The Carchive: The Honda Prelude MK4

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It’s Friday and as such time for our final instalment from Prelude Week here in The Carchive.

Owing to my continued failure to find my copy of the 5th Generation brochure (I know it’s in there somewhere, if I concentrate really hard I can hear it calling me, and I so badly want to go in and rescue it but it’s cold and the water is rising) our Honda Odyssey (ha!) must end here.

It’s the Honda Prelude MK4.

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“Just one look at the New Prelude from Honda tells you it’s all very new”

One look at the last generation and it was pretty hard to see anything new at all. This time around, though, Honda decided that the Prelude (now Prelude by Honda) should have a real identity of its own.

Although the basic proportions were as before, long and low of hood, lithe of cabin and taut of buttock, the new car was an altogether more pert, muscular, energetic proposal than the slightly aloof looking previous car, albeit with the sad loss of concealed headlamps.

We can forgive that, though, as the new lights were artfully designed, with air intakes (probably as much for style as substance) integrated into the inner edges, a trademark shared by the  European Accord of the time. The high tail and prominent twin outlet exhaust made for a far more assertive look to the posterior, spoilt only by Japans lack of interest in fog-lamp integration.

Overall, though, a far more dynamic, distinctive, arresting Prelude.

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“Powerful. Responsive. The dual combination that makes the new Prelude a smoother performer”.

The VTEC didn’t kick in, y’all, until a little while after this launch brochure was released, though it would cause a minor revolution when it did, the 2.2 litre H22A2 engine would soon become near-legendary.

For now, though, we see before us the 2.0 and 2.3 litre offerings, again, at 131 and 158hp respectively, providing a useful performance advantage over the previous generations.

0-62 time dropped to 7.7 seconds for the 2.3 model, which was pretty decent considering front-wheel-drive and natural aspiration. That H23A2 engine, actually, was a good one too. Plenty strong and a pleasure to exercise; the same basic engine in H23A3 form was also offered in high-rung European Accords (AKA the JDM Honda Ascot Innova), and indeed the Rover 600 which sprouted from that platform.

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“Enhanced handling, greater control”

Of course, the front-wheel-drive platform had been retained which meant no, or few, sideways shenanigans or car-park doughnut misadventures, so the RWD Jihad would automatically dismiss the Prelude from their want-lists.

They were missing out, though. Control, roadholding and precision remained excellent. Double Wishbones were carried over from last time around, though comprehensively redesigned and retuned. The track of the car was broader and the wheelbase marginally shorter. The dampers had been given “Progressive Valves” to enhance suspension response.

And of course, 4WS returned. Standard on the 2.3 model, it was now a microprocessor-abetted electronic system, rather than a direct mechanical linkage. But the effect was much the same as before. Turn-in was assured, low-speed maneuverability was unnaturally good. It was still every bit a car for driving as any one of its forebears.

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“In the art of communication, the new prelude is a master”

One thing which was welcomed in the new Prelude was the return of absolute stylistic insanity. By and large, this was a successful cabin. It was, of course, still a 2 +2 with marginal space in the rear, and was imbued with a strong feeling of being a RWD car, the driver and passenger being divided by a deep longitudinal tunnel for a propshaft that wasn’t there. All good sports coupe stuff, and then you turned the key and the dashboard lit up, and it was like the last twenty years of ergonomic progress had amounted to absolutely nothing.

The two lazer-sharp dials ahead of the driver were fine. Clear, accurate, great. But somebody who had been mainlining some very expensive drugs elected to employ a pair of vacuum-fluorescent gauges for fuel and temperature, and then place them, of all places, above the centre stack.

The brochure boasted with no trace of irony that the dashboard “literally spreads the instruments before both driver and passenger for a more shared atmosphere” Indeed, the check engine and brakelight bulb failure warning lights were in front of the passenger, so it was the co-pilots duty to inform the driver of impending doom, leaving him to concentrate on speed and revs. Absolutely bloody stupid.

I love it.

The next generation, who’s brochure I STILL CAN’T FIND would shape up to be far more conventional inside and out, if no less quick. More about that, er, one day.

(Disclaimer: All images are of original manufacturer publicity materials, photographed by me. Copyright remains property of Honda. Actually, I’d much rather have a pair of ridiculous blue dials beaming at me than some stupid infotainment screen. Just me, probably.)

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