Honda Prelude:

Face Off
1998 Honda Prelude
Text by Dave MacKinnon and Michael Semira
PAS 9/28/2004

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to design your own ride? Imagine taking the best components from some of your favourite cars and integrating them into one awesome vehicle. It’s a process that is often tried but seldom successful. We’ve all seen and heard about the horrid contraptions that are created when front and rear conversions go awry. That’s why we were so impressed by the vehicle Asim Mirza rolled up to our office a couple of months ago. Not only did his 1998 Honda Prelude leave us stunned, jaw-dropped and totally dumb-founded, but the very fact he was able to get all the elaborate work done in our very own backyard of Toronto, Canada was even more compelling.

If Asim’s last name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen it in PAS before. If you didn’t catch it attached to his cousin Basit’s name (who owned the Honda Civic featured on the cover of PAS 4.03), you must have seen it somewhere in the coverage of the ImportFest shows that he helps produce. Many PAS staff members are familiar with Asim and the ImportStyles Promotions crew, but we were conveniently left out of the loop during their Project Prelude’s secretive build-up process, just to make the surprise that much bigger.

As you can already tell, the immense amount of automotive camouflaging that went into this creation really baffles its onlookers. Most people are compelled to inspect the ‘Asim ‘Lude’ for a few minutes before realizing that it really is a Honda. The body now sports a massive custom widebody kit that features a Skyline R33 front bumper, Black Widow side skirts and a Buddy Club rear. The rest of the kit was handmade to ensure the girth of the car was up to the expectations of ImportFest attendees. Support roles are held by a set of Nissan S15 Silvia headlights sporting Xenondepot.com 6,000K HID bulbs, Nissan Skyline R33 taillights, a relocated motorcycle-style gas cap, carbon fiber APR Performance GT mirrors and canards. The car was painted in a custom bronze and copper finish that was created with the help of PPG Paints. The hours of painstaking labour performed by Danny Cina and his crew at CFD Custom Design certainly paid off. Once complete, 5hift Gear Racing and Autocannon graphics were created and applied by local vinyl guru Mike at ShinzoWerks.

Rolling stock is made up of massive 19-inch Axis Hiro wheels. The fronts measure 8.5 inches in width while the rears are 9.5 inches across. These massive widths and a custom offset were specifically chosen to fill out the new body kit. Encircling the wheels is Nitto’s stickiest of sticky tires, the 555s. The fronts were chosen in a thick 235/35ZR19 size while the rears are an even larger 245/35ZR19. Tucked in behind the wheels are AEM brakes featuring two-piece slotted rotors. Setting the attitude of a creation like this is paramount, so Tein was called up for a set of 16-way adjustable Type HA dampers. A set of sway bars and a strut tower brace from AC Autotechnic complete the suspension.

Underneath the golden copper hood breathes an aggressively massaged H22A motor. HTP Engineering provided the guts for a custom turbo kit while Element Autoworks performed the full installation. The turbo is a T3/T4 hybrid unit that breathes through an HTP-supplied manifold and intercooler. A Turbosmart wastegate and HKS Super Sequential blow-off valve regulate airflow. When compressed air isn’t enough to motivate the Prelude, Mirza calls upon his stealthily installed NOS Sneaky Pete nitrous system for an instant shot of go!

AEM was called upon for a set of cam gears, a fuel pressure regulator and a set of performance pulleys. The fuel rail is from AC Autotechnic and the high-performance radiator is from Fluidyne. Nology provides the ignition wires, spark plugs and a grounding system. An RS-R cat-back exhaust from Invision Auto Imports in Edmonton, AB sets the note for the big Honda, while power from the upgraded 2.2L runs through a Bully clutch into the factory five-speed.

Mirza had the interior of the car wrapped in red vinyl by Car Dresser with painted fibreglass accents on the doors, dash and rear panels. The fiberglass panels were painted red and Honda S2000 Silver Stone by Valenca Autobody. The fiberglass work serves as a home to Cobalt-series gauges from Auto Meter. The Air / fuel ratio, boost pressure, exhaust gas temperature, nitrous pressure and engine speed are all indicated by these easy-to-read gauges. An Ignited push-button was installed to bring the engine to life.

A GReddy Grex shift knob, MOMO Driver steering wheel, a MOMO shift boot and Sparco racing pedals improve the driver-to-vehicle interface while adding a touch of customized styling. Arospeed reclining racing seats, wrapped in red, provide a command point. Element Autoworks provided an HKS Turbo Timer that keeps the engine running once the key has been removed to let the turbo cool down after a spirited jaunt.

To take the car from being simply modified to the level required by Mirza, he dropped the car off at 20Hz Audio in Woodbridge, ON for the installation of the Audiobahn entertainment system. The 20Hz crew started with some modifications to the dash such that it would house an Audiobahn AVM170TP monitor where the stock center vents used to be. The pod is wrapped in red vinyl that matches the red lacquer nicely. Lower in the dash is an Audiobahn A3851 CD / DVD player. The front stage is created by a set of Audiobahn ABC600T Honeycomb-coned components that were mounted in the doors. A Kenwood center channel was implemented to accurately re-create the center channel signal from the Audiobahn ADD51T surround sound processor.

Turning to the trunk, the 20Hz crew once again created something that’s different and stylish at the same time. The spare tire well was fibreglassed to form the enclosure for a trio of Audiobahn Alum10Q Sound Q series subwoofers. Pumping life into the woofers is an Audiobahn A1500HCT Class D amplifier. The front stage is powered by an Audiobahn A4075HCT that feeds 75W into each of the speakers in the interior. The two amps were stacked on top of each other between the woofers and the rear seats of the ’Lude. The four-channel amp runs longitudinally and the speaker wire connections are visible. The subwoofer amp runs transversely and exposes the edge of the chrome heat-sink. The trim around the trunk-mounted product is fibreglass and was painted silver to match the theme in the interior of the car.

The trunk lid was moulded to house a pair of AVM170TP monitors and a set of AS62Q co-axials to let viewers of the car enjoy the sights and the sound. The mounting pod was again wrapped in red vinyl to flow with the theme of the installation. The system is powered by a pair of Optima batteries – one Red Top and one Yellow Top. All the wiring, fuse holders, distribution blocks and capacitors are from Audiobahn.

Asim is happy with the way the car has turned out and will continue to use it as a tool to draw interest to the ImportFest series of events. It has also attracted attention from other media outlets, as the car is currently featured in a Mitsubishi Lancer commercial that airs nationwide in Canada.

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