the outside front wheel, and also increases its rotational speed by as
much as 15%.
Putting the extra power into the outside front wheel, which typically
bears the heaviest load in hard cornering, compensates for the extra load
and restores balance.
It's a typical Honda solution to a problem no one else has really managed
to solve--and it works.
This is a slightly bigger Prelude. The wheelbase has been stretched
almost an inch and a half, overall length has increased by 3.2 inches,
height by an inch. It's also a smidge heavier, partly because of the dimensional
increases, partly because Honda's chassis engineers have gone through the
platform from stem to stern to increase overall rigidity. Dramatically.
We're impressed by the results, because the previous bodyshell was already
one of the best in its class in terms of stiffness, which is the cornerstone
of ride and handling development. Like the last generation, the new Prelude
uses Honda's double wishbone suspension fore and aft, with disc brakes
on all four aluminum alloy, which have increased an inch in diameter to
16 inches.
Honda's stylists seem to have looked to the third generation Prelude
for inspiration in designing the latest. The roofline is more formal and
the overall appearance more conservative compared to the swoopy lines of
generation four. The most distinctive element is a pair of high-output
vertically rectangular headlamps, remiscent of the new Mercedes SLK roadster.
The new Prelude comes in just two models--standard and SH--with one
engine. This means bad news and good news. The bad news is that last year's
less expensive (and less powerful) S and Si versions have disappeared from
the lineup. The good news is that the surviving engine is the 2.2-liter
dohc 16-valve VTEC aluminum four-cylinder, slightly uprated to a sizzling
195 horsepower for the new car.
Honda also offers a new automatic transmission option for the Prelude,
a four-speed called the Sequential SportShift, that allows the driver to
shift manually as well as operate in full automatic mode. Similar in concept
to the Chrysler AutoStick, it adds more driving fun to automatic editions,
but also adds weight and cost, and subtracts from all-around performance.
Besides the extra mass, AutoStick editions also come to the party with
five less hp. Next Page