The Honda Prelude is again! Effectively, kinda. A bit like Ford’s Maverick pickup having not a lot to do with a Ford automobile of the identical title from the Seventies, the newly rebooted Prelude has way more in widespread with its brethren inside the extant Honda Civic line than the prior Prelude, which was bought in varied markets worldwide from the late Seventies to only into this century.
Sure, like its namesake, it is a two-door and strikes by way of front-wheel drive. And it is sporty and comparatively rakish. However the higher approach to consider the brand new Prelude is as a mashup between the brawny, 315-horsepower Civic Sort R, and the hybrid Civic, which is one in every of my esteemed colleague’s favourite hybrids, arms down. However what does all this imply for the brand new Prelude? Stick round and I am going to clarify.
Inspector Gadget, You have Met Your Journey
Earlier than we even get into the powertrain, which is extremely unconventional, let’s discuss among the goodies from the Civic Sort R. First, that features that sports activities automobile’s dual-axis strut entrance suspension, which you can even discover within the Acura Integra Sort S. Basically, the system realigns the steering axis in order that the strut tower is as shut as doable by the wheel heart. The thought is to supply as a lot leverage as doable to steering, in order that in a high-torque, higher-power second, corresponding to exiting a nook, the Sort R can obtain extra impartial steering traits, like a rear-wheel-drive sports activities automobile. Does it work? I’ve tried it on the Sort R, and it is excellent.
Honda additionally says the Prelude can have a far shorter wheelbase and wider footprint than the present Civic occupies, which, at the least in idea, ought to make it extra secure at pace than a automobile just like the Civic Si.
Civic Sort R Toys
Honda says the Prelude will experience on low-profile, 235/40R19 tires and can put on Brembo, four-piston aluminum entrance stoppers. It would even have adaptive dampers by way of the Sort R, however these might be tuned particularly for the Prelude, and my guess is that is Honda-speak for a much less raucous experience. If it handles extra just like the Integra Sort S, then Honda will nearly nail their mark. Plus, suspension stiffness might be dial-able by way of the driving force, with Consolation, GT, Sport, and Particular person modes.
New Tech, Distinctive To The Prelude; For Now
Honda, up till now, has used a know-how known as Automobile Stability Help. In essence, this labored when a automobile started to slip previous the driving force’s supposed steering angle. The brand new-new known as Agile Dealing with Help (AHA), which jumps in earlier than the skid ever begins.
It really works as quickly as you provoke a flip, studying the steering angle and yaw, in addition to the pace of steering wheel rotation. Relying on what correction is required, AHA can flippantly brake the within entrance wheel or the surface entrance wheel, and Honda says it will probably appropriate for each understeer (turning too broad of the supposed nook apex) or oversteer (turning extra tightly than the supposed apex).
I’ve skilled numerous this know-how, the place energetic dealing with can, for instance, apply extra throttle to an out of doors tire to cut back understeer. The most important concern is that if it is wrongly executed, it will probably really feel unnatural, even when it is an efficient security support.
A Hybrid System Honda’s Already Utilizing
Presently, the Accord Hybrid, Civic Hybrid, and CR-V Hybrid all riff on a model of Honda’s two-motor hybrid powertrain. It is a distinctive system, which works a little bit like extended-range battery electrical methods (EREVs) and never like a traditional hybrid. The distinctive elements of the equation:
- It has twin electrical motors in addition to a 2.0-liter, 200-horsepower, four-cylinder gasoline engine
- The 2 electrical motors divide duties. A traction motor can each regenerate the battery on deceleration and instantly drive the entrance wheels.
- A separate generator motor exists to feed electrical energy again into an onboard battery.
Taking Benefit Of A Small Battery And Small Motors
Confused? Do not be. Drive modes are dealt with robotically, like with any hybrid. You get electric-only energy whenever you’re beginning out below even acceleration. You get the punch of each electrical and gasoline energy whenever you want exhausting propulsion. And at freeway speeds, the automobile principally operates on gasoline, as a result of that is extra environment friendly than drawing from the comparatively low torque functionality of electrical motors, that are geared for faster takeoff from a standstill.
However what’s uncommon is that the gasoline motor is generally working as a generator, feeding into the battery and driving the traction motor, which turns the wheels. Which implies…there is not any transmission.
Sufficient Mustard?
Whole energy output will not exceed what comes with the Civic Hybrid. So that you’re getting 200 horsepower and 232 pound-feet of torque. That is at the moment sufficient mustard to propel the Civic Hybrid to 60 MPH in about six seconds. Which is not shabby, however it’s not going to catch the Civic Sort R—nor the Acura Integra Sort S. Proper now, the Civic Hybrid and Civic Si are literally fairly shut in a straight line.
But when the Prelude prices considerably greater than both of these two Civics and is not faster, it kinda begs the query of why you’d need the Prelude.
Shifty, However Not Shift-ing
The Prelude’s transmission is exclusive. It is not getting a CVT such as you’d sometimes see in a hybrid. As a substitute, the traction motor instantly drives the wheels, and there is a single gear, precisely such as you’d see in an EV. Honda created one thing known as Linear Shift Management to regulate engine speeds to rise in relation to throttle enter, and to simulate the impact of a torque-converter quite than a CVT rev path—however it’s not truly shifting.
The rev-changes aren’t needed for the four-cylinder engine to generate energy to drive the traction motor, however drivers discovered prior variations too CVT-like—i.e., not sporty, with an disagreeable engine drone related to CVTs.
S+ Shift = Gearbox?
On the Prelude, Honda has added a brand new wrinkle to this known as S+ Shift, which provides paddle shifters to the equation. However these, too, are simulating a shift, not truly altering gears. Honda says S+ Shift creates “…digital rev-matched downshifts in S+ mode and enhanced engine sounds to extend driver really feel and reference to the automobile.”
The important thing query: Are these downshifts actual or fake? If they really trigger deceleration, so the driving force will get the management they’re anticipating by the faux gearbox, then S+ will add to the Prelude’s sportiness. But when it is all sizzle and no steak, you are most likely going to need a stick-shift from one in every of Honda’s rivals. Or simply the Civic Si.
2+2 Seating And One Mannequin Grade
The Prelude is a two-door hatchback, however it has a decently roomy second row. We’re anticipating pinched headroom, however Honda says second-row denizens can have 32 inches of rear-seat legroom. That is nicely shy of the Civic’s 37.4 inches, however smaller adults and youngsters would survive a brief stint in coach.
Doubtless extra necessary to the Prelude’s core buyer is that it comes with what Honda calls “ultra-premium entrance sport seats” with leather-based and a houndstooth sample, and the driving force’s seat is uniquely bolstered for that place, whereas the entrance passenger’s seat is much less contoured and confining. If you happen to’ve been a passenger within the Sort R, you are most likely conscious that it could possibly be much less sporty and extra cozy.
FYI, matching the seats, there is a sport steering wheel particularly designed for the Prelude as nicely. Seat heating is normal, as are tech options like wi-fi cellphone charging, Google Constructed-in (i.e., Google Assistant and Google Maps), wi-fi Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a WiFi hotspot, and a Bose sound system developed particularly for the Prelude.
TopSpeed’s Take
The Prelude seems cool and it is nice that it is again. Any new sports activities automobile available on the market as of late is virtually a miracle, as a result of there are merely fewer clients who need them. And I am not even mildly stunned that Honda has semi-hedged by going with a mixture of a hybrid powertrain together with among the sportiness (like a driver-selectable suspension) from the Civic Sort R.
The pause button right here is how actual the S+ Shift perform feels. Honda has indicated it will come to future EVs, too, as a result of a downshiftable transmission is a lacking piece for electrical automobiles.
That is a legit need. So is having S+ Shift not be all present and no substance. There is a performance to shifting a handbook gearbox: it aids cornering. It is a type of braking that is extra predictable. If Honda’s achieved that with the Prelude’s S+ness, kudos. That is superior.
In fact, the opposite query is concerning the worth. Which we all know zilch about. But when it is scraping a number of grand above Civic Si—but with the identical energy output of the Civic Hybrid—Honda might discover it powerful to promote the Prelude to various thousand patrons a yr.
