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 plenty of comfort and convenience goodies.
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 a mere parcel shelf. Cargo space has been increased 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 analog gauge package, rather than the peculiar displays stretched across the dashboard 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 stereo, power moonroof, cruiser 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 is a $1,000 option.
And leather seating has vanished from the option list, an effort by Honda to keep prices down.
Safety features--ABS, dual airbags, side impact protection--are current, 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 clever VTEC (Variable valve Timing and lift Electronic Control) system, but the configuration employed in the Prelude is the most stimulating. Using two sets of cam lobes per shaft--one set placid, the second aggressive--the hydromechanically activated system engages the second set of lobs 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 from 0 to 60 mph in about 7 seconds, making an engagingly refined snarl while doing so.
The 5-speed gearbox is precise, although the gear ratios aren't quite as close as they were in the previous VTEC-powered Preludes.
Honda's painstaking work with the chassis is immediately apparent in hard cornering, even in the basic car. Transitions are crisp, steering responses scalpel-sharp.
Automatic Torque Transfer makes the car easier to drive quickly and helps reduce understeer. However, you have to drive the car quite briskly to experience it.
Just as impressive as its handling and power, the Prelude provides surprising long-haul comfort. Editor Mitch McCullough and I drove a Prelude SH more than 6000 miles during the seven-day One Lap of America marathon hosted by Car and Driver magazine last summer.