Wow, time flies when you’re having fun. But it’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the Honda Prelude last appeared. We’ve always enjoyed the sporty little coupe, and it’s brought style with cool innovation in each of the previous 5 generations, with cool stuff like the industry’s first 4-wheel steering system, F1-derived fuel injection, and an early version of active torque vectoring. All cool stuff.

So, the Prelude is finally back, once again brimming with unique style, tech and promising a joyful drive. Was it worth the wait? Let’s find out!

Gliding into the Future

Honda says the stylish inspiration for the new Prelude comes from the sleek flowing lines of high-performance sailplanes. Blending aerodynamics and performance sounds like a good recipe to us, and the Prelude is a stunningly good-looking coupe.

The first thing that strikes you about our tester is the Boost Blue paint, a bright bold hue that looks exotic and turns heads. You also can opt for black, grey, red and white as well as a two-tone with a black roof, but to our eyes, the blue is just about perfect.

And it’s wrapped around a gorgeous body, too. Up front, the look is low and wide – the new model is 5 inches wider than the previous gen – with slender wing-like LED driving lights sitting above projector headlights. An equally slender upper grille features a bit of chrome for some visual bling, while the familiar Honda logo is on the nose. Adding some aero cred is a lower black chrome grille, and a slender blue accent that is echoed throughout the interior and exterior.

The profile is pure sports coupe with a snug greenhouse, laid back a-pillar, and sharp fastback lines. Wide muscular fenders and a swooping cut-in along the doors promise handling prowess, while 19-inch Berlina Black wheels and 235/40R19 tires fill out the wheel wells and give a hunkered down look.

Behind those kicks are handsome blue brake calipers, and while they are the same ones used on the high-po Civic Type R, these say “Prelude by BREMBO” on them. And if that’s not enough to impress your friends, be sure to point out the powered flip-out door handles – the first for any US Honda vehicle. How cool is that!

The rear is especially interesting, too – it immediately reminds us of the Porsche Panamera, with a slender full width taillight and H O N D A spelled out in block letters – we first saw this on the Prologue EV, and we’re guessing it will migrate across all Honda models as time moves forward. Beneath that is Prelude spelled out in script that’s reminiscent of previous Prelude models (although Porsche does something similar, we might add!)

Another interesting thing is that this is indeed a hatchback with all the utility that implies, even though the tight coupe-like quarters may make you think it only offers a trunk like all previous Prelude models. Finishing up the design is a blacked out lower fascia that adds to the hunkered down look, while a slender blue accent, like the front is just the perfect sprinkling of design.

Slide into Sporty Style

Getting into the low-slung coupe takes a little skill, but it’s worth the effort for a cool mash up of Civic familiarity and bespoke design.

The first thing that strikes you is the handsome 2-tone interior with a blend of deep blue and ivory that’s very upscale and maybe even a little nautical. Little things like Prelude written out in script, and soft touch materials make a handsome first impression.

The driver’s seat is supportive and comfy, and surprise! The passenger seat is different with less bolstering for easier entry/exit – but it won’t hold you in place in corners as well. Another surprise is no power adjustments for the seat – at the price, you’d be expecting such.

The view forward will be familiar to anyone who’s been in a recent Civic. There’s a 10.2-inch digital gauge display that’s clear and sharp, and we love that when you put the Prelude into Sport+ mode the regeneration part of the display switches over to a tachometer. The display also serves up some different info, including audio tracks, as well.

Information is served up by a 9-inch touchscreen, and it works well, but we do feel the tablet design looks a little dated, compared to the exterior’s swoopy lines. The system itself works well, and along with a dedicated volume knob, the system runs Google software, including Google maps, wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto are along for the ride.

What’s not along for the ride is either Sirius XM or AM radio – Honda feels that if you want those, you’ll use your smartphone, but in this price range (more on that coming) it feels a little basic. The standard 8-speaker BOSE audio system sounds great in the cozy confines.

The rest is anything but basic, with handsome blue stitching throughout the cabin, Civic-style grated metal over the vents, and nice round knobs for the climate control system. Directly beneath is a handy wireless charger for your smartphone.

The seating in back is tiny, and the black cloth looks cheap and sticks out like a sore thumb, compared to the handsome two-tone seats up front. You probably won’t be using them much anyway, and the good news is they fold down easily to enhance luggage space.

Speaking of cargo, a first for a Prelude, instead of a trunk you now get a hatchback, and that opens up all sorts of space, and usability. While there is now power liftback, we found the hatch lightweight and easy to use.

Innovative Drive

Driving the Prelude continues the theme of innovation that’s been a hallmark of the model.

Powering the ‘Lude is the same setup as the Civic Hybrid. While 200 horsepower in a fuel-sipping Civic is more than acceptable, we were a little bit suspect on how it would feel in a more expensive, overtly sporty vehicle.

Here it gets interesting – while it may not actually be fast, it feels very quick, due in part to lots of torque down low, and to the new S+ Shift system that turns the thrifty into sporty, with paddle shifters that give a great impersonation of a traditional 8-speed sport automatic and even features rev-matching. In regular mode, 0-60 mph is served in the mid 6 seconds, a bit slower than the Miata and GR86/BRZ, but no slug by any means.

More interestingly, when S+ Shift is used, the acceleration is actually slower, but the responsive feeling, and the zippy engine sounds (piped in with Sport Mode) made it our default choice every time. It’s also an impressively efficient vehicle, with a combined 44 mpg EPA rating, and many times the Prelude effortlessly slides into EV mode. It feels like a futuristic recipe for driving fun. Those paddles also come in handy to help you to choose between seven levels of regenerative braking to help charge the hybrid’s battery.

The rest of the Prelude borrows from the fast and furious Civic Type R, including a dual-axis strut front suspension, massive brakes, and standard Adaptive Damper System. This lets you really dial in your ride with a choice of selectable modes including Comfort, GT, Sport and Individual, and they are noticeably different – we spent most of the time in GT and Sport mode, and found the Prelude to be grippy and responsive.

While the Prelude loves to go out and have fun in the twisties, it’s equally impressive as quiet, calm and composed in the daily grind. It’s an excellent blend of comfort and sport– way ahead of vehicles like the harder-edged GR86/BR-Z and MX-5.

It may be super sporty, but it’s still a Honda, and that means the excellent  Honda Sensing suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies, including  Collision Mitigation with Pedestrian Detection, Forward Collision Warning, Road Departure Mitigation, Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot with Cross Traffic Monitoring, Lane Keep Assist and Adaptive Cruise Control with Low Speed Follow, Traffic Jam Assist and Traffic Sign Recognition. We realize that so many cars have great driver assistance tech these days – we’re spoiled!

Pricey Prelude?

You may have heard the buzz that the Prelude is expensive. We’re here to say, not so fast!

Part of the confusement is because the Prelude is basically sold as one, top-of-the-line model – while much of the competition offers lower-level trims. Our tester carried a starting MSRP of $42,000, with the sole option being the Boost Blue paint for $455. Add in $1,1950 for Destination, and we rang the bell at $43,650.

Competition would include the Toyota GR86 comparably equipped at $41,460 – a more serious performance car, but a tougher day-to-day livable choice. And we’d also look at the Mazda Miata RF, loaded up, it’s $42,810. The Miata is a true sports car, but the diminutive size would make it another difficult everyday driver.  

Stunning looks, spirited performance, awesome efficiency and loads of tech, the 2026 Honda Prelude is a great sporty coupe and worthy of the name!