Huh?

 

"Debuted" might have been a better word - 94 Integra

 

Wow... I really don't know what to say to this. Perhaps this person has never driven any Integra besides an LS. The only things the Prelude tops an Integra in have to be the fact that the interior is a bit more "mature" and the Prelude is no where near as loud. Having owned two Type R's before my S2000 and driven numerous Prelude VTEC's of both 94-96 and 96-99 (I think) this person is out of their mind. No Prelude with equal mods to a well driven, equally modded GSR or Type R will ever win in a flat out drag race, nor will it handle as good. For one, the Type R has chassis spot welds which eliminate body roll not to mention the brakes and suspension are far superior to any Prelude. Just my .02... I could go on for days, but oh well...

 

Assuming you are buying a 5 speed (which you should be) that should be a draw.

My wife has a 98 Prelude and has had more problems with it than all of the Hondas I have ever owned combined.

There are KNOWN issues with the automatics...hers died with 89k on it and Honda replaced it....if that isn't a sign that there are known issues, I don't know what is.

She also lost her timing belt at 60k, luckily at a traffic light so she didn't have any damage. It turns out that the timing belt tensioner was another known problem. We had heard a metallic rattle from time to time but the dealer never figured it out. Turns out that when the tensioner fails, it cuts the belt. That was another goodwill deal, where Honda covered about 65% of the bill after I complained that the tensioner must have been bad. The mechanic at the dealer reluctantly told me it was the tensioner failure.

I mention these things after researching both issues quite a bit and neither the automatic trans nor the belt tensioner are isolated incidents. Many people had the same issues.

I am SURE many people have 5th Gen Preludes that never had an issue; I just thought I'd throw in my experience. I just wonder a bit if the Prelude was more of a guinea pig rather than a car for Honda to showcase their latest technology.

 

I have owned three 5th gen (97-01) Preludes in addition to an '88 4WS and a '93 VTEC. Needless to say, I love them. When I think of "Honda Technology" I actually think of the Prelude's long history as a technology marvel more than I do the S2000. I still feel that my Type SH had nearly as much raw cornering power as my S2000, despite being disadvantaged by FWD and skinny tires. It was a fabulous car, and a unique driving experience. I like to think of the Prelude as one of the few members of the "FWD Coupe" genre that had real sports car DNA in it, from the engine to the chassis to the suspension.

The Prelude's spirit is still alive, well, and selling poorly as always on the dealer showroom floor. You just need to go to the local Mazda dealer and take a RX-8 out for a spin. It's a very similar car in spirit (and feel) to the Prelude.

Though I never owned an Integra, I entertained buying one several times over the years. As others have said, very agile car. It's light and you can feel it... the Prelude was light, too, until the 5th gen rolled around and it hit 3000 lbs. I felt that the Prelude's fit-and-finish were superior, and if you had the VTEC engine the Prelude simply outmuscled the Integra, ITR excepted of course. Integra is less expensive, more tossable, and more affordable. And, of course, it's available in 4-door format depending on the year. Oh, and you get the hatch. And I kept hearing that the Integra always had better fuel economy. And that the rear seats were actually occasionally semi-functional. (Unlike the upholstered luggage shelves that passed for rear seating in the Prelude.) It's hard to argue the sheer practicality and value of the Integra, probably one of the reasons it lived on as the Prelude was put to sleep.

Now all that said, IMO the RSX is a far superior car to the Integra and mostly superior to the Prelude as well. A lightly used RSX-S would be hard to pass up, depending on price / budget. Honda did the right thing by killing both and giving us the RSX, although I wish they had kept the Prelude or Integra name. (Both had a good amount of brand equity in them.)

I totally recommend that any Prelude fans wishing for a replacement go to the Mazda dealer and check out a RX-8 if they ever get a chance. It has the exact same spirit and DNA as the Prelude... which probably is why they can't sell them if their lives depended on it. People want their coupes to be Accord-like or RSX-like. Prelude's knock was that it was RWD mechanicals saddled with FWD... the RX-8 fixed this and still can't sell, so maybe it's just that nobody wants an upper-20s coupe that doesn't come with heated leather seats, optional nav, and a big torquey V6. It's the only way to explain why an Accord V6 coupe or a Mustang GT or a Mitsu Eclipse would survive while Preludes and RX8s would die slow deaths.

 

Between a Prelude Type S and an Integra Type R it would be pretty close. But since we don't get the Type S here in the states, I'd pick a Type R teg over a Type SH lude. However, Between a GSR teg and a Prelude I would pick a Prelude for refinement, hp, and edge in style (Plus it's just as fun to mod and responds well to them).

They are both very comparable cars. Where one excels in one area, the other gains in another area. I've always thought of the Integra as the Prelude's archrival. When I pull up next to one, I can't help but race them.

 

No one is talking about the Type R.
No one is talking about MODS.
Hell, we aren't even talking about prelude Type SHs much less Type Rs.

Only moronic riceboys compare modded cars to stock cars. Go stick a fart pipe on your car, lean your seat back, peer down the road through the steering wheel, ever so gallantly grip the top of the steering wheel with one hand and proceed to try to race old ladies in their town cars.... "yo".

 

I totally agree on the Type SH. I owned a 1997 Type SH and a 1994 Integra GSR. Hands down, the Prelude was better. Like others have mentioned, the last Integra was designed in 1993. A long long time ago.

The Predude SH was really a joy to drive, somewhat close to the S2000 in fun factor.

If you can get a Type-R Integra, well that is a different story. Obviously this is better than any of the other Preludes or Integras. I had a chance to buy one when they first came out for $500 off sticker. It would have been a smart move. I bought the prelude instead. I could have sold the Type-R 3 years later for the same price I would have bought it for.

Good luck finding a used Type-R. It will have been so modded and pimped out that you'd be a fool to buy it. There are a few out there that are still stock, but you will probably end up paying more than you would for a used S2000.

 

[quote name='suvh8r' date='Feb 16 2005, 06:58 AM']No one is talking about the Type R.
No one is talking about MODS.
Hell, we aren't even talking about prelude Type SHs much less Type Rs.

Only moronic riceboys compare modded cars to stock cars.

 

Prelude all the way! It's faster, cuter, more expensive, roomier, and rides and drives better.