jmai86

I used to frequent these boards alot when I had my 3rd gen maxima (my first car). It was quite a learning experience and I still love the 3rd gen, but alas the timing chain ticking of death got to me, so I sold it before I even got to do anything with it or even take pics.

So I found a 94 prelude and fell in love. The handling, the infinite modding possibilities, the looks, the EL gauge, the dash, everything was just great.

Handling compared to the maxima is just bananas. I felt alot more in touch with the road than the boat that was the maxima.

I dropped it on Koni Yellows and neuspeed springs, got some wheels, and the handling was even better. Appearance wise, I fitted a lip kit from an Accord.

jmai86

While the look with the 17s was great, and the handling was far better due to the wider wheels, the rims were really heavy and slowed down acceleration. So I traded them for 15s and some beefy tires. Handling is almost as good but acceleration as well as gas mileage improved.









And this is where I'm at today. I've learned ALOT about cars from tinkering with the prelude, and I'd really love to get ahold of another 3rd gen maxima to play with and bring it up to its potential using the knowledge that I gained from owning the prelude. The prelude's interior, while comfy and very driver-centric, doesn't do much in the form of spaciousness. This is what I'll miss the most about the maxima, and the power of the VE engine.

Enjoy!

STILLENGLE

Omg! Why A Honduh!!

zero2sixtyZ

iTrader: (30)

Nice lude. Which model is it? Si? VTEC?

One of my good friends had a 96 VTEC, black on black, I/H/E/P. Car was ridiculously fast, gave my Maxima a good run when I first bought it. I'll post a pic of it later.

NisMoN00B

iTrader: (2)

Pretty clean car. I'm loving the color. I see lightweight 17s in your future.

99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

Clean Prelude. What's done under the hood?

pbn85

iTrader: (8)

nice car but it does not look like a VTEC b/c you have cloth seats. Either way it looks nice. I had a 5th gen prelude 5 speed with i/h/e..man I loved that car. I'll get it again soon...

enjoy your car man!

alcatranz518

iTrader: (8)

Nice ride man! Preludes are nice cars, they are not big, powerful or as comfortable as a Max, but you sacrifice for what you gain in the Honda. I am surrounded by them here and they are great cars. They have great gas mileage, stylish, reliable, inexpensive, comfortable, and fun. Well, unless a ricer gets a hold of one.

mattC

iTrader: (2)

You'll hit limitations soon enough. Just like the rest of us Prelude owners have.

Congrats on the car.

pbn85

iTrader: (8)

you know at first I knew I was right about the VTECs having leather but after reading your comment I decided to confirm it:

http://research.cars.com/go/crp/rese...=&aff=national

its the S and Si's that have cloth but some of those do come with leather. From his pics I could see cloth. I know a lot about preludes man and you just made yourself look like a moron

So anyway...nice car man and sorry for cluttering up your thread about this. You will love taking corners in that thing

mattC

iTrader: (2)

I thought he had said he had a vtec. My apologies.

94+ vtec had leather, my 93 was cloth

XJinCT

iTrader: (3)

you should pimp out a teal one and put clear lights for anything they offer clear. it would be straight 1999 style like the one above me.

cool car, shoulda gotten the vtec one though. i dont mind em.

oh and mattc 'i drive something faster than your prelude' and i bet it cost me less and is more comfortable.

mattC

iTrader: (2)

Don't drive the prelude anymore.

edit: And your car has a pink sticker. TiGhT Yo.

Fast1one

iTrader: (12)

Its meaning is kinda funny actually, ask him about haha....

mattC

iTrader: (2)

It better be along the lines of two in the pink and one in the stink or I'm not having any of it

Snypa

iTrader: (35)

good job man!!!!!!

Nrw

iTrader: (8)

NIce looking 'lude. I always liked that year too.

jmai86

Thanks guys!

Yeah with the prelude I basically traded off torque and power for handling and road feel, which are more important to me anyways.

It is the Si with the H23a1 engine. I prefer the H23 because it has a little more torque. Also, I hear it is better for turbo setups, which may be in the future.

As of now though i'm just fixing up the suspension and tuning up the engine, keeping it stock. It's got plenty of power for my daily needs, so it's alright.

And yes, I would _love_ to get my hands on a complete tan leather interior swap. That would just be bananas. I do know that VTEC and S models come with leather, not sure of others tho.

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

where in the world did you take those first couple pics, those scapes were very appealing

Jbr8k

iTrader: (8)

Tint the tales and you should be good.

owais

iTrader: (20)

cute hanging duck

MorpheusZero

iTrader: (10)

nice man, first car I was seriously acquainted with was a 5th gen lude (auto though). thing was pretty damn impressive in the mountains and I railed on it regularly, you're missing out with the H23 though, shifting an H22 redline to redline and hearing the secondary runners open up is quite the treat, even with the auto that does 80 in second.

well that was certainly a dumb comment.

Toolatecrew

What do thoes 15 inch rims and tires weigh? The car looked so good with the 17s on it. I'm not a big fan of black rims to start but when you compare it to the 17s it looks even worse.

I know the stock 15s on my maxima were around 16 lbs. I've seen a lot of less expensive 17s that are pushing 22-24 lbs.

I think there are several reasonably priced 17s that are in the 18 lb range Fast Wheels inferno, Axix Reverb and Enkei Evo 5 (which I have on my maxima) around 4200 a wheel I would think.

I love preludes and think I actually prefer the curvy look of tha6t generation to the angular look of the last generation.

jmai86

The 15s I have on are around 16lbs. Not much of a difference compared to the stock 15s which weigh around 17lbs. But a huge difference compared to the 23lbs of the 17s, which seriously affected braking power and acceleration even during daily driving.

17s do look very good but the 40 series tires aren't very comfy for daily driving. I'm currently looking for 15" rota auto-x's though which weigh a measly ~13lbs! And they look ****. I've grown fond of 15 or 16s anyways, 17s don't look very good or functional on most small hondas.

And yes the 4th gen preludes > 5th gen.

Divewjason

Congrats, I have always liked how the Preludes look.

MorpheusZero

iTrader: (10)

Try RPF1s, 17x9 is just under 16lbs for $1k/set. You'll probably want to go smaller on a lude, but I don't know what 16x7.5s are off the top of my head. I'd say stick with lightweight 16x~7.5s for a good compromise between weight, grip and ride.

But I disagree, 5th gens look tits.

seby86

H23 power.. not bad man. you cant go wrong with honda at all.... i used to own 3.

at least you didnt go out there buy a mustang or somethin.....thatwould of been dum... nice to see you're stickin with imports .