The Car That Surpassed Expectations: A Review of the Ford Mark II GT

As we sat behind the wheel of this 26-year-old car, we couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and trepidation. The Ford Mark II GT was a car that had been touted as a performer, but with an engine that produced only 133 horsepower, many had doubted its ability to deliver on its promises. However, from the moment we started driving, it became clear that this car was something special.

The suspension of the Mark II GT is noteworthy, providing a level of comfort and stability that belies the car's age. Whether cruising down a straight road or navigating a twisty corner, the car's handling is smooth and responsive, with a weightiness that makes it feel more substantial than its modest size would suggest. The steering is nicely weighted, but not too light, providing just the right amount of feedback to keep you engaged and connected to the road.

One of the most surprising aspects of the Mark II GT was how well it handled on the track. With its front-heavy weight distribution, many had predicted that the car would be prone to understeer, but in reality, it turned into corners with ease, its tires gripping the asphalt with a precision that belied its age. The car's suspension proved to be more than a match for the demands of the track, soaking up bumps and potholes with ease.

But what really sets the Mark II GT apart is its speed. Despite its modest engine, we were able to reach speeds that would have been unimaginable in a similar car from a newer generation. The 100-200 kilometer run was particularly impressive, taking just over 67 seconds to complete and clocking in at an astonishing 201 kilometers per hour - a full 10 kilometers per hour faster than the official top speed. This is no small feat for a naturally aspirated two-liter engine with only 133 horsepower.

The gearbox of the Mark II GT is another highlight, providing a smooth and satisfying shift that makes driving this car a joy. While it may not be as sharp or precise as some modern gearboxes, there's something to be said for its tactile feedback and mechanical engagement. And when you're pushing hard on the track, the engine's revs rising steadily as the speed needle climbs higher, the gearbox is more than up to the task.

The interior of the Mark II GT is surprisingly well-appointed, with a comfortable and spacious cabin that provides ample room for passengers and luggage alike. The instrument panel is simple but effective, providing all the information you need to get behind the wheel and hit the road. And when you do decide to drive, the exhaust note is music to the ears - a pleasant, throaty sound that adds to the overall sense of fun and enjoyment.

For Edith, this car has been more than just a mode of transportation - it's his first car, purchased about five months before he got his license. He's put countless hours into modifying and tinkering with the Mark II GT, and it shows in every detail from the exhaust system to the suspension upgrades. It's clear that Edith has developed a deep affection for this car, and we can't help but share his enthusiasm.

Whether you're a seasoned car enthusiast or just looking for a fun and reliable ride, the Ford Mark II GT is definitely worth considering. With its powerful engine, smooth gearbox, and comfortable suspension, it's a car that will keep you smiling from ear to ear. And at a fraction of the cost of newer cars, it's an absolute bargain - especially when compared to some of the more expensive sports cars on offer today.

In conclusion, the Ford Mark II GT is a car that has surprised us all with its performance and reliability. With its powerful engine, smooth gearbox, and comfortable suspension, it's a joy to drive and a testament to the enduring appeal of old-school driving dynamics. Whether you're cruising down a straight road or tackling twisty corners, this car will keep you entertained for hours on end - and at a fraction of the cost of newer cars, it's an absolute steal.

For those looking to get behind the wheel of the Mark II GT, we recommend adding the exhaust system to your list of modifications. It makes all the difference in terms of sound quality, but also adds a hint of sophistication and style to the car's overall appearance. And if you're feeling adventurous, consider giving it a track day - the results are well worth it.

As for Edith, we'd like to extend our thanks to him for sharing his beloved Mark II GT with us. It's clear that this car has been an integral part of his life for many years, and it's been an absolute pleasure to watch him enjoy it. We're confident that he'll continue to drive this car for many years to come - and we can't help but feel a little envious.

Finally, if you're looking for a fun and reliable ride, be sure to check out our playlist of the top 604 cars we've ever tested. From sports cars to family sedans, there's something here for everyone - and at a fraction of the cost of newer cars, it's an absolute bargain.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this POV review by autobarnell my name is Max and today we've got another viewer scar this is Venus his 1997 Honda Prelude and it is the 2.0 I which is the base model with 133 horsepower and it is the most fun I've had in the car in a long time like with most Hondas this thing is amazing uh today I'm going to show you around it we'll talk a bit about the Prelude about the fifth generation which this is about the different engines and then we'll take it for a drive towards the Autobahn for an Autobahn blast now the challenge of today is to break that 200 kilometer an hour mark because the official top speed claimed by Honda in 1996 was 201 kilometers an hour so I mean 26 years later let's find out if that is still the case so the fifth generation as I said introduced 1996 ran to 2001 this is the last generation of the Prelude they stopped making them after this it was replaced by the fourth generation Integra basically and it's quite a weird car it's a front-wheel drive front engine Coupe a little bit sporty but also like a little bit of a GT character it features independent suspension all round so it's got double wishbones front and rear which is just absolutely amazing and you really really feel that the handling the the suppleness is just beautiful and with this generation they also introduced the square body again so the fourth generation was not a big success and they sort of went back to the third generation Prelude with this more Square boxy styling the fourth generation didn't really do well and the third generation did do well so they thought okay let's go back to what worked and that is square boxy design so there are three modes on this car that Arenas has done so we've got these yellow four Glides which I think looks super cool we've got these Japan racing wheels and then we have this SRS exhaust very nice Classic Honda exhaust the Venus also ordered an exhaust manifold for this car but it's not on there yet it's going on very soon and that is basically it really said that there are snow modes available for this two liter not even an inlet manifold or something like that uh because this is a model that was only sold in Europe and well if you want to mod your Honda you need a model that is you know also available in Japan or in the USA or both uh preferably so this is the base 2 liter now we do have these Japan racing wheels these are 17 inch wheels with a 205 section Tire a Viking Pro Tech New Gen tires and as standard it came on 15 inch I think brakes behind that really stock not great of course but you don't need uh super powerful brakes because the car only weighs like 1350 kilos and it's not really fast so you don't need better brakes than this it's fine so Regina's bought this car from an older couple who had the car for 20 years they were the second owner and it didn't pass inspection because it had rust on the rear wheel well so it didn't pass inspection because apparently the rust had like sharp edges and it was dangerous to pedestrians that is why he didn't pass inspection so the previous owners didn't want to be bothered with that they don't didn't want to get that fixed and go to the inspection again so they sold it touriness he then got it fixed pass inspection but it didn't get fixed well because you can see that it started rusting again and uh well it's doesn't really look good so that is a shame that has to be fixed Again by someone who will do it properly uh which is a shame I mean that is I feel for anus so at the rear we've got a nice little boot spoiler a 2.0 I badge as I said the beautiful exhaust and this is a classic 90s Honda right especially the rear with that spoiler with those rectangular rear lights it's just classic Oma open the boot show you guys that as well because it's quite big super practical look at that that is nice and I'll show you guys the engine of course which is as the name suggests wow a two liter this is a heavy Bonnet Martine told me it was made of granite I wasn't kidding that is super heavy why is that so heavy that also kind of explains the weight distribution of I think it's like 63 at the front 37 at the rear well that's mainly that bonnet um anyway we've got the two liter engineer F20 A4 this engine uh all engines in this car are H series and F series now I found a really helpful overview of all the different versions of this car because there are a lot of them there are versions that are solely for Japan like the type S which is the most powerful version with the 2.2 liter h22a2 engine with 220 horsepower that is the most powerful version but you also had versions that were solely for Europe like this one or for Canada and the US or for Australia so there are so many different versions and all of them are indicated by the BB code so they continue the BB indication from the last generation and this generation Prelude is bb5 to BB9 and this is a BB9 with this engine there are a couple of very cool things on this car and one of them being that independent suspension all round but another thing is that in the third generation of this car so that was in 1987 Honda introduced four wheel steering and that was a world first old passenger cars on on mass-produced passenger cars four-wheel steering and that was also available on some versions of this fifth generation you can see that in the overview as well some are only available with four wheel steering some are available with both some aren't available this car was not available with four wheel steering but it is a very very cool feature another thing available on the Prelude 5th generation was the atts system active torque transfer system which is basically a torque vectoring differential on the front axle and apparently it didn't really help so they introduced that to battle understeer because you have a lot of weight on front wheels and the drive at the front wheels of course so yeah they try to cope with that understeer but apparently it didn't really work but that is the atds version but it's an amazing little engine 16 valve 2-liter 133 horsepower 180 newton meters of torque and it did 9.2 seconds to 100 and a top speed of 201 which I honestly feel like that is quite good performance relatively speaking you know 433 horsepower that's not bad so interior very nice and basic Arena said that this car basically has no optional extras on it so almost all of them have like a sunroof this car doesn't have that we've got a manual transmission uh we have an airbag right there and an airbag right there and I think that's it and uh well it's just very basic but I quite like it seating position is not even that bad these seats little seats but they you sit nice and low yeah I quite like it I I think you know the steering wheel should be a bit further towards me and I think that is basically the only thing that would really improve the driving position but it's quite nice the fact that you sit nice and low just helps so much and then the dash like curves away from you it's quite a nice car I really really like it so let's start it up nice little burble from that exhaust so apparently Prelude you know it's like a musical Thing and uh Toyota initially coined this name copyrighted it basically trademarked it I should say and they gave it to Homer because Honda at the time was making a lot of models with like musical names like the Honda Jazz and the Honda Accord and the quintet something like that and the Prelude cool right sounds nice and low and yeah the the first thing you notice when you drive it is that suspension the steering is nicely weighted but the car just feels so supple it absorbs all the bombs if you have seen the POV video we were on like a banked road with some potholes and stuff like that it just absorbs everything and it's not phased by it it just takes everything it's it's a very well balanced car even though the front is very heavy you don't really feel that it's all a very fast car of course but it handles really really well and that was quite a big surprise to be honest I mean I know that all must kind of Drive nicely a handle well but this is Next Level okay so zero to 109.2 oh we're not going to make that okay let's find out go up no no way that's like 98 on the speedo but we actually did 9.2 seconds with the draggy so that is quite impressive and once you get going it's more than fast enough to have like fun on a little B Road I think it's actually louder in here than it is outside oh that is so lovely you just turned it into the corner and it just goes it's amazing what an amazing car you don't even have wheel spin really because it's so underpowered which is great because you really have to like push it hard to break the speed limit especially on these like 100 kilometers an hour roads you're not really going over it by that much even if you're pushing it so we've got a five-speed manual and uh of course Alma being older it is a very nice gearbox it has a it's just a satisfying shift it's not as tight as you know current gearboxes or like S2000 gearboxes but it's not bad a little understeer there but it's more tired than car I think so full throttle quick chip there we go we need a lot of cooperation from other cars because we need a lot of space and time to do a 100 to 200 or to get close to the top speed but apparently these engines are virtually indestructible a naturally aspirated two liter with 133 horsepower I mean of course there we go so we did measure I'm going to spoil it because otherwise I'm going to be here all day we did measure a 100 to 200 kilometers an hour run so it did actually reach its top speed we did 201 kilometers an hour GPS verified top speed which is just exactly what it should do and after 26 years it's still doing that which is just amazing to me we're getting close to 200 hold the speedo there what we did and Ford is going to be very happy about this because they are getting bumped from last player 's playing ski seven yeah that that actually helps we did a 67 seconds 100 to 200 run more than a minute holds brought to go from 100 to 200 and that means that the Ford Mark E GT is no longer the slowest car we have done this is It's number 604 of all the measurements we did but let me tell you if we make a list of fun cars it is nowhere near the bottom this thing yeah we are definitely this is top speed nice right still does it but I oh why is it doing that but I honestly believe that if you look at horsepower versus fun ratio like 133 horsepower this is way up there it's it's such a cool car I like the like the modesty of it it feels like a a Granddad scoop a with a nice exhaust on it and I think that is the magic of all the Hondas especially with these like if you put an exhaust on it they all sound amazing and they just look cool they're not obnoxious at least you know as standard and almost all of them are nice to drive I mean this two liter Grandad mobile is even nice to drive because it has independent suspension and a nice manual and this exhaust just adds a lot of fun to it as well and it's doing absolutely fine I mean that was a long time the wraps climb so slowly oh that is nice this this suspension is so over engineered for this car you don't get close to like the limit of the suspension of like the chassis which is just amazing that makes the chassis feel so good there we go so this is Edith's first car he bought it about five months before he got his license he's 19 now this is his daily I mean it is great job I envy you this thing is amazing and uh you've done a great job buying it and modding it as well so thank you so much for taking it to us I have had a blast uh you can subscribe by clicking the big button in the middle you can also check out this video on the right or this playlist on the left and I'll see you at the next one thanks for watching byewhat's up ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this POV review by autobarnell my name is Max and today we've got another viewer scar this is Venus his 1997 Honda Prelude and it is the 2.0 I which is the base model with 133 horsepower and it is the most fun I've had in the car in a long time like with most Hondas this thing is amazing uh today I'm going to show you around it we'll talk a bit about the Prelude about the fifth generation which this is about the different engines and then we'll take it for a drive towards the Autobahn for an Autobahn blast now the challenge of today is to break that 200 kilometer an hour mark because the official top speed claimed by Honda in 1996 was 201 kilometers an hour so I mean 26 years later let's find out if that is still the case so the fifth generation as I said introduced 1996 ran to 2001 this is the last generation of the Prelude they stopped making them after this it was replaced by the fourth generation Integra basically and it's quite a weird car it's a front-wheel drive front engine Coupe a little bit sporty but also like a little bit of a GT character it features independent suspension all round so it's got double wishbones front and rear which is just absolutely amazing and you really really feel that the handling the the suppleness is just beautiful and with this generation they also introduced the square body again so the fourth generation was not a big success and they sort of went back to the third generation Prelude with this more Square boxy styling the fourth generation didn't really do well and the third generation did do well so they thought okay let's go back to what worked and that is square boxy design so there are three modes on this car that Arenas has done so we've got these yellow four Glides which I think looks super cool we've got these Japan racing wheels and then we have this SRS exhaust very nice Classic Honda exhaust the Venus also ordered an exhaust manifold for this car but it's not on there yet it's going on very soon and that is basically it really said that there are snow modes available for this two liter not even an inlet manifold or something like that uh because this is a model that was only sold in Europe and well if you want to mod your Honda you need a model that is you know also available in Japan or in the USA or both uh preferably so this is the base 2 liter now we do have these Japan racing wheels these are 17 inch wheels with a 205 section Tire a Viking Pro Tech New Gen tires and as standard it came on 15 inch I think brakes behind that really stock not great of course but you don't need uh super powerful brakes because the car only weighs like 1350 kilos and it's not really fast so you don't need better brakes than this it's fine so Regina's bought this car from an older couple who had the car for 20 years they were the second owner and it didn't pass inspection because it had rust on the rear wheel well so it didn't pass inspection because apparently the rust had like sharp edges and it was dangerous to pedestrians that is why he didn't pass inspection so the previous owners didn't want to be bothered with that they don't didn't want to get that fixed and go to the inspection again so they sold it touriness he then got it fixed pass inspection but it didn't get fixed well because you can see that it started rusting again and uh well it's doesn't really look good so that is a shame that has to be fixed Again by someone who will do it properly uh which is a shame I mean that is I feel for anus so at the rear we've got a nice little boot spoiler a 2.0 I badge as I said the beautiful exhaust and this is a classic 90s Honda right especially the rear with that spoiler with those rectangular rear lights it's just classic Oma open the boot show you guys that as well because it's quite big super practical look at that that is nice and I'll show you guys the engine of course which is as the name suggests wow a two liter this is a heavy Bonnet Martine told me it was made of granite I wasn't kidding that is super heavy why is that so heavy that also kind of explains the weight distribution of I think it's like 63 at the front 37 at the rear well that's mainly that bonnet um anyway we've got the two liter engineer F20 A4 this engine uh all engines in this car are H series and F series now I found a really helpful overview of all the different versions of this car because there are a lot of them there are versions that are solely for Japan like the type S which is the most powerful version with the 2.2 liter h22a2 engine with 220 horsepower that is the most powerful version but you also had versions that were solely for Europe like this one or for Canada and the US or for Australia so there are so many different versions and all of them are indicated by the BB code so they continue the BB indication from the last generation and this generation Prelude is bb5 to BB9 and this is a BB9 with this engine there are a couple of very cool things on this car and one of them being that independent suspension all round but another thing is that in the third generation of this car so that was in 1987 Honda introduced four wheel steering and that was a world first old passenger cars on on mass-produced passenger cars four-wheel steering and that was also available on some versions of this fifth generation you can see that in the overview as well some are only available with four wheel steering some are available with both some aren't available this car was not available with four wheel steering but it is a very very cool feature another thing available on the Prelude 5th generation was the atts system active torque transfer system which is basically a torque vectoring differential on the front axle and apparently it didn't really help so they introduced that to battle understeer because you have a lot of weight on front wheels and the drive at the front wheels of course so yeah they try to cope with that understeer but apparently it didn't really work but that is the atds version but it's an amazing little engine 16 valve 2-liter 133 horsepower 180 newton meters of torque and it did 9.2 seconds to 100 and a top speed of 201 which I honestly feel like that is quite good performance relatively speaking you know 433 horsepower that's not bad so interior very nice and basic Arena said that this car basically has no optional extras on it so almost all of them have like a sunroof this car doesn't have that we've got a manual transmission uh we have an airbag right there and an airbag right there and I think that's it and uh well it's just very basic but I quite like it seating position is not even that bad these seats little seats but they you sit nice and low yeah I quite like it I I think you know the steering wheel should be a bit further towards me and I think that is basically the only thing that would really improve the driving position but it's quite nice the fact that you sit nice and low just helps so much and then the dash like curves away from you it's quite a nice car I really really like it so let's start it up nice little burble from that exhaust so apparently Prelude you know it's like a musical Thing and uh Toyota initially coined this name copyrighted it basically trademarked it I should say and they gave it to Homer because Honda at the time was making a lot of models with like musical names like the Honda Jazz and the Honda Accord and the quintet something like that and the Prelude cool right sounds nice and low and yeah the the first thing you notice when you drive it is that suspension the steering is nicely weighted but the car just feels so supple it absorbs all the bombs if you have seen the POV video we were on like a banked road with some potholes and stuff like that it just absorbs everything and it's not phased by it it just takes everything it's it's a very well balanced car even though the front is very heavy you don't really feel that it's all a very fast car of course but it handles really really well and that was quite a big surprise to be honest I mean I know that all must kind of Drive nicely a handle well but this is Next Level okay so zero to 109.2 oh we're not going to make that okay let's find out go up no no way that's like 98 on the speedo but we actually did 9.2 seconds with the draggy so that is quite impressive and once you get going it's more than fast enough to have like fun on a little B Road I think it's actually louder in here than it is outside oh that is so lovely you just turned it into the corner and it just goes it's amazing what an amazing car you don't even have wheel spin really because it's so underpowered which is great because you really have to like push it hard to break the speed limit especially on these like 100 kilometers an hour roads you're not really going over it by that much even if you're pushing it so we've got a five-speed manual and uh of course Alma being older it is a very nice gearbox it has a it's just a satisfying shift it's not as tight as you know current gearboxes or like S2000 gearboxes but it's not bad a little understeer there but it's more tired than car I think so full throttle quick chip there we go we need a lot of cooperation from other cars because we need a lot of space and time to do a 100 to 200 or to get close to the top speed but apparently these engines are virtually indestructible a naturally aspirated two liter with 133 horsepower I mean of course there we go so we did measure I'm going to spoil it because otherwise I'm going to be here all day we did measure a 100 to 200 kilometers an hour run so it did actually reach its top speed we did 201 kilometers an hour GPS verified top speed which is just exactly what it should do and after 26 years it's still doing that which is just amazing to me we're getting close to 200 hold the speedo there what we did and Ford is going to be very happy about this because they are getting bumped from last player 's playing ski seven yeah that that actually helps we did a 67 seconds 100 to 200 run more than a minute holds brought to go from 100 to 200 and that means that the Ford Mark E GT is no longer the slowest car we have done this is It's number 604 of all the measurements we did but let me tell you if we make a list of fun cars it is nowhere near the bottom this thing yeah we are definitely this is top speed nice right still does it but I oh why is it doing that but I honestly believe that if you look at horsepower versus fun ratio like 133 horsepower this is way up there it's it's such a cool car I like the like the modesty of it it feels like a a Granddad scoop a with a nice exhaust on it and I think that is the magic of all the Hondas especially with these like if you put an exhaust on it they all sound amazing and they just look cool they're not obnoxious at least you know as standard and almost all of them are nice to drive I mean this two liter Grandad mobile is even nice to drive because it has independent suspension and a nice manual and this exhaust just adds a lot of fun to it as well and it's doing absolutely fine I mean that was a long time the wraps climb so slowly oh that is nice this this suspension is so over engineered for this car you don't get close to like the limit of the suspension of like the chassis which is just amazing that makes the chassis feel so good there we go so this is Edith's first car he bought it about five months before he got his license he's 19 now this is his daily I mean it is great job I envy you this thing is amazing and uh you've done a great job buying it and modding it as well so thank you so much for taking it to us I have had a blast uh you can subscribe by clicking the big button in the middle you can also check out this video on the right or this playlist on the left and I'll see you at the next one thanks for watching bye\n"