The Short Version
- The Prelude was never five-lug. Not in any generation covered here.
- Third generation (BA4, BA5, BA7): 4×100 at +45.
- Fourth and fifth generations (BA8 onward, BB1 to BB8): 4×114.3 at +55.
- The hub bore is 64 mm on both sides of the change. Only the pattern and the offset moved.
Two Four-Lug Patterns, Not Four and Five
We came to this car expecting to document a four-to-five-lug change, because that is what the usual assumption is for a Honda coupe of this era. It is wrong.
The Prelude changed from 4×100 to 4×114.3 at the fourth generation in September 1991, and stayed there until production ended in 2001. Both are four-stud patterns; what changed is the diameter of the circle.
That is a nastier trap than a four-to-five change would be, because you cannot tell by counting studs. A 4×100 wheel and a 4×114.3 wheel look the same at a glance, and the difference is 14.3 mm across the circle. You have to measure, or go by the chassis code.
The Offset Is Your Tell
Here is a shortcut that works. The third-generation cars sit at +45. The fourth and fifth generations sit at +55, consistently, across the whole grade range.
So if a used wheel is described as a Prelude fitment at +45, it belongs to the 4×100 family. At +55, it is 4×114.3. That is not a guarantee — sellers get offsets wrong too — but it is a useful sanity check before you measure.
Factory Specification
| Generation | Chassis | Period | Grade | Wheel | Tyre | PCD / Holes / Bore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | E-BA4 | 1988.08–1991.09 | 2.0 XX 5MT | 13×4.5J +45 | 185/70R13 | 100 / 4 / 64 |
| 3rd | E-BA5 | 1988.08–1991.09 | 2.0 XX 4WS 5MT | 13×5J +45 | — | 100 / 4 / not opened |
| 3rd | E-BA7 | 1990.10–1991.09 | 2.0 Si Statesman 4AT | 14×5.5J +45 | — | 100 / 4 / not opened |
| 4th | E-BB1 | 1991.09–1996.11 | 2.2 Si VTEC 4WS | 15×6.5J +55 | 205/55R15 | 114.3 / 4 / 64 |
| 5th | E / GF-BB6 | 1996.11–2000.09 | 2.2 SiR and SiR Type S | 16×6.5J +55 | 205/50R16 | 114.3 / 4 / 64 |
| 5th | GF-BB5 | 1998.09–2000.09 | 2.2 Xi base | 14×5.5J +55 | — | 114.3 / 4 / not opened |
4WS Does Not Change the Fitment
The Prelude’s four-wheel-steering variants attract attention and the question comes up. On the evidence, 4WS does not change the bolt pattern, bore or offset — the BB1 Si VTEC 4WS we opened reads the same 4×114.3 / 64 mm / +55 as the two-wheel-steer cars, and the third-generation BA5 4WS runs the same +45 as the BA4.
What it does change is how sensitive the car is to a large offset change at the rear, since the rear wheels steer. Worth knowing before you go aggressive.
Sizing
+55 on the later cars is deep, and it is why a standard fifth-generation Prelude looks tucked. The practical window is 17×7.5J to 17×8J in the +40 to +50 range, which brings the face out 5 to 15 mm.
For the third-generation cars at +45, stay in the +35 to +45 band. Those are narrow-bodied cars on 13 and 14-inch wheels from the factory and they do not have much to give.
64 mm hub rings are needed on both, and 4×114.3 in particular is a pattern where most aftermarket wheels are bored much larger.
Importing
The third generation ran 1987–1991 and the fourth 1991–1996 — both fully eligible. The fifth generation ran to 2001, so cars built through August 2001 are eligible now, which is effectively the whole run.
North America got the Prelude throughout, so importing is about specification. The JDM SiR Type S is the grade that has no direct US equivalent.
What We Could Not Verify
- PCD and bore individually for the BA5, BA7, BA8, BA9, BB4, BB5, BB7 and BB8 grades. We opened one grade per generation and inferred the rest from consistent offsets in the index.
- Factory tyre sizes for those same grades.