Written by Jake Groves Updated: 28 July 2025

Overview

Should you buy a Honda Prelude?

It’s still early days, but the Honda Prelude is already showing signs of being a genuinely appealing all-rounder. It blends sporty coupe styling with hybrid power and everyday usability, offering something refreshingly different in a market that’s become increasingly homogenised. Few cars at this level promise such a considered mix of performance, efficiency and clever engineering.

What really stands out is how cohesive it feels from the driver’s seat. The chassis feels taut and responsive, the steering has a reassuring weight to it, and the ride, especially in Comfort mode, is impressively refined. The S+ Shift system, which mimics a traditional auto with paddle shifts, adds a layer of driver engagement that many hybrids lack, and the interior quality appears to match the Civic’s high standard.

There are still plenty of unanswered questions. We haven’t had the chance to test the rear seat comfort or boot space, and we’ll need more time behind the wheel to fully understand its everyday usability. But if Honda can maintain this level of polish and charm through to the production version, the new Prelude could well be one of the most interesting cars in its class.

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What’s new?

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The return of the Honda Prelude is something that has been a long time coming for the Japanese car brand, resurrecting a name that’s not been used since the early 2000s. To Honda, the Prelude is designed to be a technology pioneer disguised as a sports coupe, offering up some smart thinking in a handsome package.

On first impressions, this Prelude looks to do the same thing. As well as its clean design inside and out and a four-seat configuration, the Prelude is a hybrid includes technology designed to mimic an automatic transmission with paddle-shift gears, despite using the usual Continuously Variable Transmission usually applied to hybrid cars.

It features the same 2.0-litre engine and twin-motor non-plug-in powertrain as the Civic hatchback, meaning 181hp of available power. As well as a hybrid engine, the Prelude includes some engineering from the Civic Type R hot hatch, but it’s been calibrated so it’s not as sharp and more balanced.

The Prelude has three driving modes: Comfort, GT and Sport – and all are self-explanatory. Comfort prioritises calm driving, riding a wave of torque and puts the Prelude’s adaptive dampers in their softest setting. GT is more balanced, acting more like a normal mode than anything else, while Sport improves throttle response and sharpens up the steering and ride. As well as the modes, the Prelude has an augmented sound system for the engine, which Honda promises is nothing but real engine revs simply amplified rather than a digital revving noise piped in.

What’s it like inside?

The Prelude’s interior is, unsurprisingly, very similar to the current-shape Civic that shares so much with it. We had plenty of adjustability in the driving position, via some thickly bolstered sports seats, and a thickly-rimmed steering wheel to get hold of.

The centre console rises up towards the dashboard at more of an angle than that of the Civic, with the auto shift buttons sitting centrally. As well as that, the S+ Shift button is present here, finished in a glossy clear material. There’s also a wide central screen, and digital instruments for the driver, with the power meter changing to a rev counter when you’re in Sport mode.

We are yet to test how the rear seats feel like, or check out the boot volume.

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What’s it like to drive?

Please be aware that we have had very limited time with the Prelude, but we learned a lot during our short initial test. Like the Civic, the Prelude feels well put together (even in this ‘99%’ pre-production car) with pleasingly weighted steering regardless of what mode you’re in.

Comfort drive mode is just that: sedate and smooth, with a gentle surge of torque from the e-motor pushing you forward and the laxest steering setup. With S+ engaged, it’s like having a conventional auto in a lazy ‘D’ setting. Nudge up to GT, and not all that much seems to change. The engine note gets a little louder but any other changes are rather imperceptible.

Sport, meanwhile, is a more noticeable change. The steering firms up, the suspension feels that little bit tauter and the engine rev sounds properly sporty, growling a little like an old K20 VTEC engine on a simmer. It’s not the fastest thing in the world; floor it and there’s a super linear surge of progress, but not one that’s spine tingling. Purposeful rather than pulse-raising.

The same can be said for the handling. The Prelude isn’t like a Type R to chuck around, but it’s not designed to be. Instead, it’s neatly tied down, with good body control.

What really does convince us, though, is the S+ Shift tech. Closely-spaced ‘ratios’ are designed to encourage you to keep shifting and add to the experience. You get a gear marker in the driver’s instruments to follow if you want to flick a paddle yourself, with a pleasing nudge from the powertrain lifting off – particularly on a down shift. You could absolutely fool yourself into thinking this has a dual-clutch transmission – right up until the engine cuts out when you lift off and coast, anyway.

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What models and trims are available?

Specifications are yet to be confirmed for the new Honda Prelude, but we get the impression the brand will offer more than one trim when the car goes on sale towards the end of 2025. This will likely only really encompass additional technology or luxuries, with the fundamentals remaining the same.

Take a look at our explainer page if you want to know more about how we test cars – while our initial ratings for the Honda Prelude can be found on the next page.