Honda Prelude VTEC
If you can’t afford a high-revving Italian exotic, Honda’s racy new $22,690 Honda Prelude VTEC may be for you. It’s the most powerful Honda ever.
The Honda Prelude VTEC – named one of Car and Driver magazine’s 10 Best 1993 cars – isn’t one of the ordinary Preludes, which cost from $17,000 to $23,070.
However, as with the other front-drive, two-door Preludes, the VTEC model’s dashboard design is austere, with an odd mechanical/electronic instrument layout; its cramped back seat area is best suited for small pets, and it costs thousands more than major competitors.
The heart of the high-quality Honda Prelude VTEC is its 190-horsepower aluminum four-cylinder engine, which tops the most powerful of other Honda motors by 30 horsepower.
The extra ponies come from the Honda Prelude VTEC’s Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) system, which combines a passenger car engine’s low r.p.m. driveability with a racing engine’s high-r.p.m. output.
VTEC stands for a mouthful of words that probably are strange to those who can’t tell a camshaft from a connecting rod. But the system makes the front-drive Honda Prelude VTEC’s rather small, (2.2-liter), 16-valve, double-overhead-camshaft engine something special to sit behind.
The VTEC system enables the Prelude engine to be “two engines in one,” with strong performance at both low and high speeds. Punch the throttle at 4,800 r.p.m., and it feels like the second stage of a two-stage rocket is kicking in.
With most cars, you get strong zip at low- to mid-range speeds, but marginal or poor performance at higher speeds. That’s a good setup if you want to be the first away from traffic lights or desire no-hassle merging into fast-moving expressway traffic. But it isn’t so good if your car must quickly pass a truck on a highway or narrow two-lane road at higher speeds.
The VTEC system is designed to optimize the Honda Prelude VTEC’s low-to mid-range engine punch for those fast getaways and also to maximize its high-r.p.m. power output for breezing past those trucks.
At engine speeds below 4,800 r.p.m., the two intake and two exhaust valves at each cylinder are actuated by low-r.p.m. camshaft lobes, with valve timing designed to maximize lower-speed torque and efficiency. (Metal camshaft lobes open and close a cylinder’s intake and exhaust valves.)
But at 4,800 r.p.m., an electronic control unit actuates high-r.p.m. camshaft lobes that allow race-style high-speed engine output and efficiency, while the motor emits a throaty snarl.
The Prelude’s VTEC engine has balance shafts to cancel out typical, annoying four-cylinder vibration. It quickly revs to 7,500 r.p.m. – just like a Ferrari engine – to whisk the 135 m.p.h.-car from 0-60 m.p.h. in a scant 6.8 seconds.
That performance makes the Honda Prelude VTEC sports coupe competitive with the fast Ford Probe GT V-6, Mazda MX-6 LS and turbocharged versions of the Eagle Talon, Mitsubishi Eclipse and Plymouth Laser sports coupes.
However, the most expensive of those Honda Prelude VTEC competitors – the $18,575 MX-6 LS – costs $4,115 less than the VTEC; the more-sophisticated Honda models are pricey, although the Honda Prelude VTEC does have a standard power sunroof and air conditioning.
The VTEC engine’s fuel is delivered though a dual-stage intake manifold that improves engine breathing (taking in fuel and spewing out exhaust gases) at low- to mid-range speeds, while retaining good high r.p.m. engine breathing. Despite its performance, the Honda Prelude VTEC won’t keep you pumping a lot of fuel because it delivers an estimated 22 m.p.g. in the city and 26 on highways.
Accompanying the Honda Prelude VTEC’s nifty engine are four-wheel, anti-lock disc brakes that are bigger than those on other Preludes, dual front air bags, high-power AM/FM stereo cassette with seven speakers and trunk-mounted air spoiler.
While small, this car is safe.
However, you’re out of luck if you dislike shifting gears because the Honda Prelude VTEC is a high-performance model that comes only with a five-speed manual transmission. An automatic would slow its acceleration.
The manual transmission has gear ratios tailored to the higher-output engine, and the slightly notchy, short-throw shifter is hooked to a nice-acting clutch. Racerlike power steering, finely balanced control-arm and multi-link suspension and excellent brakes allow for superb control on all types of roads.
The Honda Prelude VTEC goes, stops and handles much like a race car. Its ride is pretty comfortable, but gets a bit jerky over choppy roads and wavy highways because of the short 100.4-inch wheelbase.
Honda has set the pace in dashboard design for years, so it’s a mystery why Preludes have an unattractive, strangely instrumented dashboard. The Honda Prelude VTEC’s front area has nicely shaped bucket seats and is generally roomy, but the sunroof causes tight headroom for 6-footers. Rear-roof pillars badly block visibility from the driver’s seat.
Cargo space is decent, and the trunk lid opens at bumper level for easy loading.
While most Hondas have become very competent but rather dull, the Honda Prelude VTEC is exciting.
