The Honda Prelude is a sports car that was popular in the past and is making a comeback in 2026. It's known for being fun to drive and stylish, appealing to car enthusiasts.
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is an electric vehicle from Hyundai. It's part of a line of cars that are designed to be eco-friendly and use electricity instead of gasoline.
The Nissan Armada Nismo is a sportier version of the Nissan Armada, which is a large SUV. Nismo is Nissan's special performance brand that makes cars faster and more fun to drive.
The Honda Civic Type R is a special version of the Honda Civic that is built for speed and handling. It's designed to be more fun to drive than regular Civics, with a stronger engine and better suspension.
S plus shift mode is a special setting in some cars that helps the driver change gears faster, making the car feel sportier and more responsive when driving.
The Integra A-Spec is a sportier version of the Acura Integra that offers better performance features, making it attractive to those who enjoy driving.
The Civic SI is a sport version of the Honda Civic that is designed for better performance and usually comes with a manual transmission, which many driving fans prefer.
The Civic Hybrid is a version of the Honda Civic that uses both gas and electricity to run, making it better for the environment and more fuel-efficient.
A 'barn find' is when someone discovers an old car that has been hidden away for a long time, usually in a barn. These cars can be special because they often have interesting histories.
The Dodge Charger is a well-known muscle car from the 1970s, famous for its speed and style. The 1973 version is part of a series that many car enthusiasts love.
The Pontiac Grand Prix SJ is a type of car that Pontiac made, known for being sporty and fun to drive. It's a good choice for someone looking for a comfortable yet engaging vehicle.
A visceral car is a type of car that makes you feel excited and connected when you drive it. It's not just about getting from one place to another; it's about enjoying the experience of driving.
A 2.2-liter engine is a way to measure how big an engine is. It tells you how much space is inside the engine's cylinders, which can help you understand how powerful the engine might be.
A tariff is a tax that a country charges on products brought in from other countries. This can make imported cars more expensive, like the Honda Prelude from Japan.
The Toyota Supra is a well-known sports car famous for its speed and performance. The latest version has received some criticism because it shares parts with BMW, leading some fans to question its authenticity as a Toyota.
Welcome back to the AutoGuide show presented by eBay Motors.
We have a great episode for you this week.
Road test editor Kyle Patrick joins me to break down the 2026 Honda Prelude.
It's back after nearly 25 years, but is it better than ever?
We're going to talk about that.
Then Mike Schlay joins me for his latest gear test, Gran Turismo 7.
OK, we're going to play some video games this week.
In the AutoGuide garage, I recently spent time in the Hyundai Ionic 9
and Mike drove the Nissan Armada Nismo.
We'll close things out with the mailbag, where we discuss unusual
used cars that we recommend.
But first, a word from our sponsor.
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All right, I'd like to welcome in Kyle, who's fresh off driving
the Honda Prelude. What's going on, man?
Oh, man, it was a great start to the year.
We're getting to drive the Prelude in Oceanside in California.
It's such a picturesque place and there were some fun surprises
because Honda brought all previous generations of Preludes
that are for us to experience, too.
So like I said, off the top, is it better than ever?
Well, you've got some historical context.
And I mean, so which which old one did you drive without getting into that
too much real quick?
So I actually got to experience all of them, which was yeah,
which was quite an experience.
I got into town and us being on the east coast, right?
You get into the West early.
You've got a whole day and there's nothing planned until dinner.
So it was like, you know what?
I will go out and I went out in the first one.
I went out in a 79 Prelude with all of what?
72 horsepower, windows down, power, moonroof open and just cruising.
And it was fascinating because
given that context, it's like the Prelude was a different sort of car back then,
right? It was a small, fairly affordable coupe.
It was stylish.
It had some luxury features.
It was definitely more luxurious than other Hondas.
And it just felt like a nice little blend where someone wanted something a little
nicer, right? But you weren't going up to like a full luxury car.
And it was easy to place and drive and see out of.
And yeah, it was it was an important first point for me.
Yeah, very, very cool.
I love it when they bring the sort of the ghosts out of the garage.
It's always kind of cool when they do that.
So why don't you just kind of give a quick overview for anybody who maybe isn't
quite informed on what the modern Prelude is in simple terms?
It's a coupe, it's a hybrid two plus two.
What else?
I feel like I need to say after being in it for a little that it's
more of a two plus zero.
It's it's tighter, right?
It feels like Honda got a little more space in them, even in the third gen.
So the mid to late 80s one.
And then now just modern crash structures being what they are.
You can get into the back, but I don't recommend it if you're an adult,
your heads up against the glass.
Yeah, so as Greg was saying, it's a hybrid coupe.
It is an amalgamation of multiple Honda models.
It rides on the Civic platform.
It has the Civic hybrid powertrain, which we think is excellent,
but it also has Civic Type R suspension bits, which is pretty great too, right?
And then there is just the one trim at launch.
It's a very simplified menu.
You just get one with everything.
You get the leather interior, you get all the nice features.
It's a lift back, which is also handy, practical.
And I got to say it is incredibly stylish.
Yeah, I so full disclosure, I actually drove a prototype a couple of months ago.
It was definitely a great way for you to kick off the year.
It was an awesome part of my October.
I was definitely telling a lot of my car people, hey, I drove the Prairie.
I remember like, how is that possible?
Well, OK, so it was a prototype.
But, you know, I agree with you as far as just like the design.
I mean, that's a good place to start to tear drop design.
I think this is going to hold up really well.
It's, you know, Ralph Jeals, who's the like the head of design for Stalantis,
long time designer over there has saying once good design is timeless,
bad design is timeless.
And I'm paraphrasing, I think this is a good design that's going to hang in there
for a long time.
I like the interior too.
Yeah, yeah, the interior is interesting because if you look at it in pictures,
it's clear that it's civic or integrant based, right?
Because Honda has come across this horizontal, simple design for the dashboard
and it's just ran with it.
And you know what, cool, it works well, stick with it.
This has some differences, though, with some trim pieces that I think we
agree are nice and feel a little more upscale.
But then what helps make this feel like a different vehicle when you're actually
sitting in it is, I mean, obviously the lower roof line and it's a double bubble.
So it loses a moonroof, which is being a standard in preludes for a while,
but it looks nice and sporty.
And then the center console is completely unique, right?
And so it's bigger and it makes the cabin feel a little more intimate.
It has some nice trim around it.
And it really focuses on the shifter and specifically that S plus shift mode,
which is so unique to the prelude and what Honda really wants to keep
focusing on for this new model.
So I'm curious, what did you think of that feature?
It's a little polarizing.
I know in the Slack channels, our internal discussion boards here,
we've had some some polarizing conversations.
What did you think of it?
I think I'm trying to put myself in the mindset of a prospective buyer, right?
And so
I'm guessing they don't want a manual.
If they did, they'd buy a Civic SI or an Integra, A-Spec or a Type R.
So, yes, from the perspective of a hardcore enthusiast who wants a manual,
S plus shift is not replacing that.
It's not the same thing.
It gives you a little bit of engine noise.
There's a little bit of, I guess it's regenerative braking,
but it's paired with the sound of the engine to give you a little bit more
decel at lower speeds.
But after the first two gears, gears, you're not going to notice it.
So I don't think it adds a ton of experience for people who are really
craving that manual feel, but I do think it adds a little bit of fun.
For someone who is buying a car that's
an everyday comfortable coupe and then they find themselves on a twisty road
and just want a little bit more engagement or even just a little bit of theater.
I think it works and I think Honda is doing the right thing by
debuting it in the prelude and now they're going to start bringing it into other models.
The Civic Hybrid is going to get it later this year and that makes a lot of sense.
There is no Civic Coupe, but arguably this could have been a Civic Coupe.
I think from a marketing perspective and for enthusiasts,
I think it's good to use a lot of the different elements and then repackage it
into something that's a little more niche, but also has more of a point because
I don't think a Civic Coupe has a point in this current market.
So I see why they did it,
but also it's almost like Devil's Advocate, they could have just done a Civic Coupe
and some of those were pretty memorable too.
It's true and that is a really good way of framing it, right?
It's like, well, you killed the Civic Coupe more recently.
So bringing that back wouldn't have made much of an impact.
It's like, OK, yeah, I can get a Civic in a slightly different shape now.
But the prelude getting a nicer interior than the Civic,
getting the Type R suspension bits that I imagine would be kept off of a Civic
Coupe to keep the Type R as its highlight, I do think it goes some way to
justifying bringing back the prelude name and it making it so stylish too.
And then, of course, there's the
the really tough factor that a lot of people are stuck on, which is the price.
It is not cheap.
It is. I was actually just kind of cross shopping some things here.
You're looking at I see about forty three.
That includes destination charges that's putting you well into
Integra territory, as well as a lot of other things, you know, even German luxury.
That's that is not cheap.
So I had a friend on Instagram actually commented
on my post about the prelude saying a BMW 230i is that same price.
And I didn't even realize that it is and you get a rear drive German Coupe with
an excellent turbocharged four cylinder, more powerful, more spacious in the back.
Not as good looking.
And if BMW is listening, I'm not sorry.
The two series is not as good looking as the prelude.
But I so I respectfully disagree there.
The prelude is gorgeous, but I think the two series for what it is,
depending on the trim, can look pretty awesome.
So OK. Yeah.
Fair. OK.
So that is an important point, right?
Like Honda is going after some serious machinery.
You can also get a base Nissan Z for roughly the same amount of money.
And that on paper, I understand it, right?
It's like, well, you can get 200 more horsepower,
you get double the power in a Z and it's rear drive.
And it's also very pretty.
However, I got to drive the prelude on twisty
mountain roads in California.
And look, we've all driven a Type R or a Type S
Integra same basic suspension setup.
That suspension setup is magic.
The prelude is so enjoyable to drive.
And it's a momentum car, which is fun to have because so many cars these days,
especially in this age of EVs, you have instant access power.
So it's fun to kind of think long term and here's a corner three up.
I have to make sure that I have the right speed getting into that corner.
It forces you to think more about what you're doing.
And I really enjoyed that in the prelude to the point that if it were my money,
I'd get a prelude over a base Z because I've also sat in a base Z and
you understand where the money went.
Follow the money, I think that's that's always a good saying.
We're talking about the 2026 Honda prelude
with Kyle, who's just back from the first drive.
We'll be right back after this.
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Kyle, so we were talking about what it's like to be behind the wheel,
be in the driver's seat of this new prelude.
You know, I really liked the engagement, how it felt.
It felt like a visceral car.
And to your point, it's not like just some crazy 400 horsepower EV where you
touch the throttle and boom, you're going 60.
You know, this is it makes you work for it.
It's a little old school in that sense.
That's how I thought.
Yeah. And you know what?
In a weird way, that actually kind of aligns with what the prelude used to be.
I I was a teenager when the prelude was discontinued.
And I remember reading reviews at the time.
It was yeah, it was the big block of the Honda range by having a 2.2 liter engine.
And it was known for being a sharp handler, but always a little bit more of a mini
grand tourer, right?
It wasn't it wasn't a hardcore sports coupe, because that's what the Integra
Type R did, or even the RSX once that came and kind of killed the prelude.
Yeah, I agree with you, where it is a surprisingly visceral experience if you
want it to be, but if you also want to dial it back and most of us have to live
with our cars day to day in a in a regular situation, the prelude is
very comfortable and very appealing to be in and just spend a lot of time in.
It's comfortable. I like that.
Yeah, the interior, I think, is definitely a shining star of this of this car.
Not to be cliched, but it's the materials are beautiful.
They really put some thought into it, I think.
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah. And going back to what we said earlier, it's like that's how it separates
the prelude out from being just a civic coupe.
I understand that it is a lot more money than an equivalent civic.
Those suspension bits aren't cheap.
And also the prelude is made in Japan.
Japan has a 15 percent tariff right now.
So I understand it's unfortunate that it's so expensive, because I do think
even just a little bit under would severely impact how people view it before
getting to experience the car.
And that's the other thing, too, is the prelude is going to be a fairly limited model.
Honda is only planning a few thousand sales or expecting a few thousand sales
in the US in its first year.
Some dealers aren't even going to get their first example until March.
It's going to be in short supply.
And so I think it's one of those ones that I think people need to be
need to experience to understand it.
And also it's not going to be for everyone and that's OK.
I I'm a little concerned that in like a few years down the road,
we're going to be having a podcast talking about how well Honda killed the prelude.
You know, it lasted for three or four years.
This was all they ever wanted it to be.
And now they're going to bring back something else, which I hope that doesn't
happen. But here's my bet, 50 50, that this thing actually gets to a true redesign.
I think this I could easily see this thing being like maybe like
a four or five, six year run.
Maybe they give it some light refreshes and then maybe they move on to something
else rather than totally reverse engineering it.
Now, to counterpoint myself, it's a civic in so many ways.
So it's not like they really have to like reinvent the wheel here, literally.
So I don't I think it's 50 50.
This thing gets has a real long term future and maybe that's OK.
You know, give us something that we all like that's fun.
It's not for everybody.
And then, you know, move on, we'll see.
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
I think that's a good way to look at it and not every car has to last forever.
I hope it does.
But even at this launch, the lead engineer talked about how at some points
during the project, it almost got canceled because it is a tough argument to make
in the current automotive landscape.
So I'm happy it exists.
Hopefully, we don't have that talk in a few years on the podcast about, well,
we have to say goodbye, hopefully.
You mentioned that Honda benchmarked this thing against a couple of really random
things that I might not have thought.
We've got Tesla, we've got Alpine, which if you need to Google that,
that is a French sports car maker.
They also ran a Formula One team there from the deep pages of
of automotive history.
They're up there with like Voisson and, you know, a few other ones that you don't
hear as much about.
I thought it was interesting how they really kind of really thought outside
the box as far as who might be interested in the new prelude.
Yeah, I thought that was a fascinating little part of our interview where
he mentioned Porsche 911 Alpine A110, so the current sports car that is just
exiting production.
And of course, they also namedrop the Acura NSX, because why not?
And it really shines a different light on the prelude where I feel like you get
a better idea of this focus on a holistic experience, right?
It's no one part of the car is overwhelming the other.
The 911 is not the most powerful vehicle for its price, right?
You can get a lot more powerful machinery than a base Carrera.
And I don't think people care.
People buy it because they want that, they want that unique blend of attributes.
And look, I don't think the prelude has earned the same sort of reputation as a 911.
But I appreciate that that's where they're aiming.
And and it's OK to say, look,
we're not the quickest.
It's a sports coupe that is focused less on that.
I think there's a confidence that is
positive, and I wish we saw more of that in the market.
So you get to drive all of the old ones just real quick.
Which one was your favorite?
Oh, Greg, you put me on the spot.
So I put a ranking out on AutoGuide.com.
And if people want to go look at that, they can.
My pick on that was the fourth gen because it was the most adventurous
and such a huge jump over the third gen in terms of power and tech and the wild
full width display dashboard.
It's such a cool car and I am so happy and fortunate and thankful that Honda brought it.
But if I have to pick today, no, it's actually the third gen.
The third gen is peak prelude for me.
That low nose, that pointy design,
that's what I picture when I close my eyes.
That is cool.
No, I I quite agree.
I think those two are among my top three, I guess.
So the conclusion I reached was this is a very good car.
It has a narrow use case.
I really enjoyed driving it.
I think it's definitely the right car for some people, definitely not for most people.
In the pantheon of preludes, I don't think it's the greatest.
I think it's, you know, to use a sports cliche, it's like an all star.
I don't think it's necessarily a Hall of Famer.
I think it's I don't think it's going to go down as sort of like one of the all
time greats.
I think it's just a good car that people are going to enjoy in the mid 2020s.
And that's about where it'll be.
It has another chapter to prelude, moves it forward, makes it relevant.
But I also like that was kind of my thing.
Is it if you were going for like an all time great?
I think they fell short of that, which is a pretty high bar.
I would also, you know, not to put too fine a point on this.
I would compare it to the Lamborghini Kuntak like they did a new version of it.
It's a limited edition, but it's basically based off one of their existing platforms.
Is it really like the Kuntak like from way back?
Not really.
It's sure they brought the name back.
Yeah, this is thing is awesome.
But it doesn't really make it more relevant.
And that's a weird comparison because the Kuntak is such a low volume thing.
But I would almost compare it to that.
Like you move it, you move it forward, you keep it going.
It's still a thing.
But maybe it's not an all time great.
So what is your conclusion?
I I largely agree.
I think right now it's too new for us to really put it in place, because yeah,
right now I'm like, you know what, it's not going to make it up into the.
Maybe it'll make it in the top half.
But yeah, it's it's a solid entry into the lineup of preludes.
My comparison is similar, but also Japanese.
Mine is the Supra, which is ending production this year, where there has
been so much hate directed towards that car because of what's underneath, right?
It's not a real super.
It's not a Toyota.
It's a BMW, ignoring the fact that that's the single greatest maker of inline
six engines ever.
So I always devil's advocate.
Why is having a BMW genetic?
Why is that a bad thing?
You know, tell me what part about that is not good.
The BMW stopped making good sports cars when I was not looking.
So we can that could be a whole separate segment.
Yeah, so I just so briefly on that is I think the Supra now that it's ending.
I say give it a few years and people are suddenly going to become very nostalgic
for the Supra that is just disappearing, because while it wasn't like the previous
ones, it was a small, tight, fun to drive sports car powered by an epic engine.
And so the prelude doesn't necessarily have an epic engine going for it,
but it also hot take never really did.
So I think in a few years time and people who are going to grow up with this one
are probably going to look back fondly on it and say, like, you know what,
it did something different and it was a very
satisfying everyday sports coupe.
So yeah, I'm curious to see what we'll be talking about 20 years from now.
I think that's a perfect way to sum things up.
The 2026 had to prelude.
If you'd like to read the first drive, check out Kyle's story.
If you want to go back and see sort of like a preview prototype drive.
I did that.
Both are available on the site.
You're listening to the AutoGuide show presented by eBay Motors.
This message comes from eBay.
The worst part about loving cars might just be buying them at all the parts
from Toyotas to Aston Martins.
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All right. For our gear segment, we're going to take things in a little bit of
a different direction this week and play some video games.
Mike has been hanging out with Gran Turismo 7,
kind of a deep cut off the radar.
I don't know if everybody's even heard of this one.
So tell us how did this gear work out for you?
Yeah, so I'm going with this because it is a very well known franchise.
It's coming up on 30 years.
It's crazy because Gran Turismo has been launched as the 25th anniversary
and in itself has been out for many years now.
There was just an update today, which will be a couple of days ago when people hear
this, so it's still getting free content, which is another crazy thing is this game
gets a monthly update, more or less, with free cars and free content.
People still complain because there's
enough of the exact car they want, the exact track.
It's like how many games you have to pay for stuff every month and a lot of money.
There's been one paid content, which is like a whole
another section of this game that came out a while ago.
Anyway, on to the game.
The reason we're talking about it is, like I said, it's got mass appeal.
I think it just hit a hundred million copies sold or something.
Some crazy milestone, which is
unbelievable for any game.
And I think the appeal is
it's a little bit of everything for everyone.
Those who want just an arcade racer will say, oh, it's too real.
Those who are hardcore, some race knobs are like, it's not a racer at all.
You know, pay five thousand dollars and make yourself a rig and play this game.
But this still is pretty accurate driving wise.
They have the whole Gran Turismo World Series set up that people all of the world
race each other and qualify for big money prizes and championships and whatnot.
And then they have
like 14 horsepower fee of five hundreds you can put around a track on.
Me, myself, I have always loved the game because I'm a car collector.
So my goal is always buy every car.
And currently in this game, I have every car times two, except for a couple of the
real expensive ones.
I don't really even care about the online.
People only want to play online and don't care about the collecting.
That's the beauty you can do either or.
I mean, I would have had the
those who know PlayStation, you can get trophies for unlocking stuff.
And I would have had the platinum, which means you've done every single thing in
the game probably three years ago, but I need to do 50 online races like with
randoms and I don't like doing those and I refuse to do them.
I think I've done two.
So I play online with my friends several times a week.
But yeah, it's it's the beauty of a game that you can be a fully online race car
only person, it can be a road car person.
And I mean, the slippery slope is
it gets expensive if you really get into it.
The game itself is quite affordable.
The PlayStation.
Well, you have to have one to begin with a four or five.
Five is so much better than the four
image and load times.
But then I had to go and buy a direct drive wheel and pedals and then upgrade my pedals.
I needed a frame to put it on.
And then I got the VR because this is easily the best PlayStation VR to game out there.
It's amazing sitting inside the car.
It actually can keep people motion sickness because it's so realistic.
Your body should be feeling things that it isn't as you're going up and down hills.
But yeah, it's just it's great.
And like I said, it's got a 559 car
database now that spans from, I believe, 1928 to obviously fake cars in the future.
So a little bit of everything for everyone.
You you wrote a story a little while ago about some tips for people who might be
getting into the game since we're sort of reviewing gear and product in the segment.
Why don't you give us some tips for maybe the novice user of the game?
Yeah, so getting into this game and a lot of racing games,
the important thing is pace yourself.
Some people will want to get in the game and save up money and go by like the
Hellcat charger or something ridiculous for the early races without kind of honing
the skills of control.
If you're brand new to these kind of racing games,
there's so many assists you can put on, which is great.
Everything from steering and braking assists to driving lines to ABS, traction control,
stability control. And as you get better, you can slowly sort of wean yourself off
because you will go faster the less of those used down the road.
Everyone that I know that plays finds their comfort point.
Some people want no assist.
I usually drive the ABS sometimes maybe have a one traction on some of the really
ridiculous cars, especially if it's a road car or race car that has it anyway.
With the the money in progression,
you don't need to do the same race and grind away to get specific cars.
Look at the stipulations.
Some of them are suggested power levels and if you want, you can exceed them to be
able to win easier at the times you can challenge yourself.
The the sensible cars make the most sense to start.
Get the ones that are, you know, easy to drive and a good bang for the buck to
progress through the game.
It's also important to progress through the game because you unlock more and more
things like multiplayer and the ability to do engine swaps, which can get crazy in
the game, all those sort of things.
I like the old cool cars, but they don't as competitive and you got to put a lot
of money into them to get them better.
So if you're just starting out, maybe stick with some all around modern stuff
that will will do better for you.
So the Gran Turismo franchise has been around since 1997.
That's almost 30 years.
If you look at like the broad sweep of automotive history going back to say,
let's say like 1900, that's like a quarter of the time we've been driving like
internal combustion engine cars, a quarter of that time we've been able to play them.
You know, one of the best video games of all time, regardless of genre.
I'm curious, because I know you're a little bit more of a gamer than I am.
Why do you think this franchise has resonated so deeply for so long?
I think it's a combo of three things.
So not to overly age myself, but I am kind of up there.
I was a teenager when Gran Turismo one came out and I grew up with video games.
I always refer to my generation as the video game generation,
because we were kids when the SEGA's and the Nintendo's came out.
And then we were early teams with the Genesis and Super Nintendo.
So we kind of aged with the games as they got more mature and more tech driven.
Because the creator of the game said he always wanted something like
Gran Turismo didn't exist, and he's completely right.
Racing games back then were trying to be sims like
Erton Senna's Grand Prix, which was great, but the technology wasn't there.
Or they were like outrun where you're just racing a clock and smashing things.
There was no game where you could get in like a real car and just drive it
and like try to modify and race other real cars and carners like me, like we wanted that.
And this thing came out and all of a sudden you had like I could race a Honda Civic
against Corvette against, you know, the wagon my neighbor has down the street, like the Accord.
So I think it was the
attainability of really leading into just regular car culture.
And then, of course, it was a good game.
The graphics were mind blowing for its time.
And they've kind of continued that right up to today.
They've always been leading edge.
The gameplay was fun and interesting.
Everything just kind of came together.
And it's one of those that could have been a complete flop.
And there were other games at the time that tried to do the same thing.
Car and driver had one called I think Gran Tur racing and it wasn't fun to play.
They had the same idea car wise, but this one just hit it.
And then Polyphony and Sony got behind it and, you know, a franchise that does so well,
you just keep building.
And then I think with Gran Turismo 2, they really showed like how much into car culture
they could get. They expanded the number of cars, like huge.
And the different regions and the eras and that just really stuck with people.
It's never been a full sim racer, but it's given you a more accurate feel than
an arcade game while still having more than just, you know, F1 cars or GT3 cars.
So, yeah, I mean, others have tried for us.
It was a great franchise as well.
I mean, they just killed off motorsports, but it's more arcadey with the horizons.
But it has the same idea of a ton of regular cars, but that one's more into
jumps and modifying the cars or is Trismos more for people like me that want to
take a 98 S4 and a BMW 330 and an Infiniti G35 and time trial of all and see
which one's the quickest virtually in the game and drive cars I could never afford
in real life like a Chevelle SS 454, especially in GT7 with the VR.
I can like sit in the car and look around and the details are ridiculous.
And that's always been a thing.
Like it showed cars in Gran Turismo 1 in detail, which now look comical
without how bad tech was back then.
But compared to what they were, it was like that looked like the real car,
which was amazing.
It's it's funny you name off some of those video game titles.
You know, that's that's definitely right in my wheelhouse as well.
I believe we like to be called geriatric millennials.
That's where they put our sort of rough age demographic is in like
you grew up with video games, you grew up with some internet,
but you also remember the time.
Maybe you don't totally remember, but there was a time where there wasn't
really internet in our like living memory.
So definitely, you know, this video game is really cut across, you know,
a lot of different generations and really, you know, hit deeply with a lot of people.
Yeah, I mean, it's funny, say generations.
I run a fun weekly league where we just race different cars
and different themes every week.
And our age range, I think right now is twenty to seventy one.
So you got a big cross section of people there.
Well, you think thirty years there that seventy one year old would have been
in the early 40s when the game came out and twenty two would have been negative,
you know, eight or whatever.
So so yeah, sorry.
So that is Gran Turismo seven.
Check out Mike's article with plenty of tips.
If you're just getting into the game in our next segment,
we're going to drive some cars in real life.
We'll be right back after this.
All right, we are now going to get inside the Auto Guide garage
and talk about a couple of interesting things here.
I've been in the Hyundai Ionic nine and Mike has been in the Nissan Armada Nismo.
So that is an absolute battle cruiser of the large SUV segment.
Why don't we start with that one?
I drove the Infiniti QX80 last year, I guess, as I'm thinking back to this,
what is time, right?
So that's like the platform made.
It's definitely the more opulent, you know, beautifully trimmed out sort of variant.
This one, they thought, hey, let's Nismo the Armada,
which is a very interesting tact.
What did you think of this thing?
Yeah, so I've driven the regular Armada.
We compared it to the, say, Traverse.
No, wrong one, Tahoe, a year, year and a half,
whenever it first came out.
And we like the Armada better in many ways,
although it was a little cumbersome to drive.
It had that twin turbo V6 actually sounds pretty good.
And it has so much torque and power.
Can't match the V8 soundtrack necessarily, but it still sounds good.
The interior was nice.
The car just felt great, but it drives more like a truck than Chevy,
which may sound odd, but it was a little cumbersome in the corners
and body rolled.
And it's just not like you're expecting a car like feel,
but it always reminds you that this was a truck underneath
and not maybe a more modern SUV.
The QX80 that you drove, I loved.
It's one of my favorites.
And they righted a lot of the wrongs there.
It still feels truckish, but sort of properly,
like the way it's opposed to almost like a discount range Rover,
which is actually high praise.
I don't mean that in a bad way.
So with this, they've given it not a subtle exterior upgrade.
It goes full Nismo with badges everywhere,
the red trim around the bottom on the lip spoiler and the skirts.
And yeah, it's everywhere it went.
People notice it.
And I don't even have the lighter gray, the usual Nismo color,
like a darker one, but it still stands out so much.
And the engine actually gets more power, which is nice.
Four sixties, that's 35 more than the regular Armada.
And I think that's even 10 more than the QX80.
So hey, that's nice.
They didn't do anything with the exhaust, which is kind of sad about
as expecting a valve exhaust that I could at least open up and play with.
But it's just the regular and still just that one pipe on one side,
hidden under the bumper, like should have gone on Nismo.
Nismo was like in your face and the styling is like,
why not have big dual pipes or even quad pipes out the back?
So maybe there'll be like a Nismo R down the road.
Remember there was the Juke Nismo and the Juke Nismo R
and maybe I like the Juke Nismo, actually.
Yeah, I like both of them.
So maybe that's when we'll get that stuff.
But the drivability, those that they can prove it.
It's not like this is a sports special
and it's not even like it's one of the best handling full size SUVs in the market.
But they've improved it a lot where it's just a riot to drive
because he got all this sports car look inside and outside.
And the extra power and throttle mapping makes the engine so responsive.
And now it corners decently as opposed to rolling over on itself.
So it's yeah, it's I really appreciate it after like it's the one I want,
except for the fact that maybe the styling is not for everyone and it's kind of pricey.
But they should really take whatever they've done to the chassis
and throttle and put that in all the armadas.
And I think the whole vehicle improved, but it's just cool that they did this.
Like who, you know, like there's no Tahoe SS right now.
That would be kind of cool.
But yeah, it's it's cool if it is mooted and it's cool.
They pulled it off.
It could have just been a tacky body kit and nothing else.
But it really does feel like a different vehicle.
And it's kind of sad to see it go and I had it in the snowstorm.
And man, it's still even though it's the sporty version,
has all the Armada off road bits.
So I can still put it in like rut mode and jack it way up in the air
and just drive over the 26 inches of snow we got.
So yeah, it's it's one of those do everything vehicles and I'm happy it exists.
You know, there's I feel like we live in the, I don't know,
golden age of trims, but there's a lot of trims out there
and all sorts of things from like wilderness to like trail sport.
Like I'm thinking off road, there's like you mentioned the Tahoe.
They did do that RST thing with like sort of like the cop,
like suspension pieces, brakes.
So like all sorts of different like brands and different segments
are doing stuff like this.
It kind of sounds like the Armada Nismo is one of the more comprehensive
like base lifts upgrades to a trim level, which I like.
You know, I think that's a thing that when you do something like this,
you want it to be like authentic, you want it to be cool.
I think there's nothing worse than in the automotive press
than like a paint and sticker package.
That's like a great way for us to just sort of literally tee off on you.
So it sounds like they landed with this thing.
So I kind of want to drive it.
You're selling it. Yeah, I mean, it's not perfect.
Like it's terrible on gas and it's massive and there's all those.
But that's the segment.
So for the segment and what I think is why I appreciate so much
is you just mentioned it.
There's so many great trims out there.
But right now in a world of rugged everything.
And there's the off road pro four X Armada and, you know, everyone does that.
But not many of these big SUVs that have no place being sporty
or getting sport versions.
So it's kind of cool.
And these tunnels like, hey, look what we can do and yeah.
All right.
Well, let's let's transition over to something that is very good on gases
and it doesn't use any.
This is the Hyundai Ionic nine three row SUV all electric for Hyundai.
Hugely significant vehicle.
It's talk about platform mates.
This is sort of like the follow up to the Kia EV nine,
which we came first, I guess.
I was very impressed with this one.
I drove it just like six weeks ago, maybe somewhere in there.
It was definitely cold out.
So I did spend some time trying to charge it, which is always a challenge
with large vehicles with big batteries that need to be rather thirsty
for those electrons.
This one cost about seventy nine thousand five hundred dollars.
So not cheap.
If you want to get into a cheaper Ionic nine, you could get into one
like the S trim, which is it's under sixty.
It's about fifty call fifty nine for starting MSRP.
The one I tested, the performance calligraphy design totally loaded.
You mentioned the Land Rover comparison.
This is like like a Hyundai sort of Land Rover for lack of a better comp.
It's lovely interior.
I actually drove this after the pretty close to the Palisade last fall
and I like the interior of this thing better.
I thought the minimalistic kind of look was cleaner.
There was like a marbleized sort of back splash.
I have back splashes in my head right now because we're always thinking
of updating our bathrooms and that's kind of what came to mind with this thing.
The interior ambient lighting really cast a great look for it.
Perforated leather, it had all of the things.
So, you know, in that sense, it was great.
It reminded me a little bit of what Volvo has done well
when they're sort of at their peak interior.
I like the exterior design a lot.
I thought this one was kind of futuristic.
It's distinctive.
It reminded me of when the new generation of Santa Fe came out
and you were like, oh, yeah, this is what Hyundai does when they're really going for it.
I feel like the Palisade got a little more conservative for this new generation.
I still like it.
It actually won SUV of the year in the North American car, truck
and utility vehicle of the year awards.
I gave it votes.
I voted for it.
So like I do like the Palisade.
Don't get me wrong, but I feel like when Hyundai has done things right,
they've done a nice job of doing something special in a really good value.
And I guess that's really my only sort of like down point here of my kind of review
is the value is not great.
I think you kind of got to get a lower or mid level trim
because otherwise you're spending $80,000, which to be fair,
and I'm talking out on maybe both sides of my mouth here,
you get you do get value, but it's also like it's a very expensive.
Like I think it's it's tough to wrap your head around perhaps
spending that much money, you know, when there's other things, you know,
you're talking luxury level things you could get, you know,
but on the other hand, maybe this is luxury level
because I was very impressed with it.
I liked it.
I had to try to charge it in one of these like old school parking garage from
well, I know where it's from, but it wasn't this century
and trying to get this thing in the garage into the like the chargers,
which were right up front, it was a challenge.
And I actually I hate to say this, I gave up on it.
I backed in.
I couldn't quite line it up.
Traffic was coming.
So that is I know on our last episode, we talked about home chargers.
This thing is why you would want to have a home charger, I think.
So I I liked it.
You know, the range was good coming back on a cold winter night
from I was actually out in Ann Arbor.
So if you're familiar with like Michigan, it's about 40 miles west of Detroit,
just kind of on the fringe of the metro area.
You don't really want to have to stop like in kind of the middle of nowhere
on like a cold night and try and hope there's a charger.
Wasn't there was no range anxiety, even with my sort of charging fail.
You know, it's comfortable, it's quiet on the road.
Again, beautiful interior, distinctive exterior.
They could have even made this thing the Palisade, this design.
And I would have been all for it because I actually like the design that much.
I think it's polarizing in the way the old Sonatas were polarizing,
where it was either, oh, I love this thing or I hate this thing.
So so, yeah, that's kind of my mini review.
I think I, you know, I know four out of five stars, if you will,
if I were to give it some sort of rating.
But I really liked it.
Have you driven the Ionic nine?
Just curious.
Yeah, so you touch on a lot of things that I totally get and agree with.
I actually have one and I drove it on a decent sized trip.
So basically round trip was test was its full range.
This was the summer and it's exact same trip I took an ex 90 on.
So earlier in the summer.
So I get totally get your conundrum about value because with EVs,
they're so inherently smooth and great drives that I've always said,
it's hard for a luxury brand to kind of stand out with gas.
You can make your car so much smoother and quieter and more refined.
But with the electric motor, it's just fine right from the start.
And I didn't I found the Ionic nine was as good as the ex 90.
And there's a big price difference.
So there's a value there, but EVs are still inherently expensive.
And when you compare it to gas and hybrid counterparts,
yes, it's still a lot of money to to step up to.
But the styling I am not huge on.
It's got a very tapered look in the back.
I like the EV nine better, even though they're very similar.
But inside the Ionic nine is very nice and is comfortable and it drives well.
And yeah, it shows that EVs can be used even in a family application every day
because I actually got a home charger the week that I had that vehicle.
So it was a perfect timing.
It's just the price of entry is such a barrier for so many people still.
Yeah, I sort of feel like a lower trim, which is still pretty well equipped,
is about the right pricing entry point for this.
But again, if you could somehow, well, I don't know,
shape $7,500 off of each one, get it down to around like 51.
Get this one down to around like 71, 72 feels a little bit more natural.
So but hey, that's pricing.
I liked it, though.
I mean, I as far as just like looking at the merits of the product,
I liked it a lot in fact.
So all right.
So that is our review segment.
Hope you enjoyed your time in the AutoGuide garage.
We'll be right back with the mailbag.
OK, this week in the mailbag, we have a question about used cars.
User rights.
I'm looking for an unusual used car, something beyond the typical things
you guys always recommend, like the ubiquitous three year old Honda Civic.
My budget is about 20 to 25,000 for daily driving.
What say you?
Well, this actually, I think, is kind of a fun one,
because on my way in to the AutoGuide Studios, I saw a Lincoln Continental
about 2017, 2018, somewhere in there, doing some quick searches.
You could get one in the 20s.
It's definitely even in Michigan.
You don't see that many of these things.
I think that was an underappreciated car.
It may have been overshadowed by the Cadillac CT6,
which won a bunch of awards.
It was that brash Cadillac sedan thing.
This one was a little bit smaller, a little bit more understated,
but I really thought it was classy.
So we don't know too much about, you know, hey,
any more details about this sort of situation.
But it's a sedan.
Sedans work for most people.
It's a nice car.
The interiors are gorgeous.
So that is actually my kind of deep cut as far as an unusual used car.
As I would say, hey, if you're interested, go drive one.
See if you like it.
Yeah, it's funny we get these questions.
I mean, this one at least has some stipulations, but it's still so wide open.
Like what kind of vehicle do I want to do on a truck?
I see for your car, what do you where do you need to go?
How far do you go now?
So anyway, I'm going to give three levels of deep cut or three levels of obscure.
So we'll start a little more
regular, I guess, like a little more not too crazy.
So my first would be get yourself a turbocharged outback
because it'll do basically everything you'd ever need.
If that's still a little too, too normal for that price,
you can go and find yourself one of these three vehicles.
They're all the same idea, a CTSV, a GT or I know in the US,
you guys had those, not the Caprice.
That was very rare, but what was the other one that you could get?
Chevy SS.
Chevy SS.
Go find one of those and you'll have some nice rear drive V8 fun,
some even with manuals.
If that's not your thing because of weather, even though they'd be fine with winter tires.
Let's go real obscure and go get that.
The Subaru SVX. There we go.
You want to have the most unusual daily.
There you go. You want to have a nightmare trying to keep it a daily.
There you go.
That is a deep cut in this show of, I would say,
obscured deep cuts that's I did not have that on my bingo card.
I even had to kind of Google that just because I like kind of blanked on what it was.
So that's that's a fun one.
Yeah, but I mean, in all honesty, if it's a car, one of those old V8 GMs,
you know, they all got the small block there.
They're going to have issues here and there, like all cars do,
but the engine's not going to be a huge one.
And if you need an SUV, there's so many
fun, high power.
You know, another fun SUV that seems regular to people when they look at it.
But you know what you got?
I think it's now three gens ago, the V6 RAV4.
Remember, it would do like zero to 69 or six seconds.
It was ridiculous.
And it just looks like a RAV4, but it's got this crazy powerful V6 under the hood.
Well, since you clearly did your homework, I guess I should add at least one more here.
I would go with like BMW four series coupe.
You can find those 16, 20, even a little more give or take,
depending on how many miles you're willing to take.
But I think that would be a fun daily driver.
You get to drive a BMW.
I think they look pretty good.
Yeah, I mean, you want to have some fun, do that.
You know, definitely gives you something that's a little bit different.
Depends on how different this person wants to be.
They want to be like way out there and they're some mechanically inclined person.
I mean, in that price range, you could probably still find yourself in a zoo
as a via cross. Oh, yeah.
I mean, one of those old troopers or something.
I mean, you could really go off the rails for 20 grand.
But yeah, you know, depends on what you do and any other 20 grand
just to keep it on the road.
That's like you need a donor car at that point, too.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Good luck finding parts in some of these.
All right. Cool.
Well, thanks for hanging out, Mike.
Thanks to Kyle for telling us about all things prelude right off the top.
If you'd like to get into the mailbag, please leave some comments
at the bottom of this article.
We also will put up some Ask Auto Guide posts where, hey, feel free to weigh in there.
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About this episode
The 2026 Honda Prelude makes its long-awaited return after 25 years, and this episode dives deep into its features and performance. Road test editor Kyle Patrick shares his firsthand experience driving the new Prelude in California, comparing it to previous generations. The discussion also touches on the Prelude's hybrid powertrain, stylish design, and unique interior features. Additionally, the hosts debate its pricing against competitors like the Nissan Z and BMW 230i, while also exploring the car's driving dynamics and the nostalgic significance of the Prelude name.
The Prelude returns for Honda after nearly 25 years. Now it’s a hybrid with tear-drop styling and chassis bits from the Type R. Host Greg Migliore breaks it all down with Road Test Editor Kyle Patrick.
Then Mike Schlee joins for his latest gear test: Gran Turismo 7. In the AutoGuide Garage, Greg reviews the Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Mike examines the Nissan Armada NISMO. We close things out with the mailbag, where we discuss unusual used cars that we recommend. Hint: The Lincoln Continental makes a surprise cameo.
