Honda claims that the new Prelude is the ‘ideal sports car’

Hard to believe, but it is almost two years ago that Honda brought the Prelude name to a concept car in the car Salon of Tokyo 2023. The sixth generation model later evolved into an almost production prototype for the Goodwood Festival of Speed festival of this year, and now it is going to be done in Japan. The domestic market launch is locked up for September, prior to the arrival of the sporty haircut at American dealers in early 2026. It is also planned to reach Europe next year.

To pick up his reborn nameplate, Honda has set up a so-called “teaser page”, where we encountered an interesting explanation. Apparently the reason for building a coupe was “to discover the latent demand for the ideal sports car.” Development boss Tomoyuki Yamagami claims that the project did not really start with the goal of breathing new life into the name Prelude. Nevertheless, the company finally chose to fulfill a name that has been slumbering since 2001.

Photo by: Honda

What Honda means with ‘ideal sports car’, we believe it refers to a mix of performance and usability. The Prelude lends Civic Type R-Hardware such as the dual-axis front hanging and Brembo fortresses, while also offers split-folding rear seats, storage under the floor and a tailgate. Unlike the CTR and the more luxury Acura Integra, it will be a hybrid, so fuel efficiency should be better.

Honda insists that it is more than just a Coupe-Ivege civic hybrid, which praises “tires with large diameter and an optimized wheelbase”. The design is inspired by a glider and is intended to view an example of other electrified performance models. We have scraped the dedicated website of the Prelude to take every image we could find and to show the hybrid coupé from all corners.

It gives the impression of being more than just a three -door Civic with a sloping roof line, but interior photos show limited space for rear passengers. The nicer two -tone theme that does not extend to the rear seats is a clear sign of cost -saving, but it is 2025, so perhaps we should not be too surprised that the bank is completely black.

Photo by: Honda

We still have to wait until September for the full technical specifications. However, do not expect a manual gearbox. The new Prelude has only two pedals and an S+ Shift mode with paddle shifters to simulate gear changes, probably similar to Hyundai’s N -Grijnschuilding but with a real gasoline engine. It is not a CVT, so there is hope for a fascinating disc, even without a stick shift and with just a front -wheel drive.

With regard to the power, the Civic Hybrid makes 200 hp and 232 pound-foot (315 Newton meters) torque of the naturally washed out 2.0-liter gas engine combined with two electric motors. There is hope that the Prelude will improve those figures, given his sportier positioning. Honda is also expected to charge a premium, so the prices will probably be larger than those of the Civic Hybrid Hatchback 2026, which starts at $ 31,645 before options.

The new Prelude will not be a job -oriented machine at all. Honda has already stated that “this is not the most sporty, Zippiest car that is thrown into the circuits.” It is marketed as a really global model, with the same design and specifications in all markets of the world where the car will be sold.

Reports from Japan already speculate that hot type S and even type R derivatives are in the pipeline. But even if they happen, she doesn’t expect to see quickly. The standard Prelude has not even been launched and it would not be logical to diversify the line -up so early in the product life cycle.