new buyer

sup all...

thinking about buyin a newer prelude. wondering what i should look for when shopping around (what engine, year, probs, model). ya know, stuff like that. oh, i'd like to sink some money into modding it pretty heavily to race.

thanks!

93 - 95, VTEC model, h22a, thats what i want, best prelude gen IMO, there are more mod options for 97+ year models, it depends on what you like

so what model comes with the h22a? could i get a '00 and do a motor transplant? i know some have a vtec in them but which ones i don't know. more mods for 97+ meaning body mods or engine mods? civics are known for the water pumps going bad, having to tighten the valves and more...are preludes like that as well?

I agree with jermonsta IMO 93-96 are the best ludes but if your interested in a 97+ both the type s and sh comes with h22a vtec engine that i think is something like 200 hp with about 160 ft-lbs the type sh has upgraded 4ws called atts there are alot more mods for 97-01 both engine and body. Honda is real big on changing your water pump and timing belt every so thousand and valve adjustments is needed for almost any car at a certain time

The 5th gen (97-01) is either a base model or the SH. They both have VTEC. The SH has ATTS, but its not 4ws. It transfers torque to the outside wheels, making them rotate quicker during fast cornering.

thanks a lot. i kinda know what you mean when you talk about the older ludes as the better. i prefer the 92-94 civics myself. that's really what i needed to know (the models and engines). i didn't know they put the aws on the newer ludes as well. i guess i'll do some searches on why everyone thinks the older ludes are better unless you have anything else to add. thanks again for your help!

one more question...

do the older gen ludes come with an h22a engine and atts?

93 - 01 come with h22a vtec, 97 - 01 new body style and atts, 96 - 01 obd2 government ecu stuff that makes it harder to tune - or so i hear,
pre 92 is not much too look at but some peopl like them, 92 - 96 is 4th gen and best body style, 97 - 01 is 5th and last gen boxier body style alot more of them, all 5th gens had VTEC h22a engines, all 4th gens that had VTEC were manual ONLY and alot harder to find, power is a little more in 5th gen - but so is weight

nice. is there an engine that is easier to tune? in other words...if i were to go away from n/a, or steer towards spray, is there an engine that will hold up better?

If you want to go big with the nitrous get an H23. It will take the stress better. But the thing is that you get no Vtec. But all the real fast hondas have cams that eliminate the vtec option anyway. So if you are real serious about racing get yourself an H23. The extra displacement(torque) will help you around corners.

it all depends on what you want to do with it man, i don't know which will hold up, it depends on what you are doing to it and how you will be driving it, is this for the strip or the street? do you want daily drivability or what? what are you planning on racing?

Refer to my "Making Power" thread.

Alot of people prefer the 4th gen lewd because of the subtle body lines, it is also said to have more aero dynamic than any other generation of lewd, most in the us arent 4 ws canadaian models have it, and other jdm models, another thing is they dont come with ATTS so be prepared for understeer, but with the right suspension set up that can easily be taken care of. My lewd of choice is the 4th gen.

OK guys, the 5th gen was the only one that had an option for ATTS. It came as the SH model. That is the only difference mechanically between the base and the SH. Also the SH is only availabe in MT.

refer to the picture thread if you want to see some different gens

nice! glad to hear all of your advice.

as for what i want to do with it...i want to race it hard. i'm keeping my JGC as my lifted grocery getter, but i miss my civic and i want to get back into street racing. overall, i want it to handle like my civic (modified of course), win in the 1/4 and dust my buddies wrx in top speed. kinda want it all...:)

anyway...sounds like the h23 is going to be a better engine for me, but ya gotta love that vtec. i'm guessing the h23 will hold up better to a turbo as well (someone said about handling spray better). the atts is inticing, but for some reason it sounds like it would get a little annoying. does it? are there draw backs?

again...spanx again!

question: are guys (or ladies) swapping in anything else as far as motors go? maybe something from an acura TL? i like to be different...hell, i would put a 350 in it if i wasn't a die hard honda fan. :)

The Prelude is NOT the platform to beat a WRX. Or get good timeslips.

i don't know how the H23 differs from the H22 other than displacement and non-VTEC, don't know abou it being stronger, might be weaker, although h23 trannys are supposedly good for FI, I think H23 is an open deck(weaker) block, and h22a is closed deck(stronger), but h22 may have ahigher compression ratio stock, which would be why it's bad for spraying, but that can be fixed with some new pistons, don't even think about spraying for street use, and don't combine turbo with N2O, bad idea unless you build it, if you do your work right, you can turbo it, run high-12s, maybe, and give the wrx a decent run, but don't think 11's or super high speed unless you got $$$$$$,