Hey hey ho ho. What cha think of the Prelude. Seems everyone in the car world loves to hate it or hates to love it.
I stopped by a local Honda dealer the other day cuz i heard they got a Prelude in. There was one in the showroom and it was locked. I asked if I can sit in it. They said NO. Because it has a white (and black) leather interior and they didn’t want to get it dirty. Well that may be one reason why Honda only sold less than 200 of them in Dec 2025. I don’t know if that was just the USA or the whole world.
I did notice that this dealer was only charging 10k over the 43k MSRP on this car. And NOT the widely reported 50k OVER some dealers were charging . 50k OVER on a 43K MSRP car? That is something HONDA should ban from every happening. A Toyota dealer a few years back in Oakland got in trouble for asking 40k OVER on a 40k Toyota plus in hybrid. And now they have a huge sign saying NOTHING OVER MSRP.
haha.
Back to the car. Coming from a guy who had an RSX I like this car. And I think it represents the spirit of the RSX. Its also made in Japan. And although it probably should NOT carry the Prelude badging because people expected so much out of the Prelude after a 25 year hiatus. They should have just called it something else. It seems to have decent enough performance , with the MAIN THING being that it gets 43mpg !!! Cuz its a hybrid apparently the gas engine rarely actually moves the wheels, its job is to generate electricity for the two motors powering the front wheels to propel the car forward. The Honda concept of a hybrid differs from Toyotas where the gas engine AND/OR the electric motors can propel the ar forward. Apparently Honda’s gas engine CAN propel the car forward on the freeway at freeway speeds. And that is why it only has ONE Speed. The tranny is a one speed tranny cuz its only needed on the freeway.
So at least that should mean no tranny issues.
And apparently the zero to sixty is around 6.5 seconds or so which is decent.
Compared to my RSx 8. 0 secs zero to sixty. A bit off the mark compared to my TT at 5.4 secs. However comparing favorable to the VW GTi that i really like. That is also priced around 43k for the top spec with leather seats and all , like the honda. I actually may prefer the honda over the GTi for the same MSRP. Although i really liked the way the GTi drives when i drove it a few times on a demo. That car i basically TT with a second slower to 60. But its the same engine and chassis and tranny as my TT and 12k dollars less on the pocket book. But I would think this prelude would be up for consideration for me beause i like the way it looks and i like two door coupes. OF course im not in the market right now , but maybe a couple years from now who knows.
OH the dealer said they are not going to get a lot of these, only a handful for next year and they only got 2 in for 2025 (well the last month of 2025 was when they got them).
It looks pretty nice from the outside and the inside looked nice from what i can see looking outside in. Honda has to push these things out in big numbers so they will have them in showrooms and make the price 32k instead of 43k.
The idea of electric motors running the front wheels with an engine for electricty making seems interesting.
First I’ve seen of the Prelude 2026 but i think it looks awesome.
The fuel-generating-electricity approach is massively lossy and that probably explains why it only gets 43mpg because most dual-driven hybrids can easily average 60mpg, athough a quick google does suggest the petrol engine does drive the wheels directly so maybe there is some confusion there (on my part?)
The drawbacks for me is that it is only 200hp and FWD and a car costing 40k should at least be 250 and RWD in my opinion. FWD is terrible and embarrasing for any vehicle which implies some kind of driving enjoyment.
Oh it’s also a four-cylinder - yeah, complete waste of time then. Buy a used Aston Martin instead for half the price.
I don’t really get the point of it. The Prelude was always about showing something new and cool - you know, a prelude of things to come - this thing is, what, a civic hybrid drivetrain with civic type r suspension goodies… ok? At mid $40s for a 200hp car? Now, I like, but don’t think everything needs to be high hp, but 200hp (the same as the 25 year old, lighter version. back when 200hp was sporty), at that price, with what to show for it?
That’d be the new Integra.
The gti is 241 hp and mid 5s 0-60 - more tt than prelude in power and speed.
I’ll always be a 90’s Honda guy. So easy to swap engines, turbo, make a ton of power, blow up, rebuild, repeat. The H22 in the original Prelude was…fine. It had its limitations, but I feel everything from Honda besides the Type R nowadays is so boring to look at and drive.
The Type R is the only car from Honda that I would buy today. Unfortunately, they’re insanely expensive here.
I have a MK7.5 GTI with an IS38, downpipe, engine and DSG tune, and it’s nearly twice the power for less than the cost than a Prelude.
Is it too pedantic to talk bout oil changes and the prices there of? Ok, What are prices in Taiwan? I used to go to (we talking 1999 here) Autobacs where i bought 8000nt worth of stuff and thereafter got 10pct off of anything. I used to go to Autobacs for oil changes cuz its cheap and you can sit there and watch them do it. And i was crazy then, i would do an oil change every 3000KM> not even MILES. Way dum really , total waste of resources and adds to polution. I should have at least done one no more than every 5000 km (which is kinda like 3000 miles oil changes people in the usa used to do). Now most people here in the UsA do a change every 5000 miles. But many Audi and Porsche and Benz and Bmw go by 10k miles or a year? But many mechanics say better stick to every 5k.
So my Audi had been having a change every 10k, but i did do one once at my local chevron mechanic at 5k. I bought Mobil1 0w/20 six quarts and bought a filter from an audi store and my mech charged me 70 bucks. for his labor. But this was a year ago so now he will probably charge me 80. Still i guess this was reasonable since the dealer will charge something like 350 dollars for the 10k change .
Today I got my prius done and im going cheap these days and doing 10k. This with 100pct synthetic. I used Mobil 1 0w/20 last time and this time i went even cheaper with walmarts brand which is like 5 a quart in stead of 10 per quart for Mobil, but Mobil can buy 5 quarts for 30 bucks. But then gotta be careful the mech doesnt over fill like he did last time. He went over by half a quart past the 4 quarts listed as needed. Anyway last time was 50 bucks and today 60 dollars just to change the oil. Oil that i brought along with a filter i bought. I just really dont want to mess with changing the oil myself. I dont want to get under my car to save 60 dollars !! Have the car fall on me and be known as the guy who died saving 60 bucks !!
How much are changes today in taiwan? In my autobacs days it was as cheap as 600nt for regular oil and about 1000nt if i went synthetic blend. Bit more if i went all synthetic.
My mech is often busy tho so i gotta wait, I could use a Chevron quick change and they charge 85 dollars plus tax for a semi synthetic and 120 plus tax for 100pct syn. I am thinking if i went every 5k, i can do the semi synthetic. Cuz im going cheap and doing 10k on the 100pct synthetic but slightly worried bout that.
not used to oil changes every 16000 kilometers since i used to do them in taiwan at 3000 km ! What say you?
I don’t know a lot about hybrids but I’m guessing with the Prius you can get away with longer since the engine isn’t always running. Plus Toyotas are made to be abused by neglectful owners.
IMO as a beater just depends how long you intend to keep it and how much you care about maintaining resale value.
So long as you have a proper space to do it and take the appropriate precautions odds of that happening is very low. I know oil change is kinda ehh sometimes you just can’t be bothered going to the effort relative to how much you’re saving. But now I have half a clue how these things work and how to use the tools I find it enjoyable and satisfying learning how to do these things and then doing it successfully, plus you get a bit more confidence in your own ability. Last weekend I replaced sway bar end links: mechanic wanted almost 700 bucks for it. It cost me $36 and two hours.
yeah for sure if you can work on your car you can save big bucks as long as you know what to do and have the tools. And are careful about safety. Myself i HATE working on my cars. Only thing i can and do do is keep it clean outside and inside and wax once a month.
I thought really hard about putting this as a grave dig
since the old thread has a much more appropriate title, but this thread is so brand spanking new, we might as well use it.
Coming from one of my favorite Youtubers. Very very informative, and I had no idea that’s how my hybrid Rav 4 works.
The electric motors’ main function in a hybrid isn’t to contribute to fuel efficiency, that is primarily the job of the Atkinson-cycle engine in your hybrid, which is way more fuel efficient than the typical Otto-cycle engines but far less responsive. So the electric motors are there just to boost the gas engine when needed, and charge the battery so that it can provide that boost when called for.
Toyota is the undisputed king of hybrids and that’s why for so long Honda has just not been so successful because Honda has a different idea. Take the new prelude which really really really should not be called prelude really really really should be called two-door Honda Civic hybrid because that is exactly what it is.
And what it isn’t is, it is not the Toyota way as far as hybrids go the prelude uses two electric motors to actually drive the front wheels it does have a gasoline engine which acts like a diesel electric locomotive in that it’s main purpose is to generate electricity. It does, however, have a single speed which will drive the car at freeway speeds and it’s really only one speed. It’s like permanently set in fifth gear so it’s a novel approach and I like to actually have one of those preludes if it wasn’t so stinkingly expensive, it is pretty good looking just that it seems to have some real character flaws. One is that the front seats appear to be made in leather as an option or at least be of very nice cloth but the backseat is an afterthought clear afterthought made of much lesser materials and made to be very unexciting and uninviting and the hybrid system results in an overall mileage of around 40 MPG, which is commendable not bad for a two door small car, but the problem is for the same money and it’s expensive. This prelude cost the same as a well equipped new Prius. The problem is the Prius can have the same roughly 200 hp but have four-wheel-drive at that point or have more than 200 hp but only front wheel drive and the main thing is that the Prius has far better economy. It exceeds 50 miles per gallon using the good old tried and true Toyota hybrid system. Honda itself knows that the prelude is not a success it does not plan for it to be a success. It’s planning to make it in very very few numbers and the dealers are asking five to $10,000 over MSRP assuming they can even get one. It’s kind of ridiculous I have not sat in one or driven one because the dealership close by has only one and they are not letting anybody demo which is stupid. I can get to demo a 911 a bit easier than I can get a demo in one of these new preludes but I did see one close-up didn’t get to sit in it cause they won’t even let people sit in it, but it does remind me of my Acura RSX in that sense I kinda like the car, however if it came down to push and shove at the same time, I think I will put the same money into the new Prius, which is equally good looking, except it’s four-door but it looks like a two-door and performs on paper much better and I’ve driven one and the drive is pretty nice so there . Honda tries a new way, but it’s not the way to go if it wants to be a success. The car can still be a success if they called it a Civic hybrid coupe as it really is and not use the name Prelude which draws ridicule. And priced it cheaper. My RSX was priced at 23000 in 2003 brand new. Granted even a lowly HOnda Civic 4 door non hybrid is priced at 35k nowadays. But this car really should be around 40k. Not closer to 50k PLUS the dealers want more than that . And Honda should make it in much larger numbers. I think the car probably is pretty nice. And since my Acura only had 165hp and gets average 30mph, this car having 200hp and getting 40mpg plus is a WIN n my book, if only it was priced to WIN. The new Prius still beats it but it is a 4 door and this is a two door a much less commonly seen car nowadays. 2 door cars are disappearing for the most part. For a similar price the new Nissan 400z is a much better car i would say. It wont get 40mpg but its a good looking Z again. The 240z was my fav and the last model was plain ugly with a capital U.
This new 400z is actually very nice looking in person. I would NOT mind having one really.
I had a Honda hybrid while I was still in the US, and it was underwhelming. I don’t know if Honda hybrid system has evolved overtime, since Honda in Taiwan refuses to import hybrids.
What you describe there is called a mild hybrid. This is basically something between the (underpowered) engine and gearbox to take some of the load on acceleration, so it allows for a much less powerful and smaller petrol engine. This motor also generates power while the car is coasting or slowing down. The petrol engine doesn’t switch off whilst the car is moving (typically)
The other kind of hybrid is where the electric motor or the internal combustion engine can independently power the vehicle, so where the petrol engine can switch off and drive purely on electric. This is effectively two drivelines working together, managed by various computers.
The current Formula One engines are effectively mild hybrids - the fuel engine never stops running, but it shares the load with the electric motor.
yah that is why the honda civic hybrid never caught on as well as the prius, one because the prius looked different, anyone could tell it was the then very new fangled HYBRID car. IT was SCIENCE :). tHE civic hybrid looked like any other civic and that was not what the public wanted. Plus the Prius was boxy and very efficient at carrying people and goods and the civic was not near as efficient. The Prius was COOL. And the toyota system of having both the gas engine and the electric motor being both able to drive the car forward and backward but also together. With computers controlling everything. Basically from experience the prius engine is on about 2/3 of the time while the honda engine is always on and supported by the electric motor. The prius proved to be much more efficent and got a much higher MPG. IT was a WIN worldwide for Prius and toyota. Berkeley became flooded with them. As did SF. Today they hav been supplanted by Tesla…Tesla everywhere nowadays. in SF we are INFESTED with Tesla. I am often surrounded by the beasts.
