i need help in a very important decision!!

ok. Im in the market for a prelude (any from 92 and on) and i want to put a turbo the prelude after i buy it. so my question is is which gen prelude is the best for a turbo and is the vtec or si better for the turbo. any info is greatly apreciated. thanks.

for mild boost such as 6-8psi, the h22 vtec will do you just fine. anything greater you're looking at more work to prep the engine. in that case, i'd look into the h23 non-vtec. same amount of work to prep, but it'll respond better to boost than the h22.

for mild boost such as 6-8psi, the h22 vtec will do you just fine. anything greater you're looking at more work to prep the engine. in that case, i'd look into the h23 non-vtec. same amount of work to prep, but it'll respond better to boost than the h22.

That is very true.

boost the h23

thanks a lot for the info guys. its greatly appreciated

I say 4th gen VTEC.. Less than a quarter of the people that say they will boost their ludes actually do it. You will find out how much work and money it will cost and it will probably dissuade you from doing it. Then you will wish you would have bought a VTEC lude because it is decently fast and you don't have to do anything to it.

I don't mean to be a pessimist, just a realist.

I say 4th gen VTEC.. Less than a quarter of the people that say they will boost their ludes actually do it. You will find out how much work and money it will cost and it will probably dissuade you from doing it. Then you will wish you would have bought a VTEC lude because it is decently fast and you don't have to do anything to it.

I don't mean to be a pessimist, just a realist.


i wish i'd of read that advice before i bought my car. he's right. b/c everytime i go to make large purchases for my lude. LIFE happens.

wow...i never actually thought about it that way. thanks a lot for the extra info. But arent 4th gen VTEC ludes kind of hard to find in decent condition? that is why i was thinking of getting an si. :(

get a 5th and get a jackson racing supercharger lol

you see it all depends on what you want. do you want a fast 1/4 mile or a highway car cuz you are really not going to get everything you want. you have to do a lot of research especially for 5th gen preludes. #1 they are really heavy for a sports coupe but the h22 vtec has the balls to pull it. if you put a 7 psi turbo in it with the stock engine which i don't recommend it will still through you back quit a bit. But its a lot of $. To be realistic and cost efficient you should look at a civic si.

you see it all depends on what you want. do you want a fast 1/4 mile or a highway car cuz you are really not going to get everything you want. you have to do a lot of research especially for 5th gen preludes. #1 they are really heavy for a sports coupe but the h22 vtec has the balls to pull it. if you put a 7 psi turbo in it with the stock engine which i don't recommend it will still through you back quit a bit. But its a lot of $. To be realistic and cost efficient you should look at a civic si.

tell me you didn't just recommend a civic over a prelude??? :screwy:

haha, but you do have a point. preludes aren't the most cost-effective honda to be modifying. but i'd take a 14 second FI prelude over a 13.5 second FI civic anyday. :iceslolan

hell, i'd drive a prelude with a missing body panel over a civic.

You are right "I" would take a prelude over a civic anyday too but a lot of people don't have the $ to do up a prelude the way they want to. Preludes not only look better, perform off the lot. They have a great street value. Mostly cuz they don't make them anymore.

go wid a VTEC lude
5th gen cause it looks better, but parts will cost more for it as well
they pull wuite decently for something that heavy
i know caused i used to own one

go with the VTEC and save your turbo money to go NA :-D i would also recommend a 4th gen to save money because yer gonna pull the stuff out of it anyway to replace it with high performance stuff. why buy an 8000 dollar car to pull 6000 dollars worth out and put 10000 dollars worth of new stuff in it. when you can buy a 2-3000 dollar car and put 10000 dollars worth of new stuff in it. i learned that one the hard way. i got a 98 SH and i dropped a JDM motor in it and i owe more than it's worth on it. definately not worth it. just my $0.02 - thanks for listening!

I think I'd also say go for the 4th gen. I mean I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little partial because I have one. But also the 4th gens are lighter than the 5th gens, with I believe the 93 and 94 being the lightest ones.

go with the VTEC and save your turbo money to go NA :-D i would also recommend a 4th gen to save money because yer gonna pull the stuff out of it anyway to replace it with high performance stuff. why buy an 8000 dollar car to pull 6000 dollars worth out and put 10000 dollars worth of new stuff in it. when you can buy a 2-3000 dollar car and put 10000 dollars worth of new stuff in it. i learned that one the hard way. i got a 98 SH and i dropped a JDM motor in it and i owe more than it's worth on it. definately not worth it. just my $0.02 - thanks for listening!

TRUE!

Im with phunguy...same situation except a 93 lude...
bought a SI and put a custom turbo on it....engine blew and dropped a JDM H22 in and put the turbo kit on that and have been running 6psi for 6 months. A suggestion if you do go turbo. buy the FAL fans....they are worth it. I ruined a turbo by melting the stock fans and sucking them in the turbo....also why my first engine blew.....by the civic fans and then you can make a custom bracket for about $15. just bought a piece of metal at a hardware store and drilled holes to match the mouting holes and then to match where the fans connected. it took about 30 minutes to do. they plug right in to the prelude fan adapters.

bah - go N/A and don't even worry about turbo. you get more respect if you can build a powerful N/A motor (from me anyway)

wow guys, thanks for all the help. good thing i decided to ask all of you before i bought my car. i think im gonna go N/A bc of the costs and the hassles that come with dropping in a turbo on a car that doesnt normally come with one. as always, thanks for all the help and info.

I agree with all of you:

Buy a 4th put swap Cheaper.
Lude much better than civic, look, handle, Power

I have a 92 Prelude with JDM Swap typs Cams Yad!Yada! Yada! It is awesome.
My Firend has a H23 turbo in his 93 about 10 PSi Boost.

Not much faster than me faster but not so much that I am going to pay $3500 for a Kit done right just to got fast in a stright line.

It is all in what you want. Type S H22A then add mods. Screw the overpriced turbo kit once yo put the turbo on you will never stop working on it.

Love all ludes even the 79

once yo put the turbo on you will never stop working on it.


whats wrong with working on your car? i wouldn't know what do do with myself if my car worked right.

whats wrong with working on your car? i wouldn't know what do do with myself if my car worked right.

Well thats true I can't say I don't go to bed dreaming of what i want to do next.
But it is better up grading than fixing. Damn that sucks

Thank GOD you're considering turbo-ing it...I'm getting kinda tired of everyone slapping a supercharger on stuff...mustangs...S2Ks...trucks...SUVs...even production cars are starting to use them more...that new car Chevy has coming out has a model that uses one...there's a Saturn model that uses one...I just don't get it...A well designed turbo system (SYSTEM...eg: intercooler, BOV, Wastegate, all piping, the turbo itself, etc...all of it taken into consideration and designed according to intended purpose...) will ALWAYS have the potential to be everything a S/C is and then some. Read the "Turbo vs. Supercharger" thread in the Forced Induction part of Cars in General...

go with the VTEC. prefferably a 5th gen because your more likely to find one with less miles and easier to find in the first place.

plus, if you decide not to turbo, i don't want to see you asking on how to convert your h23 in an h23/h22-head hybrid a few months down the road.

oh, and replying to the previous post. tradionally, detroit has always put in a s/c over a turbo. i can't name a single turbo'ed domestic off the top of my head that came that way off the assembly line

Grand National? Isn't that a Buick?

go with the VTEC. prefferably a 5th gen because your more likely to find one with less miles and easier to find in the first place.

plus, if you decide not to turbo, i don't want to see you asking on how to convert your h23 in an h23/h22-head hybrid a few months down the road.

oh, and replying to the previous post. tradionally, detroit has always put in a s/c over a turbo. i can't name a single turbo'ed domestic off the top of my head that came that way off the assembly line

srt-4 pt/cruiser gt, chrysler has had many turbocharged cars. lebaron, stealth tt, etc. gmc typhoon/syclone, grand national. just to name a few. :p

Plain and simple if you have the MONEY BUY a 5th GEN....if you wanna save MONEY buy a 4th GEN!! I don't care what people say...a 5th Gen is just as good or BETTER then a 4th Gen VTEC...

My 92 prelude is quicker than my 03 Jetta 1.8T
My 03 Jetta 1.8Twith software upgrade is just as fast as a 03 jetta Gli (per race) from 0 to 70 and from 70 to 130mph. took foreever but we made.

Just a bit of new info.

5th gen. is the way to go:2cents: