Page 115 - Car South Africa (February 2020)

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INTERESTING
FACTS

The Prelude name was origi-
nally owned and trademarked
by Toyota, which allowed
Honda to take it over. Honda
has used other names linked
to music such as Ballade,
Jazz, Quintet and Accord. We
might have expected Yamaha
and not Honda would have
appreciated this musical con-
nection due to its triple tuning
fork emblem and its origins
of making pianos, other mu-
sical instruments and, more
recently, audio equipment.
One opportunity missed was
the name Sonata. That went 01
to Korean manufacturer
Hyundai.

SPOTTED
IN THE CLASSIFIEDS

02 03 04
Honda Prelude
Coupé VTi-R manual doubt be the preferred choice for WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR decibels. Then it continues to the
1998, red, 250 000 km, most. I spotted more of the older With complex valve equipment, limiter at 8 000 r/min, although
sunroof, R60 000 models on Gumtree and CAR’s clean and good-quality oil is maximum power is produced at

own classi eds, which makes essential. Any sign of sludge 7 000 r/min. Ensure the synchro-

sense considering about a thou- under the oil ller cap should mesh works without grating es-

sand examples of the fourth and be treated with suspicion. To pecially between fourth and fth

300 of the fth generation were ensure the high lift and duration gears. There have been complaints
sold. Prices vary from R20 000 to camshaft is still doing its job, take about auto transmission failures,
R80 000. We would avoid the auto- the revs past 5 000 r/min. You too. Electrical gremlins tend to
Honda Prelude
Coupé VT manual matic model as it merely detracts should feel the extra power kick in creep in with older vehicles so
1997, silver, 278 000 km, from the Prelude’s sporty bent. and the exhaust note gain some make sure all is okay, including
R59 950 the instrumentation lights.
Fuel consumption for both will
be in the region of 11,0 L/100 km
but with a light foot in everyday
driving situations, this should
reduce to around 9,0 L/100 km.

AVAILABILITY AND PRICES
They tend to be well cared for –
unlike some other Hondas that
are treated like road-racers – so
you should be able to locate a few
decent examples.

01 & 02 The fifth generation offered a sim-
ple dark interior with bucket seats trimmed
in comfortable velour. 03 The VTEC engine
05 really boosted performance. 04 The later
model had a 264-litre boot. 05 The earlier
Parts & info ? https://preludeonline.com; www.preludezone.com; www.extremeprelude.com version sported the more elegant lines.

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