Honda prelude Tuning

"Tuning a legendary coupe from Honda."

The Honda Prelude

The Honda Prelude started off life back in 1978 there were a total of five versions until production was stopped in the 2001. 

In 1988 3^rd model version was released with a range of powerful 2 litre engines producing between 104 and 142 horsepower. 

The bonnet of this third generation Prelude was unusually long but tapered away steeply to give a good view of the road ahead. 

The handling was phenomenal for car of its class with the introduction of a four wheel steer. We have a range of tuning and styling articles for the Prelude.

In the 1990's in a new version was released with a modernised styling and a move away from the angular appearance of the previous model with the introduction of some more curvaceous elements. 

The 2.1 litre B21A1 engine was  rated to 140 horsepower and Honda had elected to retain the pop up headlights of the previous model.

The interesting model arrived in the 1992 following its 1991 debut in Japan. The engine of choice in these model was that the 2.2 l 190 HP VTEC. Despite the long nose, a characteristic of the previous generation models this model still enjoyed a near a 50/50 weight distribution. 

This model of prelude was the most curvaceous in the lineup and some would argue the best looking. There is a wide selection of car tuning parts available for the 1992 to 96 Honda Prelude.

The final generation of prelude had a relatively short run between a 1997 and 2001 the most prominent feature of this model is "a frog eye" headlight arrangement, with 2 square headlights just proud of the bonnet line thanks to construction regulations. 

This model is good news for power fans as the engine power output was increased to 195 horsepower and then, with a high flowed head and other engine enhancements, up to 200 horsepower in 1999. 

The supreme handling ability of the previous model has been further refined to produce one of the most rewarding and easy to drive sport coupes available. Reliability of course is not an issue thanks to Honda’s stringent manufacturing process and use of their VTEC.

Being a high revving Honda engined car there are many performance upgrades for it and we've seen some interesting turbo conversions, supercharger kits and other big power mods on the standard block. Internally if the engine is balanced and strengthened it will be able to cope with very large power gains.

Fit a fast road cam and get the head flowed and ported for serious power gains, the exhaust and air intakes don't do a great deal on their own other than add a lot of noise. You will need to bear in mind that extra air coming into the engine needs to be matched with extra fuel and in some cases you will need to seek uprated injectors and a fuel pump that can cope with your power delivery.

For tuning tips that work on your prelude please see our tuning section using the link above, there are also a number of styling articles which give inspiration and ideas. Please join us in our chat forum and meet other prelude owners to swap ideas and discuss tuning problems and get answers to your Prelude tuning questions.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Honda. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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