I am not a car guy. I frequently watch Doug DeMuro on YouTube, including his weekly podcast This Car Pod!, occasionally peruse discussion on the r/cars subreddit, and am generally vehicularlly curious, but I would never describe myself as a car guy. Recently, on the aforementioned Doug DeMuro podcast, I learned of the new Honda Prelude, slated for a 2026 release. All 3 members of the pod seemed fairly unenthused, as do most commenters I've seen on YouTube and Reddit. On the other hand, I think the new Prelude is the best car on the market today.
I think the main cause for disappointment is that the new Prelude is not sporty enough for enthusiast tastes. It's being compared to the GR86 and ND Miata, which are quite unfavourable matchups from a driving perspective. But I think this is the wrong framing: the Prelude, to me, seems to be a coupe grand tourer.
Recently I've been thinking about the ideal vehicle for me (I'm not in the market, I just like to think). Naturally, when thinking about ideals, my mind was mainly on luxury options. The Porsche 911 and 718, ~2020 Acura NSX, or Lucid Air Pure. I decided my favourite was the Aston Martin Vantage; unquestionably a sports car, but—as expected from Aston Martin—with the DNA of a touring car. The Vantage is beautiful, small, quick, comfortable, modern and relatively understated. The only gripe I had was with fuel economy, especially compared to the hybrids and EVs that are common today.
I would summarize the Prelude as a budget Vantage, arguably even with some improvements. A small hybrid engine for fuel economy, Honda's legacy for reliability/a fair price, FWD for practicality (a key choice for usability in snowy conditions), and an automatic transmission for accessibility/comfort on longer drives. I wouldn't change any of this (well, maybe I would prefer AWD to FWD, but I'm not sure what the tradeoffs really are).
To address some other common criticisms: the pricing (despite not being officially announced) is already being touted as too high. But given the approach of offering only a single trim level, I think a high price would be somewhat justified if you think of it not as a base model, but the highest trim. I think I like this, but we'll see how the execution is. Second, 200 HP is being ridiculed for matching the number of the previous Prelude. While I understand the frustration, it's hard to imagine the car being much slower than the Civic it's based on, and while that is by no means a high bar to clear, I would say it's good enough for me.
I really wish I could buy one, but unfortunately I'm just not at a place in life to be buying a brand new car. Maybe in a few years I'll be able to get a nice used one for cheap. Until then, I'll be sure to update this site (and perhaps even this page) if my preferences change.
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