One problem related to vehicle shudder has been reported for the 1997 Honda Prelude. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The transmission slips when shifting gears. When shifting from 1st to 2nd, the car will rev up like it's in neutral then suddenly jerk into 2nd. The same thing happens for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears. On several occasions, when I came to a complete stop the car would shudder violently then the engine would cut out. This happen several times while I was trying to cross an intersection, and the car could not be stopped while in drive because the engine kept cutting out. I had to stay in neutral then shift to drive real quick and hope the engine didn't stall in order to cross the road. This has proven to be very dangerous, and potentially life threatening. The Honda dealership says it's $3600 for a new transmission, and I don't have a guarantee that the new won't fail either. Honda should pay to fix this obvious defect.