D Griff

Hello Prelude community, I've been driving a Milano Red EJ6 for about five years and the tranny is done. I'm looking for a RELIABLE, sporty daily driver within a moderate budget ($5-10k as a ball park range). I may keep the Civic and build it, so I don't need a racecar or anything, just a fun, affordable DD. Anyway, I found this:

http://www.hondamarketplace.com/show....php?t=2963800

How much would you all pay for it? It seems to be super clean!

B serious

iTrader: (1)

It's clean. But the price seems a bit high. $6500ish is what I'd pay on the high end.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

BTW, the SH might work for you in this case because it seems to have been driven very lightly. But remember that the SH comes with it's own set of head aches. ATTS was really dumb. Honda should have just put in a regular LSD trans. It's WAY too complicated. It uses these stupid clutchpacks and gears to prevent inside wheel spin while turning. It uses an AT trans style cooler that is plumbed into the radiator. It can't handle over 250hp. It also saps power from the engine because of the stupid extra clutch packs, fluid, and gears.

I just recently bought a 97 SH with a blown motor thinking I could just swap in a JDM black top and call it a day. NOPE! The SH model came with a unique block and transmission configuration. So I had to buy a JDM long block and a LSD trans seperately.

ATTS seems to malfunction easily. H series motors aren't exactly known for their durability and longevity, it seems. They blow up wayyyyy too much. The car that I bought had been driven lightly by just some normal *** dude. It has a bad thrust bearing and rod knock at 149K miles. Weak.

Preludes are great cars and all. Just be aware that the SH comes with unique features that, honestly, most people would prefer to do without. Just a heads up about the SH.

I guess there are good things about it like the rarity, slight collectability of an unmolested one, resale value, etc. Plus, ATTS is admittedly fun to play around with on corners. On throttle oversteer from a FWD car is weird....but fun.

minilogoguy18

Yeah, I wouldn't buy an SH, not with knowing someone with one and sorta guiding someone I work with on swapping a Type S motor and trans into one, ATTS isn't nearly worth the trouble. IMO, a base or even a 4g, OBD1 and lighter.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

I'd honestly rather have a nice DC2 GSR for the $$. The lude seems to be a better "value", and rides/handles better and is faster compared to a (GSR) DC2. Overall, though, DC2s are a more solid bet in terms of reliability, cheapness to mod/maintain, etc.

Sorry. Forgot it was a prelude forum

andoxviii

iTrader: (1)

An H series can be just as reliable as any D or B series. The reason people blow them up easily is because they don't check their oil levels often enough. The FRM cylinder walls cause some headaches, as they wear away the piston rings and allow oil to pass through and burn in the combustion chamber. But I think it's unfair to call Prelude engines unreliable.

You bought a used car. Who is to say that "normal *** dude" drove it lightly? The fact of the matter is, you have no idea how your car was driven previous to you.

1GPlusSH

I would pay $6-7000. It looks like a good find if it really has been taken care of as good as the guy says.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Even with how much I've beat the crap out of all my B series cars, I've never been let down. The last 2 preludes I bought had around 135k and 149k miles respectively. One was already on it's 2nd motor and started to knock. One was knocking when I bought it.

There's plenty of solid running 150-200+k mile tracked (road course) B18C cars that I've seen and owned. Never really see that from a H22 prelude. I think a lot of people would agree that the H22 really isn't entirely solid. Good power band, though.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

BTW, don't take this as me completely ragging on 5G preludes. They're really fun cars to drive with all that torque. The out of the box performance also beats any B series car except for the ITR.

Prelude theft isn't an issue.

The brakes are great.

The steering feels good.

My friend was able to crush people in whatever stock autocross class he was in with his prelude. Mostly because I didn't have my ITR at the time . He has a few 1st place trophies. The chasssis is genuinely good.

It has ABS standard. Things like that set it apart from the sardine can EM1 civic. Although, my EM1 has a lot more "charm" than my prelude.

The fit and finish is better than the EM1. And probably slightly better than the DC2. For examples: shutting a prelude door doesn't result in rattling noises for 10 mins like a civic. You dont have to wrestlle the heat/cold blend lever into submission before it moves like in an integra/civic....etc.

The 5G prelude is styled moore "maturely", IMO. Interior and exterior.

Prelude prices are better than equivalent B series cars.

And so on....