The Honda Prelude is a two-door car that was known for being fun to drive and stylish. After being off the market for nearly 25 years, it's coming back as a hybrid, which means it will use both gas and electricity to run, making it more environmentally friendly.
A grand touring vehicle is a type of car made for comfortable long drives. They are usually fast and have enough space for passengers and luggage, making them great for road trips.
The Honda Civic is a small car that many people love because it's dependable and gets good gas mileage. The hybrid version uses both gas and electricity to help save fuel and reduce emissions, making it a popular choice for those who want to be more eco-friendly.
The Honda CR-V is a popular SUV that offers a lot of space and comfort for families. It uses a special engine that helps it save gas, especially in its hybrid version, making it a great choice for those who need room but also want to be kind to the environment.
CVT means Continuously Variable Transmission, which is a type of car transmission that can change gears smoothly without any noticeable shifts. This helps the car run more efficiently and feel smoother when driving.
Electric motors help cars move by using electricity instead of gasoline. They are a key part of electric vehicles, making them different from regular cars that use engines that burn fuel.
A clutch is a part of a car that helps control how power from the engine goes to the wheels. It allows you to change gears and helps the car move smoothly.
A direct drive unit means the electric motor connects straight to the wheels, making the car more efficient and responsive without needing a regular gearbox.
A series hybrid is a car that uses an electric motor to drive the wheels, while a gas engine only makes electricity to power the motor, making it more efficient.
A manual transmission is a kind of car transmission where you have to change gears yourself using a stick and a pedal. It gives you more control over how the car drives.
The Civic Type R is a special version of the Honda Civic that is built for speed and performance. It has better handling and a more powerful engine than regular Civics.
The Honda S2000 is a small sports car that is fun to drive. It has a powerful engine and is designed for people who enjoy driving fast and handling corners well.
Fuel efficiency is how far a car can go on a certain amount of fuel. A car that uses less fuel to drive the same distance is considered more efficient.
A hybrid system in a car uses both a gas engine and an electric motor. This helps the car save fuel and produce less pollution by using electricity when possible.
This is a system in a car that helps it change speeds using gears. It can be automatic or manual, depending on how the driver wants to control it.
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At the North American utility car and truck of the year judging event in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
we were able to drive vehicles not available to the public, including the sixth generation
hybrid-powered Honda Prelude, back after almost 25 years.
It might be a while before I get my hands on one for a full test, so here's my chat
with Honda's Jonathan Yu, the Prelude's product planner.
If anyone can offer up a deep dive, it's him.
But altogether, this package is a everyday grand touring vehicle that anyone can drive,
so this is a really accessible vehicle, not a track-focused vehicle.
Before we head out, the basics.
With destination, retail pricing starts at around $44,000.
Will there be dealer markups?
It would shock me if there weren't, at least initially.
Prelude essentially comes one way, choose color, then add accessories like this spoiler.
The front-drive hybrid powertrain puts out 200 horsepower and returns 44 miles per gallon
average.
The two-liter Atkinson cycle engine with our two electric motors, so our award-winning
hybrid-electric system.
So the car will default in GT mode, and you can go into comfort mode, and then you can
customize each of the settings.
Jonathan and I will discuss the powertrain as we drive, but know this about the chassis.
Dual-axis front suspension on the Civic Type R. We lifted everything from the Civic Type
R. The front rotors and rear rotors are the same as well, 13.2 front rotors and then 12-inch
rotors on the rear.
Adaptive damper setup, you'll notice on the front and the brake calipers it's blue, so
that's to denote that it's a hybrid, and that isn't changed based on the exterior color.
And then you have a black color roof option and black side door mirror caps, and that's
also available as a color option combined only on the Winterfrost Pearl, which is this
color right here.
FYI, no sunroof is offered.
Moving inside, anyone familiar with Honda products will feel right at home.
The cabin does get some upgrades, lots of suede fabric and blue stitching in here.
The heated seats are asymmetrical.
The driver gets a little extra bolstering and support, plus howlin's tooth.
For sound, there's an 8-speaker Bose system.
This is a 2 plus 2, only kids and adults you don't like should sit back here.
For the first time, Prelude is no longer a notch-backed coupe.
Six-generation Honda Prelude is a lift-back.
The reason why we did that was to add a lot of versatility and space to the vehicle.
We don't want this to be your one-trick pony, where it's only your weekend car, for example.
You can fold these seats down, and it'll give you a lot of space.
You can put two to three sets of gold clubs in this vehicle.
So significant amount of space.
It's a dreary day in Ann Arbor, but let's get out onto the road and talk Prelude.
The transmission selector is very Honda-familiar.
Yeah, very Honda-familiar.
Yeah, the first thing you notice is the compliance of the suspension.
And what mode are we in?
We're in base control mode in GT.
Okay.
And that's where the car defaults in.
Is that effectively, for lack of better term, comfort?
No, necessarily.
Is there a comfort setting?
There is a comfort setting as well.
GT mode is, we call it Grand Touring mode, but pretty close to what a car would have
in normal mode.
In a sense.
About very balanced mode.
Yeah, it's going to feel like a Civic Hybrid in terms of operation in the base control
mode.
But you still get that torque and pickup.
Is there any more horsepower?
No, not any more additional horsepower.
So the 200 horsepower, 232-foot pound of torque.
Okay.
I was talking to somebody yesterday, and they were obsessed with the transmission.
So describe it.
Sure.
So our system is different from what's out there in the competitive world.
It's what's in the CR-V, a core Civic, and all this vehicle.
It's a two-liter Atkinson that charges as, or act as a generator that charges the batteries.
And then the batteries power is the electric motors, which then in turn drives the wheels.
So there's no transmissions basically.
As you said, the electric motors drive the wheels directly, and that's why any of our
hybrid vehicles, it's a very seamless operation, very smooth, refined operation.
And that's also why you feel all the instantaneous torque on the car.
So you get that in this vehicle.
That's why there's no CBT.
There's no transmission basically powering the wheels or driving the wheels.
It's basically the electric motors.
So to put it bluntly or very closely related to it, it's like EV operation, electric motors
are driving the wheels.
Yeah.
And when the clutch does lock up and it drives the wheels directly from the internal combustion
engine, that's for efficiency.
Correct.
And it's usually only at highway speeds.
So under very specific conditions, it does that pretty much any other operation or conditions
it's the electric motors are driving the wheels.
So the official term what we call this direct drive unit.
Yeah.
And in most instances, this is a series hybrid.
Yeah.
I think this was it.
Even in GT mode, with the dampers not fully stiffened up, that's nice.
Let's talk about the simulated shifts.
Sure.
So let's use the paddle shifters in sports, and now you're going to be in sport mode.
Okay.
And then in S plus, so if you want to use the paddle shifters, so you can downshift five
and then go four, three, two.
So here all the sound.
Now it won't go.
Well because you're already max RPM.
So yeah, there's eight simulated gears in this system right here, and in Honda S plus
in sport, you can manipulate the car akin to like a dual clutch transmission.
Yeah.
And it feels like shifts.
Yes.
What's happening mechanically?
There's actually, yeah, so the only thing that you're experiencing from a sound is it
matches with the Akatsun motor, but it's not like the motor's giving you power or driving
the wheels.
It's just kind of give you that sensation of not a disconnected feeling between you
and the car, but everything else is simulated, whether it's through the sound, through the
speakers, giving you that experience that is akin to like a manual operation, a manual
transmission, or a dual clutch transmission.
Interesting.
So when I'm downshifting here, that's not the engine, is it?
There is engine pulsation, so the Akatsun will pulsate to give you that kind of downshift
feel, but it's not because like there's a transmission in the car and you're downshifting
and gear changing.
Right.
Right, but it's simulating that.
The width of the Civic Type R is the same, but the length is shorter than the Civic Type
R, so it has a shorter wheelbase, and that's to give it a more fun dynamic kind of experience,
more nimble.
That's one of the highlights why we made it different instead of just making exact same
specification.
Right.
As Civic Type R, because we want this car to be fun to drive, but also compliant, you
know, everyday driving kind of characteristic, but fun to drive to at the same time.
And this is aimed at a different audience.
Yeah.
So accessibility is always key, and we made this vehicle very accessible to a wide audience.
So you're going to have your core demographic, which we feel is going to be male, you know,
someone who's nostalgic for the prelude brand, who had a prelude or aspired to have a prelude
in the past.
That would be me.
But then there's also, because of the accessibility of the car, we feel that even let's say millennials
who are females, professionals may want this vehicle to have, you know, as an extension
of themselves, because it's a very stylish two-door coupe that, you know, it has automatic
operation and you can easily drive the vehicle.
We have great visibility, kind of one of the hallmarks filled with features.
This car has the same level of features or almost the same level of features as Civic
Sport Touring, which is our top level trim, and there's only one trim for this car.
So it's a fully loaded car with all the features you want and being very accessible with the
operation that it has.
So let's make it right here and go further down the road.
Yeah, on Wagner.
OK, right here, yeah.
Oh, interesting.
There were simulated downshifts there as that was coming to a slowdown.
So great for city driving because you get all that pickup from the electric motors.
Yeah.
And very compliant in this.
This is the most aggressive setup that we have and setting wise.
And it's still fine.
Yeah, even on this type of road, the condition of roads.
This is the firmest, the dampers.
Yes.
It's not bad.
Not bad.
And with a shorter wheelbase.
Correct, yeah.
Maybe in a Civic Type R, you won't take your car out in these kind of conditions,
but in this car, you can easily do it.
No problem.
So this is what I mean by like an everyday grant touring car.
You can take it out in this type of weather and still have have the confidence
and drive it as you would as you would even in the dry.
Yeah.
There have to be thousands of buyers out there that thought
their high performance, super stiff suspension car was exactly what they wanted.
And then after living with it for six months, they're like, well, OK,
this is kind of beating me up.
Yeah, I mean, make it right right here.
Yeah, it's.
I personally, I had two S 2000s and.
To the point where the cars were really modified.
And then as you progress in that modification.
You lose you lose drivability, right?
So you don't want a car that has compromise drivability.
And because then what happens is you don't drive it as much.
Yeah, right.
So Civic Type R is kind of like a race car for the street.
And then so you kind of don't drive it as much or you drive it only
in optimal conditions or maybe on the weekends when you want to drive it
without, you know, on back roads.
So but in this car, you want to you want to drive the car that you just purchased.
You know, this is sportsgoop, but you want to drive it every day.
So this car allows you to drive it every day without the compromises
of like a hard suspension, back braking ride,
while still having that engagement and fun aspect at the flip of a switch.
So that's the key of prelude has always been the innovation technology.
And we're combining that with also the fuel efficiency, instantaneous torque
for city driving and then also Honda S plus shift, you know,
with the driver engagement in a sports coupe.
So that's really and, you know, people ask, why do we do?
Why do we combine a two door coupe with a hybrid system
while we're selling over a 50 percent hybrid already?
It's a word winning system.
People love it, the refinement, the smoothness.
Now we put it in a coupe, adding the driver engagement with Honda S plus shift
feature rich vehicle, very stylish premium car.
And I think we have a winning combination with all those all those factors.
I'm going to focus on the simulated shifts here, slowing down.
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like it's downshifting.
Yeah, it's like it's downshifting.
Yeah, it feels pretty good.
I think if it feels like a dual clutch.
Yeah, so that's it's akin to like a dual clutch operation.
And I think, you know, if I didn't know anything about cars
and I was your passenger, I would just assume this car is a transmission.
Yeah, yeah, even though it doesn't.
But yeah, and that that was what we were trying to pull off here is
to the average person, you know, is there a transmission?
And it's like, yeah, it feels like it in this operation.
It feels like it, but there isn't a transmission. Yeah.
Nice and wet. I feel right at home.
It's just like Seattle.
Wow, this is pretty. Yeah.
And this is why you own a car like this. Exactly.
It's comfortable, but it's engaging to drive. Yes.
And even this like, you know, with this rain right here, it's so great.
You can still drive this car.
It's still in joy, the kind of the outdoors in the back roads.
Yeah, this vehicle and not feel, you know, like a little
a little worried, taking out, let's say, my, you know, raw sports car
or something like that and this type of weather.
Yeah, what tires are on this?
We have the Continental Extreme Contact Sport 2s.
These are the accessory summer performance tires on the car.
Oh, these are the summer tires? Yes. Oh, yeah.
Not bad for a wet road. Exactly.
Yeah, any passenger would feel like
that is a regular geared transmission. Yes.
Uh, that there was a passenger in that
that Volkswagen just went by.
He was like, oh, a good bar, right? Yeah.
And behind a garbage truck.
Not the kind of thing you want to be behind
when you're in the new trailer.
Yeah, since we're behind this, we'll experience comfort, so then comfort.
Yeah, you notice the sound comes down, right?
The ambient sound comes down, like you probably noticed it right.
Hang on. Yeah.
Yeah, so you're here and then.
Oh, yeah, it's a little bit lower
in terms of this ambient noise and then the suspension will also feel softer.
It really controls the dampening and the steering wheel will feel lighter.
Yeah, but you still can use manual operation in S plus
and you get all the torque from the it's kind of like a very seamless
AV operation and with paddle shifters, but very well-damped.
It's it's extremely comfortable.
The reason why we have this kind of a setup is if you have a passenger
in the car or a spouse or girlfriend, significant other,
you can have a conversation or you can go on a long trip
and I feel that the car is being intrusive, even though it's a sports car.
Yeah, does it have active noise cancellation?
Yes, it does. OK.
How much do we do this for?
You know, you just.
We're just driving around now.
Jonathan and I are kind of lost, so time to wrap this up.
I plan on getting a prelude ASAP to do a full review.
In the meantime, no, it's a solid machine
that goes from daily driver to corner carver at the touch of a switch
for track days, maybe stick with the type R.
My normal car reviews are much more detailed.
Check those out.
If you like what you saw, subscribe.
I'm on all the popular social media platforms.
So hit me up there with questions or just leave them in the comments.
That's driven. I'm Tom Volk.
About this episode
The sixth generation Honda Prelude makes a comeback after nearly 25 years, showcasing a hybrid powertrain that combines everyday usability with sporty performance. Jonathan Yu, Honda's product planner, shares insights on its features, including a 200-horsepower engine, advanced suspension borrowed from the Civic Type R, and a spacious lift-back design. The Prelude aims to blend comfort and driving engagement, making it suitable for daily use while offering a fun driving experience. The episode dives into the car's innovative technology, driving modes, and the appeal to both nostalgic fans and new buyers.
After missing in action for over two decades, Honda Prelude returns as a performance 2+2 with a hybrid powertrain. Scheduled to hit showrooms in late 2025, the 2026 Prelude gets Civic Type R's dual-axis strut front suspension, four-piston Brembo aluminum front calipers, and an adaptive suspension. Linear Shift Control simulates cog swaps plus there's a new S+ Shift mode. Tom Voelk previews Honda's grand touring-oriented sport hybrid.
