Armchair critics everywhere have already condemned the new Honda Prelude, claiming the new hybrid sports car is not a worthy successor to their beloved coupe, last sold here 25 years ago. They bemoan the lack of a manual transmission and the fact that it’s now a liftback and not a traditional coupe.
All of these judgements passed without any seat time or experiencing Honda’s vision for its reborn coupe, which the company is calling a grand tourer. Well, along with this test drive, we drove the new Prelude in Japan earlier this year, and early seat time suggested Honda got the fundamentals right.
The Prelude has always been a showcase for Honda’s new tech, a preview of things to come and introduced things like VTEC, four-wheel steering and torque vectoring. It’s also been positioned as a luxury coupe with its tastefully trimmed and premium-feeling cabin, an excellent pair of sport buckets, and standard equipment like a Bose stereo.
…If the Prelude were to get something like the Civic Type R powertrain, we could have a near-perfect sports car.
Understandably with a power figure of 200 hp from a 2-litre 4-cylinder mated to Honda’s two-motor hybrid, there’s doubt about the Prelude’s performance, and in a straight line there will be some disappointment. But there’s more to the Prelude than just brute power. A big benefit of the hybrid system is efficiency, with a combined rating of 44 mpg (5.4L/100km), which can be achieved while still driving vigorously.
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Because the Prelude doesn’t have a transmission (it works like an EV), Honda developed the S plus shift system which can mimic an 8-speed automatic complete with sound from the speakers and a physical bump when changing gears, facilitated by the electric motor.
What Honda has done is given us a delicately balanced front wheel drive sports coupe with the front suspension from the Civic Type R, Brembo brakes, and adaptive dampers that deliver a wonderfully comfortable ride.
It might be a liftback, but this is the best-looking Prelude to date, with smooth, flowing lines, a steeply raked rear window, and a wide stance sitting on 235-width tires all around. Comparisons to the Toyota Prius (a good-looking car in its own right) are unfounded. Side by side, they’re nothing alike.
The Prelude isn’t about bragging rights; it’s a car for those who enjoy driving on a twisty back road, feeling the tactility of the controls, and having fun behind the wheel at legal speeds.
A manual transmission and more power (which Honda has said it’s not going to do) would be welcome additions here, and if the Prelude were to get something like the Civic Type R powertrain, we could have a near-perfect sports car.
The biggest issue with the Prelude, then, isn’t the power, or the styling, or the absence of a transmission; it’s the price, which in the U.S. starts at about $43,195 (in Canada it starts at around $53,000). It has to go up against cars like the Mustang and Nissan Z, both which have much more power and manual gearboxes.
The original Prelude formula with high-revving 4-cylinders is gone, but the new Prelude checks a lot of boxes while still doing something a bit different than anyone else.
