Are performance mods possible on a 99 Sportshift Prelude?

Hi!

I am a relatively new Prelude owner and well, kinda embarassed to say I dont know much about these cars. I spend the better part of the evening reading all your posts and its amazing that you guys are so much into these things. The only car I have owned or driven before is my 1963 Ambassador in India, and I think it had maybe 2 electrical components.haha.. I still have it :) Anyways, My Prelude is a 99 with SportShift transmission. I have heard that if I make any performance mods, this might blow up the transmission. Please let me know if there is actually any threat to the transmission. I do sometimes drag out of a light but I dont do it regularly. Also, let me know if I can replace the Sportshift transmission with a manual and how much it would cost?

Thanks in advance,
Prem. :)

Possible, yes, worth it, up to you, to me, not really, seeing as how SS seems to be quite slow

they are slow in comparison... but that doesn't mean you can't mod it...

my ex has a 97 ss... it has cams, header, cam gears, v-afc, intake, nitrous, and more... it's pretty quick... it beat a stock s2k... so it's not that slow... but hey, 75hp of nitrous will do that... before the nitrous, my built 3gen lude 5 spd can pretty much keep up and then pass her around 85, b/c i'm just shifting into 4th and i still have another gear, where she is finding 4th...

A lot of people have nothing but bad things to say about the SS tranny and have had to get theirs replace. Honda-prelude.com even has a forum for SS complaints. There is the other side of the spectrum, and thats people running JRSC's (super chargers) on the SS tranny with no complaints.

also... there used to be a guy with a chameleon painted lude that was turbo and ss, ran 13s... no problems... i don't know if it was here or on superhonda.com

nope, im http://www.columbiatuners.com/car_pics

minus all the cool stuff in the trunk (sold it yesterday)

if you plan to keep your lude for several years, make sure you mod the below:

1. Intake
2. VAFC
3. Nitrous 55shot will do

those are the basic necessities for the ss to keep up with modern sportcompacts...well, given NA sport compacts, i should say. hahhaa. :p i like the ss, its a cool feature to have.

I'll be the first to admit that the engine in my 99 is unmodded internally and has no external goodies except a K&N drop-in filter and a Thermal exhaust. With that said, the SS tranny in my car goes to Watkins Glen and Pocono and I have been able to run very well at both tracks. If you plan to do stoplight launches, then you need to consdier the stresses that drag racing imposes and have the tranny beefed up to handle them. Also, keep in mind that front wheel drive axles can and do take a beating.

Enjoy your car :D