Technology like four-wheel steering and variable valve timing debuted in the Prelude.
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An engineering thesis disguised as a coupe: A history of the Honda Prelude
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/// OFFICIAL MODERATION NOTICE ///
We don't run AI generated editorial. We don't run ads disguised as editorial. Period.
If anyone wants to accuse us of either without any evidence I have a really simple response: feel free to go find another website to read.
I'm really not going to tolerate it. You want to be critical of an article that's fine. Nobody here is so precious that we try and shut down criticism. If you can't do it without making personal attacks on the authors and accusing us of being unethical with zero evidence then please just find somewhere else to be.
On a more directly related note to this article: it's normal to use the launch of a new car to look back at the history if it's a vehicle that has an interesting story. That doesn't mean anyone is being paid off by Honda, it's called being enthusiasts. Maybe try living in a world where people are still capable of being excited about things and not just using all their energy to be negative about everything.
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There's a university in Hiroshima that I tend to think of as the Japanese car college. Their automotive engine lab is famous within the industry. I associate that university with Honda, because they both have the same focus on internal combustion engines. Even when they go high tech, it's about automobiles. For example, back in the 1990s, they showed a demo video at SIGGRAPH rendering car headlights in varying weather and road conditions. They joke about pilots having avgas in their blood. Some people have regular gasoline.
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As a young man, I was a serious Honda motorcycle afficiendo. Starting with the Honda 90 (both styles), I owned the 160, the 250, the 350, 450, and finally the 750 (a brute!), whereupon I took leave of may senses and bought a Suzuki X6 250, which was blazingly fast and fun to ride with the then-unique 6 speed transmission. During a road trip with the X6 from Colorado to Baton Rouge, while zipping through Dallas at 2 AM, I blew a dime-sized hole in one of the pistons, but that's another story.
Moving to the Chicago area, I became a commuter. The answer? A bright yellow Honda N600. This car was a blast to drive, and amazingly big inside; the gear shift sticking out of the dashboard was odd, but quite comfortable. My brother and I are both 6'-1"; we put thousands of miles in that car, camping in Colorado and Wyoming, both feeling comfortable inside the surprisingly roomy cab.
In 1973, during the gas crisis, I sold the car for $2600!, which was more than twice what I paid for it. Good times.
Moving to the Chicago area, I became a commuter. The answer? A bright yellow Honda N600. This car was a blast to drive, and amazingly big inside; the gear shift sticking out of the dashboard was odd, but quite comfortable. My brother and I are both 6'-1"; we put thousands of miles in that car, camping in Colorado and Wyoming, both feeling comfortable inside the surprisingly roomy cab.
In 1973, during the gas crisis, I sold the car for $2600!, which was more than twice what I paid for it. Good times.
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I miss my 89 Prelude with 4 wheel steering. By far my favourite car. Had a friend who had 3 of them and was using two as sacrificial for spare parts, that could only last so long.
The four wheel steering was amazing. Handling and turning was amazing. But you had to be aware and be careful. It was a car you had to reverse parallel park. Trying to nose in would leave the back of the car hanging out.
The four wheel steering was amazing. Handling and turning was amazing. But you had to be aware and be careful. It was a car you had to reverse parallel park. Trying to nose in would leave the back of the car hanging out.
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Around 2008 or so I had a '83 Camry that I pulled out of the junkyard at the auto shop I worked at. Had over 450,000km on it. Reason for junking? Needed a clutch. I threw a shop battery in it, checked fluids and it fired right up. Turns out the clutch was fine, the airflow sensor was reading false air due to a slit in the intake boot downstream of it.
That car was a four door 5 speed manual with power door locks and windows, moonroof, cruise control and the top shelf stereo. Everything worked, paint shined up with a polish. NO rust, factory brake pads (highway km, manual. The one owner did sales for Monsanto so it was all over NA) all original everything minus tires. Drove like new. I put another 80 or 100k on it before it died (at my hands unfortunately, I still cringe).
Younger people really don't understand how fucking TERRIBLE American cars were back then. I've spent lots of time under the hoods of '80's domestic vehicles. With a few outliers, they are all very bad. Now? With a few outliers they're all pretty good.
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Yeah the piece is a bit fluffy, the title got me to expect a deep dive à la John Siracusa. Maybe for next time the author should focus on one generation and what made it really special.
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Hard Thoughts
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Yeah I do feel the article is weak. I’m not going to say it seems AI generated, I assume Gitlin knows the guy. But at the same time, I was at least expecting more than a cursory list of the technologies. I do want more depth about their specifics and if possible some conversation with the designers
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If anyone wants to accuse us of either without any evidence I have a really simple response: feel free to go find another website to read.
I'm really not going to tolerate it. You want to be critical of an article that's fine. Nobody here is so precious that we try and shut down criticism. If you can't do it without making personal attacks on the authors and accusing us of being unethical with zero evidence then please just find somewhere else to be.
On a more directly related note to this article: it's normal to use the launch of a new car to look back at the history if it's a vehicle that has an interesting story. That doesn't mean anyone is being paid off by Honda, it's called being enthusiasts. Maybe try living in a world where people are still capable of being excited about things and not just using all their energy to be negative about everything.
Several long time readers are seeing patterns in the text that very closely resemble common chatgpt mannerisms. Here's another example:
I have to be honest, if I'd read this anywhere else, I would have no doubts this was written by AI. While I can agree with you about the unfounded accusations of undisclosed ads, I'm not sure I fully support silencing honest opinions about what long time readers feel when reading this article...
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Yeah, I grew up in central Wisconsin and don't want to admit how many decades I felt that way. They I learned about winter tires and took real (EVOC/defensive) driving classes and wish I could transmit that info back to the younger knucklehead me.
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I drove one back in the early 90th. It was quite a special car, for me because of the high powered servos that allowed you to turn the wheel like no other car, brakes and gas where extremly light to the touch, the precision of the manual gearbox, the sound ... it's hard to discribe and obviously not as impactful to somebody who didn't grow up with the cars of the 70th and 80th.
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Especially after ARS recently pulled an article because of AI generated quotes ...
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Nope. Neutron Jack. Named after the Neutron bomb that killed people, but left the buildings standing untouched.
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The history was welcome, but as mentioned before, it could have been a little more detailed. Maybe more pictures of the tech? Maybe I'm expecting to much?
I don't agree with your last sentence though, at least in regards to the latest Prelude. I really don't see anything to be excited about. It doesn't seem to capture anything that made the previous versions a Prelude. Sometimes things deserve some negativity...
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My grandma had an 1988 2.0Si with 5 speed. When i was a little kid i thought it was the coolest thing ever, i never got to drive it although i did get to shift gears from the passenger seat when i was in the car with her. After 10 years in upstate NY and well over 100k miles, she gave it to my uncle, who drove it another 120k, then he sold it to some kid.
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BobbyBobberson
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Priced like a sports car, looks like a sports car, but is missing the manual transmission and power of a sports car.
It's just a cynical joke of a car from the company that made the NSX, S2000, and Integra Type-R, and Civic Type-R.
It's just a cynical joke of a car from the company that made the NSX, S2000, and Integra Type-R, and Civic Type-R.
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I still drive a 1998 Prelude with manual transmission. Tires, batteries and oil keep it running. I live in VA so we have annual albeit minimal inspections which it has always passed. People occasionally stop me and ask if I'd consider selling it. My previous car was a 1988 Prelude and the only reason I replaced it was because my wife wanted me to have airbags since I was on I-95 every day 
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I mean, come on man, this is all still fresh and you expect us not to be skeptical?
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That one had people asking if AI was involved as well. Maybe it's just his style though.
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It's fucking exhausting though to click on an article and check for comments on the topic and it's just all miserable shit like this though.
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I normally try to stay out of all this discussion because I don't really want to argue with everyone on the internet, but...
Come on. Are we seriously using this as an argument for things being LLM generated? Have we somehow forgotten that we all learned three point (usually paragraph) papers back in grade school?
Sometimes LLMs have their own quirks of sentence structure... And sometimes the things they do are common because they're the fundamentals of actual writing.
Come on. Are we seriously using this as an argument for things being LLM generated? Have we somehow forgotten that we all learned three point (usually paragraph) papers back in grade school?
Sometimes LLMs have their own quirks of sentence structure... And sometimes the things they do are common because they're the fundamentals of actual writing.
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When I was car shopping, I tried one on. I say it that way because it felt to this 6'2" 200+ guy like too tight shoes sitting in the driver seat.
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On the other hand, it's pretty much the style I'd expect from this kind of automotive article, if it was written by a human or by an AI/LLM.
I can see how people end up suspecting it was LLM generated, but if I had to bet the next round of beers, I'd bet human (and probably a human with an ad-copy background).
It seems to be an unfortunate side effect of the push to use AI in everything -- it makes us more suspicious of the kinds and styles of writing that AI is almost good at.
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Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean a computer wrote it. And pointing to grammar like emdashes or sentence construction as some clever gotcha is ridiculous.
yes it is and it’s a big reason I engage much, much less around here now.
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I learned to drive in a 1980s Prelude, the last one in Australia sold with … my memory is a bit hazy, either four wheel steering or something? I think the former? Regardless, it was a fantastic car. It drove so well. It was comfortable, and the sunroof was great for summer days.
Though it wasn’t my car I do kind of miss it. It had done enough kms to go to the moon and back by the time it read finally retired, I heard.
Though it wasn’t my car I do kind of miss it. It had done enough kms to go to the moon and back by the time it read finally retired, I heard.
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Every example these stupid AI detectors give are just examples of good writing. None of the authors here are ever going to apologize for knowing how to write.
How do people think they trained those LLMs in the first place, ffs?
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Yer gonna hafta be more specific (...sigh)
There have been two US-initiated wars in the Gulf in my memory and three in my life.
On a slightly happier note, the second most attractive girl I knew in high school drove a late 90's Prelude. So that's something.
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Bought a red '91 Prelude in 00 as my first Car, it has survived and supports my family, still rolling.
Only invested in some paintwork and a new Cat since the old one was stolen.
Managed to scrounge a new windshield after 2 unlucky stone chips.
Wonderful engineering feat. the handling and torque is such a joy to drive.
And I can say it's a headturner, lots of younger people stop to comment, older geezers like myself start reminiscing. The looks are so different from modern cars.
Can't get myself to buy a modern car, though a coupe isn't ideal as a family vehicle.
Guess we'll see what to do when Petrol is phased out, 'cause I honestly think it'll be rolling still.
Only invested in some paintwork and a new Cat since the old one was stolen.
Managed to scrounge a new windshield after 2 unlucky stone chips.
Wonderful engineering feat. the handling and torque is such a joy to drive.
And I can say it's a headturner, lots of younger people stop to comment, older geezers like myself start reminiscing. The looks are so different from modern cars.
Can't get myself to buy a modern car, though a coupe isn't ideal as a family vehicle.
Guess we'll see what to do when Petrol is phased out, 'cause I honestly think it'll be rolling still.
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Yeah, but longer and more informative.
Motorweek is still on (Saturdays 0800 on my local stations, except during pledge months when just about everything is preempted by stuff that supports the begging breaks). They still have their standard programming style, with short individual pieces crammed into 20-25 minutes (must allow time for enhanced sponsorship announcements aka ads). Most of their car reviews are essentially driving impressions similar to here, though they do seem to find time to visit a dragstrip for verifying 0-60 etc., and occasionally (for serious models) a Real Racetrack for a few circuits. Mostly, the visits are for B-roll with voiceover and a little on-screen data.
Unfortunately, modern car magazine "test" articles (other than Consumer Reports) seem to be similar to Motorweek's coverage. They just fill a few more (virtual) pages with stuff (not always related to the actual car under test).
The car show I really miss is Car Talk with Click n Clack...
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Sorry - duplicate (deleted). The Save button didn't appear to be working.
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Best "Chevy" I ever drove (counting cars in the family - several - and fleet and rentals) was our 86 JapaNova - a Corolla sedan assembled from Japanese kit at NUMMI with Chevy emblems and a few GM interior/trim parts. Only downside with it was the brakes, which faded seriously on long grades and really hard stops. The only Honda we had (a 94 Accord LX - no VTEC or ABS) also had abysmally weak brakes though otherwise was unremarkable. Not that Big Three cars were any better, really - mostly, they were worse.
Second-best "Chevy" I drove was the 17 Bolt - had its faults, but overall a very competent small car that happened to also be a EV (mostly designed and most components coming from S. Korea, assembled in Michigan). Sister in law had a "Chevy Sprint" which was really a Suzuki (tiny car, 3-cyl, etc.) that she drove the s*** out of with few if any repairs. Understand the new Bolt is mostly (more than 50%) Chinese, and based on a short test drive seems to be much nicer than the Equinox EV for my purposes. None of the genuine US Chevys have been attractive or reliable, wherever they were assembled. Perhaps there's a pattern here?
Japanese makes have used US assembly for a long time, with generally good results (witness our NUMMIs, both Chevy and Toyota-branded). Even the diesel Rabbit (assembled in PA at a former Chrysler plant) was pretty good - except for the German parts (engine, transaxle, many electrics) which were maintenance and repair nightmares.
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The Prelude was a great car and it's nice to have an overview of its history. I think the article is reasonably balanced. It explains how the first Preludes were just Accord coupes, not the engineering showcase that they came to be later. Also that many of the innovations were premature or not worth the cost and did not continue into later models. It still was a great car. Somehow I doubt the new Prelude will be as great, but I am looking forward to the review.
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To be fair, the article just seemed a bit sloppy to me. It's pretty clear to me it's been written by a human, just that the writing isn't the usual style here on Ars.
So I'll hope you will take my take on it as constructive criticism the author might actually learn from, and not a personal attack on their integrity. As I do actually enjoy reading such historical articles here.
For one thing, it feels embellished a bit beyond understanding at times. Plenty of the adjectives could have been deleted without harming the gist of it.
For another thing, it overuses certain terms, phrases and phrasing quite a bit too much for my taste. All in good faith, but it gets pretty tiring after the first one. Plus some of the hyperboles.
Third, the LLMs have been all trained on actual articles like these, so I do find it somewhat understandable people had debated its provenance. Because the one very thing LLM stochastic parrots are actually good at is mimesis and memetics. Like all parrots do.
Continuing on, when most of the internet is flooded with LLMs parroting the writing style the stochastic parrot had been trained upon, it's inevitable that people yell "LLM!" whenever they encounter the same style of writing. Remember the dashes debate?
And yes, I can't even use em‑dashes correctly since my native tongue yells at me with "you idiot!" whenever I try to implement them the usual "correct" way – hence the lonely en‑dash here, because that's how they are actually used in my native language, all the English heathens be damned ;-)
Fourth, it's a bit thin on the actual meat of the article, i.e. the technical side. We were promised "An engineering thesis disguised as a coupe", while it in my opinion (YMMV!) fell a bit short on the "engineered thesis" hyperbole.
All I know is that I found it a bit tiring, that's all. Too many allusions, embellishments and fluff without the meat, if you get my meaning. Was it that bad? Not really. I did actually like the author's previous article even if it had some of the same issues and wandered around a lot (their historical article about some of the earliest "self‑driving" cars was pretty interesting, even though it seldom delved into the very specifics).
TL;DR: I just felt it was a bit of a sloppy writing, quite orbiting around its headlined premise of exploring how the actual car differed from the others on the market. Perhaps that's just me looking at it from my Euro perspective, or me not really being a car enthusiast. I don't really know. I did enjoy it actually, even if I think it could have been better.
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Well, the 2026 Prelude is technically a crazy hybrid Civic Coupe Type R without the +100hp since the money went into the suspension performance over the engine. Money went towards the suspension costs and video reviews showed that it can handle very well. Still, the Miata and 86 twins will outclass it the more fun categories other than sipping mileage points. The new Z will also take a swing at the price point.
I'm not a Honda car person as a 6ft behemoth, their cars annoyed me with the roof lines. Any decent road bumps and speed bumps, I'd hit my head up into the ceiling; most circa 1980-2003 based Accord/Civic/Integra + coupes. Majority of the car reviewers tend to enjoy Honda's roots with their suspension designs at most and how the driver can "feel" the car handling.
Lexus SC300 '98/Toyota Solara '00.
I'm not a Honda car person as a 6ft behemoth, their cars annoyed me with the roof lines. Any decent road bumps and speed bumps, I'd hit my head up into the ceiling; most circa 1980-2003 based Accord/Civic/Integra + coupes. Majority of the car reviewers tend to enjoy Honda's roots with their suspension designs at most and how the driver can "feel" the car handling.
Lexus SC300 '98/Toyota Solara '00.
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Are you saying parallel parking with the rear end coming in first is an exception? Because that's how it's always done in my country, even the driver license exam is test that way.
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As a mechanic, peak GM was reached just before the '08 crash. Some of their best engineered highest quality stuff. They also weren't afraid to step out and try some weird shit. Sure, not all of it landed (many were simply before their time) but holy heck the Po tic Solstice and Saturn Sky. Those thing are gilded unicorns these days! Even the Aztec aged well.
Also, have you heard of the Toyota Cavalier? Yes, that was a thing. And for the record, base Cavaliers are like cockroaches, mostly reviled but also nigh unkillable. The later Ecotec equipped ones destroyed many egos on the strip as well. Those things begged for boost.
(Good entity above iOS autocorrect has gotten truly atrocious now. It just turns properly spelled words used in correct context into gibberish more often than it fixes mistakes.)
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