Amber Erasmus
Published 28 May 2026
There are some cars you look at, and some cars you keep looking back at. The 2026 Honda Prelude falls into the latter camp.
Before we even got to the driving, Honda had already made its point visually. The Prelude has presence. It is sleek, low, and properly coupe-shaped in a way that feels increasingly rare in a world full of SUVs and safe design decisions. In Racing Blue Pearl, it is an absolute eyecatcher. Rallye Red, meanwhile, taps into something a little more nostalgic, giving a subtle nod to Honda’s performance heritage without needing to shout about it.
But for me, the rear is where the Prelude really lands. The silhouette is strong, but the lighting design and rear proportions give it a sense of occasion. It almost tricks your brain into thinking it is something more exotic than it is. That is not a criticism either. Honda has done a bloody good job of making this car feel special from the outside. Following it through the rally roads of Adelaide, especially in moody, wet conditions, it looked fantastic. It is one of those cars that actually becomes more interesting when you see it moving.
Inside, the Prelude is clearly designed around the driver. The cabin is simple, clean and comfortable, with the kind of tech you expect in a 2026 launch vehicle, but thankfully not at the expense of usability. There are still proper buttons, dials and switches for the things you actually use, which means you are not five menus deep just to change the temperature. The rear seats? Let’s be honest, they are not where you put adult friends you care deeply about. But as a spot for a handbag, jacket, camera gear, or a small dog, they will do just fine.
Read more – Hybrid Honda Prelude returns to NZ with pricing confirmed
Tech-wise, one thing iPhone users may notice is the Google-heavy integration. Honda Australia notes the Prelude uses Google built-in, and while that will suit some buyers perfectly, others may take a little warming up to it if they are already deep in the Apple ecosystem. Honda also lists Comfort, GT, Sport and Individual drive modes, plus its new S+ Shift mode, which became one of the biggest talking points of the drive.
And when Honda told us to properly test the Prelude, to get a feel for what it had focused on as a driver’s car, we did exactly that.
Adelaide did not exactly roll out perfect weather. The roads were wet, winding, and at times properly greasy, which is either a blessing or a curse when you are trying to work out what a car is really doing underneath you. In the Prelude’s case, it became a blessing. We pushed it, and then pushed it a bit more, and the thing just stuck.
It is quick, but not in a Type R way. That is important. The Prelude is not trying to be the Civic Type R, and I do not think it should be judged as one. Honda itself positions the car as a hybrid grand touring coupe with a two-motor hybrid system, Type R chassis hardware and drive modes tuned for precision, control and responsiveness. That is exactly where it makes sense. It is not a hardcore hot hatch in coupe clothing. It is more polished than that, more relaxed when you want it to be, and more playful when you ask.
Changing direction is where it really impressed me. The Prelude feels sharp, settled and confident. Through Adelaide’s tight, curly corners, it had this planted quality that made it feel like the car was working with you rather than waiting for you to catch it. I tried to get it to dance around a bit, but it was almost too composed for drama. No twitchy rear, no “oh my god” moments, no sudden surprises. Just precision, grip and a sense that it knew exactly where it wanted to go.
And yes, that was on wet roads. We pushed on wet roads and still came away with a feeling of complete confidence. That is impressive.
The drive modes make a noticeable difference too. Comfort is genuinely comfortable. Sport wakes it up. Individual lets you tailor things further, and then there is S+ Shift, the feature Honda clearly wanted us to pay attention to. Honda says S+ Shift simulates the sound and feel of quick automatic gear changes, with the paddles changing role when the mode is activated.
Naturally, I played with the paddles. Manually, it is fun in the sense that it gives you something to do, but I did find myself chasing something that never quite arrived. I kept pushing it through second and third, waiting for the higher rev range to really give it the boot and make its mark, but the extra pull did not come in the way my brain expected it to. That is probably where the Prelude’s hybrid character is most obvious. It is responsive, but it is not a high-revving performance coupe that rewards you with a huge top-end shove.
But then I left S+ Shift to the computer. And that is where it clicked. In auto, S+ Shift is properly clever. The car anticipates what you are doing and seems to understand the road ahead before you have fully committed to it. Coming into a 25km/h corner, it had already worked out what I needed before I had even hit the apex. Impressed is an understatement.
The sound aspect is more complicated. Inside the cabin, S+ Shift gives you that added theatre and helps the experience feel more involved. Outside, though, there is not much to hear. A few times I wound the window down and waited for others in the convoy to take off, hoping for a bit of real-world noise, but the Prelude brings silence with it. That will suit some buyers. Others might wish for a little more drama beyond the cabin.
And that really sums up the Prelude as a whole. It is not loud. It is not wild. It is not trying to scare you or prove it belongs in the same conversation as Honda’s hardest performance models. Instead, it is polished, clever, stylish and genuinely enjoyable on a good road.
Would I like a little more punch from the powertrain? Yes. When you look this good, part of you expects a little more bite. But would I call it underwhelming? No. Because the Prelude’s strength is not just straight-line power. It is how it flows. It changes direction quickly, it holds the road beautifully, and it has enough cleverness baked into the S+ Shift system to make you want to keep playing with it.
Honda has not built a Type R coupe. It has built something different. A stylish hybrid coupe that looks special, feels composed, and brings back a nameplate with a more mature kind of driver appeal.
The Prelude is not here to be the loudest car in the room. It is here to be the one you keep turning around to look at. And honestly? It does that very, very well.
The Honda Prelude is on sale now priced at $69,990 plus on-road costs
