Pure Image. Honda Prelude vs VW Scirocco GTX

This is Part 2 of Motor Week's giant test of sport coupes in 1986. Read the first part of Fashion Coupes of the Early 80s here.

Altered Images.  

Honda’s latest two-litre 16-valve Prelude should pulverise Volkswagen’s svelte Scirocco GTX, but the result is closer than expected.

Here we have two long established front-wheel-drive coupes, both now in Mark Two guise. The current shape Prelude appeared three years ago, owing nothing to its Honda Civic-inspired predecessor. We liked the styling but felt that the chassis could handle more power. It arrived in the shape of the 1986 Honda Prelude 2.0i-16.

The Scirocco, by contrast, is merely a re-skinned version of the original, retaining all that car’s Golf-related mechanical components. The latest shape has been widely criticised for its blandness and lack of character, though it is more efficient aero- dynamically than its Giugiaro- styled predecessor. In an effort to improve its sales performance, Volkswagen have renamed it the GTX, fitted more equipment and given it a more aggressive image with a liberal application of black plastic body parts and new wheels.

The Prelude’s trump card is undoubtedly the new allaluminium 16-valve engine. It produces 137 bhp at 6000 rpm, an improvement of 31 bhp compared with the 1.8-litre 12-valve model. The latest car is distinguished by colour-keyed bumpers, restyled alloy wheels and bigger rear light clusters. It retains the same end-on five-speed gearbox, all-independent suspension - by double wishbones at the front and struts at the back - power-assisted rack and pinion steering and all-disc brakes with Honda’s ALB anti-lock system.

Without doubt the 16-valve Volkswagen Scirocco would have been a closer match to the Honda, both conceptually and price-wise. But, unfortunately, the ultimate Scirocco is only available in left-hand-drive form, imported to order.

But let us not dismiss the 8- valve version, based as it is on Golf GTi components. The fuel injected 1.8-litre 112 bhp “four" is mated to a five-speed close-ratio gearbox, while the suspension is by MacPherson struts at the front, and torsion beam linked trailing arms at the back. The disc/drum braking system is based on the original GTi's. At £9519, the Scirocco GTX is the only соupe in the group to cost less than £10,000 and undercuts the £11,200 Honda Prelude by nearly £1700.

Bearing in mind its 25 bhp power deficit,, the smaller and leaner Scirocco comes close to matching the Prelude's performance - much closer than the bald 0 to 60 mph figures (Prelude 8.2 sec/Scirocco 9.4 sec) suggest. From a standing start all the way up to 100 mph, the Volkswagen never lags more tharf 1.5 sec behind, though ultimately its inferior power shows with a maximum speed nearly 5 mph short of the Prelude’s 121.2.

The shorter-geared Scirocco has the better flexibility: from 30 to 50 mph in fourth gear it outslogs the Prelude (6.5 sec/7.2 sec), while in the mid-range the Volkswagen is again the quicker (9.5 sec/10.7 sec).

Both cars have superb engines with razor-sharp throttle response and a sense of well- bred urgency that only the best normally-aspirated engines can provide. For the most part, the Honda engine is the smoother and quieter of the two. It pulls with great vigour on the smallest of throttle openings and feels the more punchy. Only when asked to rev hard is, there a sense of mild disappointment as the power trails off, and there is a slight tingling vibration felt through the pedals and gearlever.

The Volkswagen engine gets smoother the faster it spins, right up to the governed maximum. There is a uniformly strong power surge throughout its rev range, but you have to press harder and further on the throttle compared with the Honda to release it.

Returning an overall consumption of 30.4 mpg, the Scirocco wins the efficiency race, bettering the Prelude's 26.7 mpg by a useful margin. Taken as a pair, these cars are better than the group average of 23 mpg.

The Honda sets the standard among these coup6s with a gearchange that is light, precise in action, and complemented by short movements. Volkswagen have failed to improve their previously acclaimed gearboxes to match the latest Japanese offerings, and our test car was a disappointing example with a notchy and imprecise action. Both cars have ideally judged gear ratios and short overall gearing.

It takes a loss of traction on a wet road to induce steering wheel fight from the Honda; the VW’s torque steer - which detracts from the proven competence of the Scirocco chassis - is evident under hard acceleration, particularly uphill. Only the Honda steering has assistance - the VW is fine without it - and the variable weighting gives a disconcertingly remote feel when manoeuvring.

With higher-geared and lighter steering, the Prelude is the more wieldy car around town. But though the mechanism "weights up" once on the move, it lacks the confidence-inspiring feedback that the Scirocco’s pro-vides. Once you get used to its heavier steering, the German car feels the more sporting to hustle through a series of bends.

They will both understeer eventually, given too much power in low gear corners, and with more power, the Honda is more prone to it. But the Honda can be hustled through bends faster, the driver assured by the chassis’ predictability and surefootedness. Over mild undulations, the Prelude's suspension is agreeably pliant - but then, so too is the Scirocco's. Neither car copes with bigger bumps very well - the Prelude checking rather abruptly, and the Scirocco exhibiting a lack of rear damper control, causing a pitching motion.

The Honda has the better brakes, possessing a lighter, firmer pedal together with the advantage of an anti-lock system. By comparison, the Scirocco’s brakes feel dead, with a long travel redolent of the Mark One Golf - a consequence of the servo being on the “wrong” side of the engine bay. Noise levels are low in both cars: the Honda is the quieter, whereas the Volkswagen sounds the more sporting.

The Honda has a tilt-adjustable steering and a better pedal layout, making it marginally the more comfortable car to drive. Legroom  is generous in both cars but neither has more than adequate headroom.

Accommodation is strictly two- plus-two in these cars. Superficially, the Honda’s two-doors- and-a-boot body style is less adaptable than the Volkswagen's, but it has the bigger boot and the back seat can be folded for access to the boot from within the car.

Both cars have clear instruments, the Scirocco's being complemented by a trip computer. On the other hand, the Prelude has the advantage of an air- blending heater with “soft touch" distribution controls.

Inside, the Prelude looks the more expensive car. The plush moquette seat fabric covers not just the wearing faces, and it is complemented by a leather- bound steering wheel.

It is also the better equipped of this pair, boasting powered windows and sunroof, an electronic stereo radio and anti-lock brakes that its rival lacks.

The cars are equally well finished, but undoubtedly the Japanese car has a more integrated appearance, with its colour-keyed plastic body parts blending in with the overall shape. By contrast, the Scirocco’s black plastic addenda look somewhat tagged-on.

There is no doubt that the Honda wins this contest. In a class where performance and image count for everything, it looks, goes and stops better than its rival. It is also easier to drive, quieter, and better equipped. But the Scirocco is not far behind in any area and is usefully more economical.