The long wait for European sales of the new Honda Prelude continues, but we’re finally learning more about the car as it goes on sale in Japan and gets full confirmation of its specs for the North American market.
We already knew it was going to be a hybrid, and be based on the Civic platform, and now we’ve had confirmation of what we’ve suspected all along: it’s essentially a Civic Hybrid coupe.
Honda Prelude – side
That means it gets the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder and electric motor as its hatchback sibling, and, in the US, makes the same 200bhp and 232lb ft of torque. Sounds healthy enough, although there’s a big asterisk – the US-market Civic Hybrid gets more grunt than the Euro one. Here, it’s held back to 181bhp, and 137lb ft, so our Prelude might be down on power compared to other markets, too. Even the US car gets less power than a Prelude Type S did in the late ’90s, but that hopefully just leaves headrooms for faster variants.
Still, there’s plenty to be more upbeat about. As previously confirmed, the suspension setup of the sensational but soon-to-die-in-Europe Civic Type R is being carried over pretty much wholesale to the Prelude. It’s getting the same girthier track width, adaptive dampers, dual-axis front suspension and beefed-up Brembo brakes.
Honda Prelude – interior
Also bringing a little more enthusiast appeal is the Honda S+ Shift system that’ll simulate actual ratios within the CVT gearbox, controllable via paddle shifters. We’re also promised an enhanced version of Honda Agile Handling Assist (an acronym coined by Nelson Muntz, apparently), essentially a form of brake vectoring that’s tied to the driver’s steering inputs.
For what it’s worth, it’s also reasonably practical. Rear passengers have up to 81cm of legroom (no mention of headroom, though), and the back bench folds flat in a 60/40 split.
Honda Prelude – rear
The new Prelude’s arriving in North American showrooms later in the autumn, and while there’s no mention of pricing for that market yet, in Japan, it starts at ¥6,179,800. That’s around £31,000, which is a little less than we’re expecting it to cost when it lands in Europe next year.
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