Anyone familiar with the previous Prelude will feel right at home in
the new one. The cockpit still provides the same blend of sports car intimacy,
supportive sport bucket seats, high quality materials and plentiful comfort/convenience
amenities as its predecessor.
But there are also a couple of welcome improvements. Honda has put most
of the new car's increased length to work in the rear seat area, which
makes it useful as a people perch, rather than mere parcel shelf status.
And there's also an extra cubic foot of space under the rear decklid, and
the rear seatbacks now fold forward to expand cargo volume.
Just as welcome is the new dashboard and instrument panel, which reverts
to a classic Honda gauge package rather than the peculiar, spread-out displays
of the previous model. The slightly taller roofline affords more glass
area, which improves driver sightlines in the rear quarters, and there
are several bins and pockets for stowing small stuff, another typical Honda
touch.
Standard equipment for the basic Prelude includes air conditioning,
a 160-watt AM/FM/CD sound system, power moonroof, cruise control, driver's
seat height adjustment, tilt steering with a leather-wrapped wheel, map
lights, ignition switch light and power windows, mirrors and locks.
Besides ATTS, the SH version adds leather wrapping to the shift knob,
and the rear spoiler with integrated LED brake light. The automatic, a
$1000 option, is available only on the standard Prelude. And leather seating
has disappeared from the option list, an effort by Honda--questionable,
in our view--to keep prices down.
Safety features--ABS, dual airbags, side impact protection--are contemporary,
but not extraordinary, though Honda has adopted a new Key Code security
system, similar to the PASS-KEY system developed by General Motors.
Honda has developed many applications for its sophisticated VTEC--Variable
valve Timing and lift Electronic Control--system, but the configuration
employed in the Prelude is still the most stimulating. Using two sets of
cam lobes per shaft--one set mild, the second aggressive--the mechanically
activated system engages the second set of lobes at about 5200 rpm and
voila!--we have liftoff.
In the lower gears, particularly, power comes on with a dramatic rush
reminiscent of some turbocharged cars, transforming the engine from mild
to wild. At maximum thrust, the little 2.2-liter engine propels the Prelude
to 60 mph in about seven seconds, making an engagingly refined snarl while
doing so.
The five-speed gearbox is precise, although the gear ratios aren't quite
as close as they were in previous VTEC-power Preludes, probably for a little
better fuel economy.
Honda's painstaking work with the chassis is immediately apparent in
hard cornering, even in the basic car. And the function of the ATTS wizardry
in our SH tester lends an amazing new dimension to front-drive motoring.
When cornering speed increases, it simply makes the driver forget that
understeer ever existed. Transitions are instantaneous, steering responses
scalpel-sharp.
The only trouble with ATTS--and we're not at all sure this can even
be classified as a problem--is that you have to drive the car quite briskly
to experience its magic.
The only other mild negative to emerge from our Prelude driving experience
was ride quality that is distinctly firm. This is a very sporty setup,
and it doesn't let you forget its thoroughbred sinews for a minute.