1991 Honda Prelude 2.0S

i was just browsing different car sites and i noticed that the honda prelude is a pretty nice car. I've seen them around and i love them. People have done mods to these cars so i'm not sure what the stock horsepower is. The Prelude(s) i like are the '88-'91 models.
Does anybody have any comments on the 2.0L manual?? What is the stock horsepower. One guy said 145hp and one guy said 100HP. Is there a difference between the 2.0L and 2.1L?? Any other comments on the car? Stock 0-60mph times? Stock quarter mile times?? Thanks.

I owned a black 1991 Prelude Si for approximately 4 years. The car had the upgraded 2.05 liter engine (as opposed to the 2.0), but did without 4 wheel steering or anti lock brakes. I first began driving the car at about 70k, and managed to run the odometer to 168k by the time I traded the car in on an Infinty J30.
Overall, my ownership of the car proved to be a very satisfactory experience. I received about 31 mpg on the highway and 27 or so in the city. The engine's 140 hp and 135 or so lb. ft. of torque were plenty enough to make the car fun to drive. It was amazing how many thugged up Civics this little car would take by surprise. Believe it or not, I honestly can't recall any naturally aspirated Civic that this car wouldn't flat dust at a stop light (accept, of course, for the 99 and 2000 Si models.) I know that isn't saying much, but it just shows how little credit this gutsy little car was given by the big wing and buzz pipe import crowd. The car was completely unmodified, and managed to hit 60mph in 8.3 sec. at the track on a cool fall day about a year ago.
In regard to handling, the Prelude gripped the corners decently well, but the stock wheels, while attractive, are more narrow than they should be; the stock tires are 195/60 HR14. Ideally, this car should have 15 or 16 inch wheel with a 7 inch width and 50 or 55 series tires. As is, the car understeers hard through just about any corner you over-cook. Exit too hard or get wild with steering inputs, though, and that plow will quickly convert to snap oversteer- typical of most Hondas. Be moderate with your entry speed and gentle with the wheel, and the Prelude will reward you with beautifully arcing four wheel drifts. In other words, once you manage to overcome the Prelude's tendency to understeer, you can drive it quickly and gracefully, while at the same time relying on the heavy front end as a safety net.
The car's brakes are adequate, but not outstanding. It's relatively easy to lock up the front brakes once the pads are good and hot, and the rear end squirms a bit, especially under heavy trail braking (then that snap over steer becomes an issue again!). Perhaps this is reason to find an example with the ABS option, but this is a bit of a shame, as the pedal, while not quite as solid as it could be, is very easy to modulate. Once the car has been driven hard, the rotors will probably quickly warp. I highly recommend switching to a set of aftermarket cross drilled or cryogenically chilled rotors and Kevlar pads. Even if you do not burn up the back roads on a regular basis, you will be pleased with the extra security and durability. Besides, you can buy some very nice aftermarket rotors for about the same price as new rotors from the Honda dealership.
The interior of the car is very ergonomic (although you can forget about cup holders) and the trunk is HUGE for a car this size. The back seats are a joke, and I wouldn't wish the punishment of sitting back there on anyone.
Finally, the dependability of the car is A-1. Considering how hard I drove the car during ownership, the car fared very well. The only really disturbing aspect of the mechanicals was oil consumption. Oil use rose from a quart every oil change (3000 miles) to about 1-2 quarts every 800 miles by the time I got rid of the car. I know much of this could be attributed to hard use, but the engine in this car had some inherent problems. In order to get the horsepower and torque from this relatively small engine, Honda gave it an unusually long stroke. This leads to high piston speeds, which in turn leads to ring degradation. It is worth noting, though, that the car never emitted any noticeable smoke, and the engine ran smoothly and strongly the entire time I owned it. After talking to other Prelude owner, I discovered that most of the high mileage cars suffer from the same oil consumption problem mine had. Even so, the owners checked the dipstick on a regular basis and continued to pilot their cars past 200 and even 250 thousand miles.

review taken from

[URL=http://www.epinions.com/content_75084238468]Click Here[/URL]

wow thanks for all the info!!

no prob.... ;)

Hi i was just curious if anyone could tell me the model lineups from the cheapest to the most expensive, i know there is the S the SR and the SI (maybe there is more im missing) and im currently lookin at an SR. Besides listing could someone else tell me the options that you get with each one that differs from the other. Thank you.

this thread has been dead for one year and three months, that must be a record... :rolleyes: