Last night I pulled up next to a 00/01 Honda Prelude, he was stock master but you could tell he thought he was a hard *ss. We both floored it off the line, I was ahead for a millisecond then the rest of the time he was about a half a car length ahead of me, as I started to pull/catch up he started to slow down...I was in shock, I had 3 people in car (including myself) and he was by himself. My car is also automatic; I could tell his car was stick by the way he hurky jerked it into 2nd gear, I am really hoping that he is the worst driver in the world, if not I have lost what little respect I had for Honda.
My 3 cents.

 

The newer Preludes aren't all that fast. IMO, Honda f----d up when they redesigned the Prelude, uglier and slower.

 

the new preludes have 200hp's stock under the hood. The 5-spd is not to bad. A 200hp four banger to say is not to bad, and with a lttle bit of work it will suprise some cars.

 

Preludes can give you a good run depending on what they have. The main thing that gives us an advantage is our torque! The 4banger does a great job, but vtec can only do so much.
-hype

 

i was on my way to watch "sweet november" with my girlfriend and a red celica gts pulls up next to me on the passenger side. its a 20 somthin year old with a cigar in his mouth and says "hey girl" to my girlfriend then looks over to me and says wussup to me and revvs. im like alright, this lil b1tch wants to play. the light turns green and we both take off. i had a sh1tty take off, no wheel spin but too much clutch. he jumps in front by only about 3 feet in front of me and i start pulling on him fast. i hit second gear and pulled further away. the theater was coming up so i slowed at around 60-70 a little more than one car length. when i slowed down, i had to check if it was a gt or gts...it was a gts. i was really suprised that he was fairly easy to beat. o yeah, there was a firebird right next to me too. i was hoping or a 3 car race but the firebird didnt play. o well. havent raced a prelude yet, hoping to.

 

Yeah, hondas and toyotas are dissapointing, i'm going to have to get an altima just so these guys can compete w/ us.

 

i dunno where you guys live, but sounds like you guys think hondas are no competition. ever raced a turbo SI or turbo ITR?? wut about S/C prelude??? or LS v-tec stroker?? you want competition?? here is some for you!!! max are fast but we got a 2cyc head start! try some ForcedFed Hondas next time! lol

 

Yeah some honda's are viscious. Hey BrokenMotor a turbo ITR would be a big waste. That car is so hard to turbo. The compression is too high. You can make a much better all motor out of a type-r.

Try racing an S2K guys. I walked away from one in 1-2 gears, but in third he was gaining way fast on me. I braked at 80, he never passed me, but he was about to pass me.

 

Like one guy said, the Max is blessed with torque. Remember the lude engine is only 2.2 litres and a 4 banger. Still damn hot. Torque for the lude is only 156 lb. ft @ 5250rpm. In a long stretch you know it eventually would catch the Max. I was debating between a lude and Max. Both are great cars, but I loved the torquey VQ at 4000 rpm. Plus, it's a "sleeper" to those drivers who are not enthusiasts or in the "know". I bought my Max 6 weeks ago and I love it. My previous baby was a '93 Integra RS.

 

...of course the Max can be force fed too...

 

The prelude and the S2000 (Honda not Acura) are the only respectable cars from Honda. Preludes are pretty quick, but not that quick considering it's power. It is a heavy car, that is their problem to start. I have raced a 99 red Honda Prelide SH; (their true VTEC and stick only) notice the model SH. Anyways... i raced him from stocp light to high way. (RT10 right onto 287)and we were dead even. I knew it was stick b/c i'm a big import fan and the fact that he chirped 1-2 and even 2-3. I pissed me off that i couldnt pull on him but after 95 he cut it off so i stopped. Ironic thing was he got off my exit. We exchanged words like the good guys we were. I found out he was stock.. at the time i had only a rigged intake. SCC did a test with a 00 Prelude SH. 0-60 it ran a 7.7 and a 15.5 1/4 mile. Just to give you an idea.

 

I raced a Lude on the interstate from 80 MPH before I got my cat back exhaust. We were dead even till about 115 to 120. Niether one of us pulled an inch on the other. I was pretty surprised how fast he was.

 

current generation prelude or the last? i thought i read that the last generation was faster but im not sure where. thanks

 

The last generation of Prelude was faster, it was lighter. My brother has a '99 Prelude 5spd., I've only beaten him once in a race, and that was when I was going flat out to the rev limiter. I can take him a little bit off the line, but once he gets going and hits VTEC, it's over. And I wouldn't race one on the highway either. Maximas have practically no highway pull, Preludes are all top end (like most Hondas) Hell, I barely pulled on a slightly modified Civic from 80 mph. He wanted to play and so I floored it, I expected to kill him, but he hung with me the entire way. It was then that I realized just how slow my car was on the highway, it just doesn't do anything. Anyone know how to increase the top end power on a Maxima?

 

If you want high end power I'd say get a ypipe. Your intake and exhaust help, but the ypipe will speed things along quite a bit. I just got my Stillen ypipe the other day, but my car is in the shop so it's not on yet. I'll let you know how the difference is. I got my package the other day Pretty quick service.
-hype
(It probably wouldn't hurt ya to lose some weight either I've beaten Preludes and I run 18")

 

a y-pipe, intake, and exhaust with some good rubber, what kind of cars can you do damage to on the interstate, and if it is a 5-spd will it make alot of diffrence

 

I know 287 fairly well. Where is Rt 10? I ususally travel it from 202 to 87. I'm just trying to imagine what the road is like there.

 

Had you had a 5 speed, you probably would have walked the Prelude. Just think of it, a 5 speed Max at over 80 mph still has 3 gears available to it. When I'm feeling frisky, I downshift to 3rd at 80, around 4K rpm, and still have 2500 RPM of room until red-line at 100 mph, then to 4th which will take me to 125 mph or so, and finally 5th which can top out at 140 mph. At 80 mph and above, this is where the difference between auto and manual Maximas really shine . . i know With an auto max, you've got to spread that range (80 to 140) between 2 gears. Because of that spread, the auto Max isn't as responsive up top.

DW

 

Darn my gay automatic maxima, it doesn't have any power anywhere, what's the best y-pipe to get, is there one that would compliment a greddy catback or is it all just the same?

 

Maximas really aren't that slow at high speed, but what will REALLY make a difference up top is a y-pipe. I put mine on a week and a half ago and I commute to school everyday on the interstate, and DAMN does my max pull up top now. Just yetsterday I took a Mustang 5.0 from 70-120....and by the time I hit 120 he was about 5 or 6 car lengths behind me...maybe more. There are only 4 cars that I have gotten my butt kicked up high by: Chevy Camaro Z28, Pontiac Trans Am, Chevy Corvette, and Acura NSX. The Max is NOT slow up top, or at least the 5-speed isn't.

BriGuyMax

 

Before I got my max a year ago, I test drove 2 auto SE's as well as another 5 speed. It's like night and dayin terms of power especially at highway speeds. But I also test drove 3 Preludes (2 manuals and 1 autostick). I just had to have the torque! Just my 2 cents.

 

Just a note while I still remember: Maxima Gearing
1st - 38
2nd - 68
3rd - 100
4th - 130
5th 140+
I got my Max all the way to 130 before I had to shift out of 4th, so your 5th gear is more or less overdrive unless you frequent the highways at 130+ I have an intake and an exhaust, but my ypipe is going on tomorrow so we'll see how the top end improves.
-hype

 

202 crosses with rt 10. The rt10 exit on the 287 highway is like exit 37 or something close to it. From rt going west towards 287south exit, you will pass a Ho-Jo on your right. There is a light right next to it. We battled from that light on to 287 till we hit the rt24 Springfield exit and he called it quits. We both ended up getting off on the Ridgedale exit. Frenzy, where is your 20 (location)?

 

just to be part of the discussion... i'd just like to say that i whupped a prelude friday night on dpa (NY)... just thought i'd share that.

 

My previous car was a 1988 Honda Prelude SI 5-speed. I now have a 1996 Maxima GXE auto. i could with almost out a doubt beat any car off the line in my prelude. up to about 40 mph. I had no mods. The prelude is a BLAST to drive. But i would beware of the 5th gen preludes. they have alot of sh*t to them. i think they are a fair match considering they are only a four banger!!!

ryan

 

I live in Phily, but grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY. When I first moved, I used to visit my folks back in NY by taking 295 to NJ to 287 to 87. I'm sure I've seen the exit your talking about, but I never payed it much attention. Now I take 202 all the way up to 287 around Flemington. 202 is a nice drag strip with lots of lights spaced perfectly, but you gotta watch for the cops.

 

speaking of preludes i was driving my boys 2000 civic ex with the regular rice mods. he has 70 shot nos but it wasnt hooked up. i knew the kid in the prelude, he tried to rev upon me when i was in the max but no room for racing. anyway i see him pulling out of his parking spot. i checked the lude earlier, its a slushbox. i wait till he is right behind me and i pull the e-brake and dump it to display the power. smoked the tires and kept going. now we are a two lane. i know preludes should be faster than a ex civic so i keep the ex in the vtec range. we get side by side and punch it. can you believe it the little civic stayed ahead of the lude !!! i was like damn. is a auto lude that slow? i dont think the lude driver was driving it to its fullest extant. oh well. my 2pennies.

 

Auto Preludes only run low to mid 16's stock, it's pretty sad. So your friend's EX is probably running pretty similar times with those bolt ons.