As the primary nook approached at Honda‘s personal take a look at observe, in Tochigi, Japan, I pulled the left paddle to let the Prelude drop a gear earlier than throwing it laborious on the apex. The automobile handed me the decrease cog virtually immediately, instantly blipped its throttle, and emitted a noise that sounded like several nice four-cylinder engine the automaker has constructed up to now.
Besides, none of it was truly actual. The Prelude, an iconic sports activities coupe that makes a comeback after a 25-year hiatus, is a front-wheel-drive hybrid that is paired with a CVT. On paper, none of that speaks to lovers. But, Honda does its magic right here, creating some of the organic-feeling sports activities vehicles I’ve pushed this yr.
A Sports activities Coupe In A World Of SUVs
With SUVs taking all of the house at the present time, and sedans dropping like flies whereas sports activities coupes sleep on supplier tons, one has acquired to ask: why on Earth is Honda going ahead with this type of automobile?
The short reply is that Honda wished a sports activities automobile in its lineup, one thing barely nimbler and extra inexpensive than the Civic Sort R. Honda says the Prelude places the driving force first and that it takes the combat on to different enthusiast-friendly machines such because the Mazda MX-5 Miata and the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86 twins. It exists for “the enjoyment of driving”, a phrase its Japanese engineers stored repeating throughout the automobile’s on-site presentation.
The opposite cause the Prelude is again is that Honda’s personal CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, personally requested for it.
The automaker is subsequently nicely conscious that this will probably be a low-volume automobile. In-built Japan, the Prelude will probably be uncommon, with only a few allocations despatched to U.S. and Canadian sellers. Its price ticket, whereas nonetheless not introduced in the meanwhile of penning this story, ought to sit someplace between an Accord and a Civic Sort R, or across the $38,000 mark.
And what a magnificence. The Prelude is a real sports activities coupe, a automobile that is low-slung and pulled again, with a low roofline that immediately swoops again in the direction of vast hips and an elegantly wrapped rear fascia. All of it offers the automobile objective and presence. The automobile additionally appears refined, upscale even. Whereas closely based mostly on a Civic (extra on that later), there isn’t any visible indication of that in its design. Honda’s newest coupe can also be correctly sized, a tad bigger than a BRZ, however nonetheless extra compact than a Mustang.
Civic Hybrid + Civic Sort R = Prelude, Plus All-New S+ Shift
See the Prelude as an extension of the Civic lineup. It rides on a platform shared with each the Civic and the Accord (and by extension, the Acura Integra), however integrates a mix of Civic hybrid and Civic Sort R {hardware}.
As an example, the automobile’s total entrance part, together with the cross-member, dampers, suspension parts, management arms, and brakes, in addition to Honda’s modern dual-axis setup that mitigates understeer, are all taken straight out of the Sort R.
The powertrain, nevertheless, is the 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid unit taken out of the Civic hybrid. It is paired with two electrical motors, the primary appearing as a generator to energy the automobile’s equipment and help the inner combustion engine (ICE) below load. The second was built-in immediately contained in the constantly variable transmission (CVT).
The good thing about such a system is that there isn’t any extra transmission per se. Honda’s system deletes the normal {hardware} usually present in CVTs, just like the belt and pulley setup. The consequence, the automaker says, is a a lot faster-reacting system, one which eliminates the dreaded elastic really feel of those techniques, making a smoother, faster, and extra linear driving expertise. On the similar time, it stays a “steady” transmission, that means, in concept, it could possibly change its gear ratio faster than any computerized, together with dual-clutch items.
For the Prelude, Honda calls the setup S+ Shift because it has the power to simulate six handbook gears, which might both be operated like an odd computerized transmission, or enable the driving force to manually choose gears through paddle-mounted shift paddles.
S+ Shift additionally has the power to simulate the automobile’s habits throughout what is often often called compression in a manually-equipped automobile, in addition to mimicking the habits of a limited-slip differential by electronically controlling wheelspin, creating torque vectoring within the course of. It is the sort of kick-ass engineering discuss we love listening to from an automaker like Honda.
Lastly, and unique to the Prelude for now, is a pumped-in engine noise that mimics the sounds of a naturally aspirated engine, just like what Hyundai presents within the high-performance Ioniq 5 N.
A Chassis Tuned By The Gods
It did not spend a lot time hooning the Prelude on the observe, however the few laps I acquired in her revealed a machine that has depth, provokes intrigue, and is tremendously fulfilling to drive.
For starters, there’s the darn factor’s chassis, suspension, and brake tuning. Copy and paste a Civic Sort R, with barely softer damping and a smidge extra physique roll, and you have a Prelude. Honda desires to pitch this as a grand tourer, and that is instantly felt in the best way the Prelude strikes its physique round below laborious, tight braking. There’s grace on this automobile’s movement.
However like, say, a Mazda MX-5, it is this kind of physique movement — how the rear solely barely wiggles to let you already know it is awake — that actually offers the Prelude a deep, tactile and well-oiled driving really feel, one which has you coming again for extra, a automobile completely baked for backroad carving. Brakes chunk laborious. The steering’s turn-in is fast, tight, and exact, and the automobile tracks fantastically, all the time squirting in the direction of the route you ask it to go.
Some may say front-wheel-drive dilutes the expertise, however it is a front-wheel-drive Honda, 4 phrases which have confirmed the world incorrect about front-drive functions greater than as soon as. If something, it is the Prelude’s front-wheel-drive setup that actually permits it to set itself other than an RWD-dominated house.
It All Feels Actual
The Prelude’s standout function stays its powertrain, or ought to I say, the powertrain it pretends to be. There’s actually solely 200 horsepower popping out of this hybrid setup, and 232 pound-feet of torque. And whereas there is a wholesome dose of low-end torque, which was helpful on nook exits, it is apparent that the Prelude is supposed to be a momentum automobile. In different phrases, it is sort of sluggish.
But it surely’s the best way that the automobile makes you are feeling from behind the wheel, a attribute that has all the time helped outline Honda’s finest sports activities vehicles, that actually shines by means of right here. For starters, there’s by no means any indication that you just’re driving a hybrid paired with a CVT. The engine blips and revs on the similar tempo as a naturally aspirated four-cylinder, whereas S+ Shift makes each cog change really feel like an precise mechanical setup. It mainly behaves like a dual-clutch computerized, even permitting the driving force to bounce it off the (faux) limiter if that is their factor.
Grand Tourer Cabin With Acquainted {Hardware}
Sure, the Prelude’s cabin is considerably just like a Civic’s within the sense that it borrows most of that automobile’s switchgear, however there are some parts which are distinctive to this automobile, additional confirming Honda’s grand touring pretentions.
For starters, the seats, which not solely appear like one million bucks, however supply each loads of lateral assist below laborious cornering, and on a regular basis consolation. I did not drive the Prelude exterior Honda’s closed circuit, so I am unable to but inform you what it is prefer to dwell with. However previous to flying to Japan, Honda hosted an area, static occasion the place I used to be in a position to spend a while contained in the automobile.
Enjoyable truth about these seats: the driving force’s seat has extra aggressive bolstering than the passenger one, proving how a lot Honda means enterprise when it says it places the driving force first. The steering wheel can also be good and thick, thicker even than a Civic Sort R’s, and comes with a 12 o’clock mark you’ll be able to’t get in a Sort R. A suede-like material spans the dashboard, giving the automobile a barely upscale feel and appear, whereas a signed Prelude brand sits aft of the entrance passenger.
The remainder is all Civic, but in addition all Honda, the kind of common sense ergonomics that will get the job accomplished shortly and successfully, together with a sense of high quality by means of all the pieces you contact.
The Prelude Is Extra Sensible Than Its Principal Rivals
Unsurprisingly, the Prelude’s rear seats are small and never precisely comfy for adults. They’re higher fitted to children. However, not like a BRZ or GR86, the Prelude’s front-wheel-drive configuration and hatchback setup result in a significantly elevated cargo house. You may rise up to fifteen.1 cubic-feet of cargo house with the rear seats in place, versus 6.3 cubic-feet in a BRZ.
A Distinctive Sports activities Automotive That May Open The Door To Extra Fashions
It is apparent that the Prelude kind of carves its personal area of interest within the compact sports activities coupe phase. It sort of splits the distinction between a Subaru BRZ and a Honda Civic Si by being significantly extra athletic within the corners and a tad faster off the road than an Si.
Extra importantly, because of its hybrid setup, the Prelude will more than likely be a really frugal automobile, and doubtless very low-cost to personal, two qualities which have lengthy outlined Honda’s finest cars. Make no mistake, the Prelude is unquestionably an fanatic’s automobile, a machine that is finest loved on a rustic again highway relatively than on a closed circuit.
And who is aware of, possibly the Prelude’s existence will inspire different automakers to re-enter this house as nicely. I can actually think about a world the place a Honda Prelude takes on a Hyundai Tiburon based mostly on Hyundai’s newest tech, or a Nissan 240SX of some kind. One can dream, however inexpensive sports activities coupes are again child, and so they’ve by no means been this good.