it in your spine, the engine starts to shout at you (H22As sound fantastic), and then you just have to smile.
Have you considered a 5th gen?
Not wanting another Prelude? Well, you still have options.
If you would like something a little bigger, I happen to believe that the older 2-door V6 and H22 Accords are good cars. The ones from 1998-2002 are great. It's a bigger car than the lude, not quite as fast, but you'll still love it. I drove a 2000 V6 Accord Coupe a number of years ago and enjoyed the experience very much.
Moving away from Honda......
If you can afford one, a Nissan 300ZX Turbo. A little like driving a grenade with the pin pulled. Great fun.
The older 2.5RS Subaru Impreza. An excellent machine, and a great AWD system. Not as much fun as the lude, but great in the winter, and it makes a good noise.
If you can find one, a Mark III or Mark IV Toyota Supra is also a pretty good car. They're generally expensive to buy, and its not easy to find them for sale, at least not where I'm from. The Mark IV will get you lots of speeding tickets.
That's all I've got for now. Hit us back with more specifics and we'll find something for you.
Preludes are hard to replace. If you can get another lude, I say "do it". I've owned 3 Preludes and I've loved every one of them. There's even a member on this board who owns a Infiniti G35, and he'll tell you he still loves his lude dearly.
Thanks!
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JockDoc75
- Prelude Enthusiast
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:57 pm
What a great reply! Thanks! I'll have to pour over it a 2nd or 3rd time and drink in more of what you say.
To be more specific, as you'd asked, I guess I'd have to say that I would drive anything as long as it felt as good or better than my Honda. So it's absolutely an open-ended question.
Here's how I think my question developed...
I was watching a movie ("The Secret") and in it, the viewer was implored to picture himself to close his eyes and picture the way that it feels to drive a new car, saying that the visualization was important but you also had to feel and smell what it's like when you do this exercise. The thing was, I couldn't picture anything else but my 3g 4ws when it was new.
But yeah -- money, make, and model are no object.
You talked me into searching for a 4thG 4WS. Hopefully those aren't too hard to find, though I imagine they are. Those are VTEC, too? That's something I've never experienced...
Again, thanks for the great reply to my question.
To be more specific, as you'd asked, I guess I'd have to say that I would drive anything as long as it felt as good or better than my Honda. So it's absolutely an open-ended question.
Here's how I think my question developed...
I was watching a movie ("The Secret") and in it, the viewer was implored to picture himself to close his eyes and picture the way that it feels to drive a new car, saying that the visualization was important but you also had to feel and smell what it's like when you do this exercise. The thing was, I couldn't picture anything else but my 3g 4ws when it was new.
But yeah -- money, make, and model are no object.
You talked me into searching for a 4thG 4WS. Hopefully those aren't too hard to find, though I imagine they are. Those are VTEC, too? That's something I've never experienced...
Again, thanks for the great reply to my question.
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96vtec
- Lude Dude
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:15 pm
Rich,
Although I now have a 96 VTEC, my last car was an 89 2.0 Si 4WS. As much as I love my 96, I still shed a tear for the 89. I have never had a vehicle that was as much fun to throw around. It was a car that I WORE more than just sat in. I always felt connected to it like no other car before or since. Unfortunately, 290,000 Km took it's toll.
The limits of the 96 are higher--definately more power, and the handling is better, but different. There is nothing like the feel of driving way too fast into a 90 degree right hander, and feeling the 4ws do it's thing! My response to your question is that there is NOTHING like your 4WS!
Although I now have a 96 VTEC, my last car was an 89 2.0 Si 4WS. As much as I love my 96, I still shed a tear for the 89. I have never had a vehicle that was as much fun to throw around. It was a car that I WORE more than just sat in. I always felt connected to it like no other car before or since. Unfortunately, 290,000 Km took it's toll.
The limits of the 96 are higher--definately more power, and the handling is better, but different. There is nothing like the feel of driving way too fast into a 90 degree right hander, and feeling the 4ws do it's thing! My response to your question is that there is NOTHING like your 4WS!