For a while there, it felt like Japanese automakers had abandoned car enthusiasts, but recent years have blessed us with an embarrassment of hot metal. Not to be left out, Honda is getting in on the action too. It’s joyously announced that the Prelude name is coming back on a svelte new coupe, and boy howdy. It’s a looker.
We first got a glimpse of the Prelude concept last year, and it looked good in white. Honda has now refined the design, and it looks even better in red. The traditional coupe proportions are paired with distinctive styling elements that make it instantly recognizable. Chief among them are the deep front air dam and the trapezoidal beak on the front bumper. Visually, it gives the Prelude a pointed, sporting edge. It demands you get in and wring the engine for every last rev it’s worth.
The new Prelude is already slated for production and will be based on the Civic platform. The red one will make a public appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Full details on the power train aren’t yet available, but we know it’s going to be a hybrid unit. The smart money says that Honda will use something like the 2.0-liter hybrid drivetrain from the current Honda Civic, which would put power in the 200 hp range.
The UK and Europe will be getting the Prelude by the “mid-2020s,” we know that much. It will be a global model, be built in left- and right-hand-drive configurations. Will it come to the US, though? We’ve checked with Honda, but the vibes are: yeah.
The Prelude looks like an out-and-out sport compact, but it’s not going to be too hardcore. Speaking to CarsGuide last year, Honda’s Large Project Chief Engineer Tomoyuki Yamagami noted that it won’t be on the bleeding edge. “This isn’t going to be the sportiest, zippiest car that’s going to be tossed into the circuits, so that’s one thing,” he said.
Yamagami also hinted that the Prelude has an important role to play. “The other one is, this is going to be the ‘prelude’ for all of the electric vehicles that Honda is going to be launching,” said Yamagami. Hence the name. Perfect, right?
Given the history of the Prelude nameplate, going with this angle makes sense in a way. Jump back a few decades, and Honda had a rich and varied lineup of front-wheel-drive vehicles. You could get the Civic as a basic grocery-getter, or you could upgrade to the quicker Civic Si or the racier Type R. If you wanted something with a sportier body style, the Integra was happy to serve, the dowdy sedan versions notwithstanding. Meanwhile, the Prelude sat a cut above in the luxury stakes, more a GT car than a boy racer. Think of it this way: the Integra was for the stop light drags outside KFC, while the Prelude was for picking up your date on the way to a cocktail bar.
Mixed ‘Em Up
It’s at this point I have to question if Honda has mixed up its nameplates in recent years. 2022 saw the launch of the new Acura Integra, with enthusiasts cheering the return of the famous name. If you’d just watched Fast and the Furious, you might have been expecting a low-slung two-door coupe with good power and razor-sharp handling. But that’s not what you got.
Instead, the new Acura Integra was a chunky reskin of the existing Honda Civic, with more luxury appointments and a heavier curb weight. Its saving grace was the 320-horsepower Type S engine which at least made it competitive with the contemporary Civic Type R.
Somehow, the Integra name ended up on a bloated compact luxury car with four doors. Forget driving a stripped-out Integra with a fart-can exhaust to your pizza delivery job. The new Integra was perfect for throwing in a couple of car seats and hauling the kids to daycare before you rocked up to the office with Janine’s birthday cake.
Here we are, two years later, and Honda’s showing us this delicate weapon of a coupe. It looks like it wants to run, baby. The proportions are the perfect spiritual successor to the legendary Integra DC2. Seriously, compare the vehicles below. Tell me which one looks more like a new Integra.
Of course, the new concept could still easily live under the Prelude name. Previous Preludes were sleek two-doors with plenty of style, after all. However, the Preludes always had a longer hood and a more luxurious design. This new concept is so tight and so sporty that it’s hard to understand why Honda didn’t save the Integra name for this one – even if it has more of a GT bent!
Ultimately, the new Prelude should be a winner. Honda knows how to make a front-wheel-drive car exciting and useable in equal measure. Design-wise, it’s already a hit, too. I’ll just be left wondering why we got a whale of an Integra when this lithe little dancer was waiting in the wings.
In any case, I can’t wait to drive one. Here’s hoping the Prelude hits markets the world over. Pester your local dealer today.
Image credits: Honda, Acura
Yeah, I have been screaming this at the top of my lungs on this website, reddit, facebook, and to anyone else who will listen for years. The new “integra” is not an integra.
THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE WANTED:
https://www.carthrottle.com/news/dare-we-dream-new-honda-integra-looks-good
The current one is an absolute joke, and other than the name on the decklid, it’s just an ILX. I hate it. It makes me angry. Honestly Honda’s entire lineup these days makes me just sad and frustrated. I’m going to go yell at clouds now.
(Consider this as a response to your other comment under mine as well)
I mean….okay, but Honda literally can’t make the cars that you and the other fanboys want anymore. Everyone wants NA engines in coupes that rev out to 9,000 and have VTEC YO! but unfortunately emissions and CAFE standards killed them. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to make them, but they can’t.
So it’s either the nameplates live on in modern interpretations that conform to current regulations, or they die. I’m fairly confident that you would choose for the nameplates to die, but Honda won’t because it would be bad business. They’re also not going to make coupes because no one buys coupes…frankly if this Prelude even makes it stateside it would be a miracle.
The engines aren’t even really the point; Honda made great engaging powerplants, maybe they still do, but that wasn’t the magic sauce, it was the F1 inspired suspension, light weight, and great driving dynamics. And SMALL.
It’s not the number of doors. I owned a 4 door integra, and it looked/drove great.
The new one looks like a bloated slug, with ILX styling. It has no motorsports DNA in the engineering, or motorsports wins to back it up (see realtime integra). It’s just a generic blob, with generic blob engineering, with an integra badge. I could easily photoshop the concept I listed above into a 4 door and it would still look amazing.
Local dealer was surprised when I asked if they were gonna get these.
Was not a good sign.
“Somehow, the Integra name ended up on a bloated compact luxury car with four doors. Forget driving a stripped-out Integra with a fart-can exhaust to your pizza delivery job. The new Integra was perfect for throwing in a couple of car seats and hauling the kids to daycare before you rocked up to the office with Janine’s birthday cake.”
Wait, who do you think bought the original Integra new? Whatever you call Gen X Yuppies, wasn’t it mostly them, people who wanted a 3-Series but couldn’t quite stretch to that? Granted, everything that’s been done to civilize small cars for the normies strips out some of the charm they used to have (the bloated bit), but the new Integra is at least in the wheelhouse of what Honda intended the old one to be.
I have no strong opinions on the Prelude until road tests start rolling in, but I wish it well.
I bought a 93 and a 96 both new, both the cheapest one they made. I got them because nimble, joyful, nice shifter and light. I don’t know who bought most of them, but enlisted Navy didn’t feel yuppie at the time.
Yep, four door Integras were total Yuppie mom cars in the 2000s. I remember getting a ride home in a few before everyone started having their second and third kids and sold the Integras for Odysseys.
Really digging the back 3/4 of this car. The glass is giving strong late 90’s Z24 vibes and tickles my inner 90’s kid just right. Rear end is gorgeous. The face is nice even if the Prius wears it better, though I hate the soul patch DRL. But the high, flat hood kills it for me. Why is there a bulge? There’s no snail in there that needs the room. Should have a nice, flat, sloping hood like the Preludes from my childhood.
Either way looks like a nice, throwback way to get around. The world needs more commuter coupes.
Like Cavalier Z24? So you’re saying you think this looks like that, and that looks good?
Fellow 90s kid, but I don’t think we agree on anything.
“The glass is giving strong late 90’s Z24 vibes”. Glass is the key word I suppose. And yes, Z24 was only a trim level on Cavaliers, and I specifically mentioned a late 90’s Z24. See below horrendous photoshop.
https://imgur.com/wuOgv5t
No worries if you disagree, but it was the very first thing that jumped out to me – Cavalier coupe greenhouse.
I get a little more Altima Coupe (maaaaybe 350z) from the glass, but I guess I can kinda see that. Kinda.
The average Honda dealer around here marks up Civics by like 6k. I can only imagine the rip offs for this thing.
It’ll probably also be as rare as the 400Z. Even after years of production for the new gen, you’re more likely to see a vintage model than a new one on the streets.
The Integra, however, is way more competitively priced and real people can get them. So hooray for rebadging and conservative styling.
All these photos of old Preludes, and not one of the best generation, 1982-1987?
I was thinking how strange it is there are no pics of the 3rd gen Prelude from 95-98(?) that everyone didn’t like. Because that’s the one this looks most like.
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/KV6GxWQK/1996-honda-prelude-vtec
You’re right, it’s pretty close.
I like the 95-98.
That’s the 5th gen, similar to the 4th gen but my favorite is the 3rd gen
Zuh? Am I missing something here? The 5th gen (1997-2001) was a return to form, in that it resembled the 3rd gen. The one linked is a 4th generation (1992-’96) Prelude.
Ok, in that sense I see what you meant as a return to form. I think this just threw me off:
“I was thinking how strange it is there are no pics of the 3rd gen Prelude from 95-98(?)”
When I hear 3rd gen, I always automatically think of both the Preludes and Accords and for both I always think of my favorite which is the 3rd gen- I’ve had 2 of these as Accords and want a Prelude. Yeah, I may have gotten something mixed up in the details
If nothing else, it gives them a racy looking 2-door to use as pace car for the Indycar races that Honda sponsors.
The Lude is kinda an odd name to revive. Even as a peak Fast and Furious Millennial, I can’t say I have found memories of the Prelude. I can’t think of one person who ran a Lude when I was doing that sort of thing. People use to really hate on H-series, and was already a pretty rare ride in the upper Midwest. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the Lude. But it feels like something they should leave dead if it’s coming back as a sport compact.
However, add removable roof and bring back Del Sol.
You mean the Del Soak?
it’s definitely the first Honda in years that actually looks good.
The original Integra came as a 4-door sedan and a 5-door hatchback, in addition to the 3-door hatch. The subsequent 2nd and 3rd generations came as sedans and 3-door hatchback, it was only the 4th generation that was exclusively a 3 door hatch, and that actually had the lowest production volume of all 4 generations. The Integra name is currently being used on a 5-door hatchback and a 4-door sedan in China, so that’s 2/3 of all the body styles it historically had that are now back around
The Prelude, however, was always exclusively a coupe, so it would make sense that that’s the name to use on a new model that’s exclusively a coupe.
You beat me to this point. The Integra had a lot of variants through its lifespan, but the Prelude only had one. Like others, I have fond memories of the hundreds of hours spent in my friend’s Integras back in the day, but my neighbor’s month-old Integra Type-S is freaking nice and makes an absolute mockery of the performance of the older Integras.
Make a convertible version of the Prelude and you’ve got my money Honda.
Your assertion of Prelude/Integra, IMHO, is wrong.
Integra = Civic-based – and included 4-door variants.
Prelude = Accord based
Perhaps the Integra should have been, instead, the EL or CSX.
I agree with you. Never thought of it any other way.
I genuinely have no idea why people are still kvetching over the current Integra. The Integra was always Civic based and the current car is quite handsome, not to mention the Type S trim gives it the performance credentials it deserved from the get go. You can even get a manual in the base car, albeit it’s behind a paywall.
I’m not sure what there is to be mad about other than the fact that they shoved a damn CVT in it instead of using the in house DCT they had for the ILX. That was a lame move, but it makes sense due to how important fuel economy and emissions are/I’m probably the only person who enjoys or cares about DCTs in 2024.
Oh and I guess we’re mad that there’s no coupe but there’s no coupe anything in this day and age because no one buys them anymore….
Nope. Looks like shit. Has absolutely zero magic of the DNA that made the integra famous in the first place, and zero references to it in the design itself. It’s a rebadged ILX, and a slap in the face to actual honda enthusiasts. I don’t care if it’s a coupe or 4 doors, it does not look like an integra, it looks like a boring XJQ or whatever stupid nomenclature Acura is currently using.
I’m sorry you feel that way. I call the ILX the ‘Integra’ too, if that makes you feel any better.
The other piece is Prelude: Coupe only body style.
Regarding the Prelude being Accord-based, I’m pretty sure that’s incorrect in that they weren’t related (at least American Accords) and the Preludes were based on their own dedicated platform. This platform may have been shared with with other JDM market cars, but nothing sold in NA.
The Vigor/Ascot were Accord-based.
The 3rd gen Prelude and Accord coupe are basically the same thing- I used to have that gen Accord coupe and sedan for years and now want a 3rd gen Prelude
https://www.banpei.net/2024/01/11/honda-accord-coupe-ca6-vs-prelude-ba3-mashups
Looks like a Z and an Audi TT were up to the Devil’s business
I think there’s some Gen 2 Eclipse in there as well.
I agree with Lockleaf, my first thought was, that looks a lot like the Z from the side… Like I would get them confused close. The front does look nice but can we get some different looking cars instead of designers copying each other’s homework.
That side view roofline is shouting Z car to me. A little to sharp a crest for me.
Saw that right off as well.
Not a fan of that trend.
Need to see one of these in real life though to make an informed decision overall.
But not sure if we are gonna get them here. Local dealers seem in the dark about that.
The market for a kinda sporty coupe is basically zero. Proper sports cars, even affordable ones, barely sell because no one is willing to buy a 2 door. The few that are willing to put up with the sacrifice do it because they want a proper sports car. The Integra has the rep as a true FWD sports car, and could have sold as one, though in small enough numbers Acura would have needed a 4/5 door to move volume certainly. The Prelude, as a not particularly practical or sporty hybrid has zero chance in the US market. I don’t know the Euro and Japanese markets well enough to say for sure but I don’t see a ringing success there. This seems like another case where the Honda/Acura divide is actually more of a liability for Honda because they never built up Acura as a global brand and left it US specific. If it was global you could have a new Integra with 2 and 4 door variants in all markets, with a variety of powertrains, from turbo, to hybrid, to Type-S. Instead the Integra is weaker than it should be lacking its most iconic form and the Prelude will likely be a sales disaster as most people just buy hybrid Civics instead.
Yeah came here basically to say this. I don’t know who the market for this is, in theory as someone with fond memories of ’90s hot Hondas it’s me but I have 0 use for a cool looking coupe with the performance of an off the shelf Civic. Unless the powertrain for the US market is a whole lot more peppy than rumors are pointing to I can’t even begin to picture wanting one. I imagine they’ll sell a small handful to retirees who still have it somewhere deep in their subconscious that a “personal car” when you’ve made it is a stylish 2 door coupe; but who also don’t want to mess with german cars. That’s a pretty small market I think. If it was bigger Honda would still make the 2-door civic and accord-as they were one of the last hold outs making non-performance 2 doors.
I wonder if the US version wasn’t announced because we’re going to get it as an Acura.
Acura does have a nameplate for a two door sport compact laying around.
Which one? CL? Too small. Legend? Way too small.
Prelude is the perfect name for this 2+2 sporty FF.
RSX 2.0
That was the Integra everywhere else and doesn’t count give they mean the same car.
100% this is better than the Integra’s design. I couldn’t stomach the Civic reskin they did.
I’d love a prius competitor. And this looks great. Bonus
I know it isn’t a hatch, but as a hybrid coupe I feel like this is more of a spiritual successor to the CR-Z, especially given that the press photos feature an Insight.
They don’t want to be reminded of what a flop the CR-Z was.
The new Integra is meant to appeal to those folks who lusted after the OG model in their 20s – especially as it hit the first wave of tunerism.
Now they have kids and mortgages and decent jobs and want to relive their youth while still repping their current status.
I agree with the earlier comment that a ‘lude should be accord based…this hits like a Civic coupe
While I didn’t lust after Integras growing up (I lusted after Celicas, MR2s, and Supras), I’m probably the target audience for the new Integra.
And it has crossed my mind except for one hiccup: lack of cooled seats. I know, it’s a bit ridiculous, but I had an Optima once with this feature and it’s one of my favorite features. I just can’t fathom spending $40k on a new car and it not be equipped with such a feature so it’s TSX for me when the time comes that I need a more modern car.
I am literally the target demographic for the Integra that you just described. I have a mortgage, a wife, a kid, a dog, and my wife and I both have pretty good jobs. And you know what? Once the original IT’S DISAPPOINTING groupthink wore off I’ve grown to really like the Integra.
I lust after the Type S and legitimately get excited whenever I see one…but I like the regular one as well. It’s good, solid, reliable, practical, comfortable transportation with the added status of a luxury badge. If I were to suddenly need a new car there’s a good chance I’d get one, except I remain furious over the fact that the only automatic option is a damn CVT. The DCT from the ILX was literally right there, Honda…
That being said if the new Civic hybrid powertrain makes its way up to the Integra it’ll probably be my next car. I’d be hard pressed to come up with a better urban runabout/dad car than that.
Yeah, except it looks NOTHING like it, drives nothing like it, shares none of the motorsport cred, and is a complete sellout joke, other than the badge. I hate that car.
I feel like everyone expecting this to be an enthusiast oriented car is going to be bitterly disappointed. They’ve already announced that it’s going to be a hybrid, and none of Honda’s hybrid powertrains are what you’d call sporty…and to pile on top of that, none of them even use their ICE engines in a traditional way.
The electric motors do almost all of the work and the gas engine is really only there to charge them and to give you a little extra pull during acceleration. As a result, these likely won’t have a traditional gearbox, so Manual Gang will inevitably throw a tantrum when it’s announced that this has an eCVT.
Idk y’all. I think it looks fantastic but I just can’t imagine it being an actual enthusiast product. I’m sorry to be Buzz Killington but I think we’re going to have another Integra situation on our hands. It’s best to temper your expectations, because Honda really doesn’t give a shit about fun cars anymore outside of the spicy Civics. Even the performance Acuras outside of the rebadged CTR are fairly half baked products compared to their competitors.
You’re right. The review are going to be just like the CR-Z.
This is just CR-Z 2.0. I’d wager it’ll be a tad more fun than the CR-Z, but a heck of a lot closer to than than the old Prelude.
That being said, everyone thought the CR-Z was going to be a CRX successor (I don’t blame them, Honda made that connection obvious) all while ignoring all the similarities the CR-Z had with the Gen1 Insight; heck, stylistically, the CR-Z looks like a Gen2 Insight better than the actual second generation Insight does.
Does Honda even have a manual transmission on the shelf to use anymore? I guess the Civic Si would have one.
I sat in a showroom in 1999 trying to make the financials work for me on a Prelude. I wanted so bad. But I was 26 years old, only made about $35-40/yr with a mortgage and just couldn’t make it work for me.
That car was not all that fast but damn if it wasn’t one of the smoothest handling coupes I’d ever driven. Not overly great handling, mind you. Just extremely competent and effortless. That’s the formula they should be going for here.
I’ll be disappointed if they don’t have a manual even if I get why they wouldn’t. But I think you’re wrong on the enthusiast… enthusiasm for the car. It will be a certain type of enthusiast that may not be what we generally picture. A Honda enthusiast perhaps.
Good god has Honda needed something for that crowd for a long time.
There’s just no way there’s going to be a manual in this thing I’m afraid. They’d essentially have to re-engineer it to pair with their new hybrid system…which doesn’t actually need gears in the first place. It doesn’t even have the same sort of eCVT that Toyota uses, as I mentioned in my original comment the ICE engine runs the Atkinson cycle and is only there to charge the electric motor and provide top end power under hard acceleration.
Honda cares more about manual transmissions than just about any other mainstream manufacturer but even they aren’t going to put their development money into re-doing their hybrid system to accept one so they can sell like 7 of them to elder millennial and Gen X enthusiasts. And Honda has plenty of models for their specific enthusiasts…hell there’s so much demand for CTRs that you still can’t get them at sticker.
I’m sure you’re right. Though they’ve done it before. Didn’t the CR-Z have a manual option? But given what fuel economy standards are to live up to, I’m sure they can’t unless this is just very low volume or something.
But, damnit stop crushing the dream before the thing is even finalized!
I’m sure it’ll be more engaging to drive than a typical sedan and most certainly any CUV thing. And maybe Honda will have a Type R version or some type of suspension tuning for a sportier feel.
But I agree this isn’t going to be an all out enthusiast vehicle. The market is just too small and Honda would have to charge a ton to really make such a proposition work.
Agreed. I have to question the wisdom of bringing a coupe to market that isn’t at least somewhat enthusiast-oriented. No one buys coupes anymore except enthusiasts. Maybe Honda knows something we don’t and they’ll start a resurgence like the Miata did when it debuted at a time when no one was buying roadsters anymore, but I doubt it.
So this car is actually on my list of serious consideration, and lack of manual doesn’t matter. This Prelude will occupy a space of the market no one else is touching right now. It’s a small 2 door hybrid in an appealing enough of a package. Also historically the Prelude wasn’t an enthusiast car, only the top end trims were considered so, but they still never competed with Supras and Z Cars. This will be a far more engaging drive then my 5000lb V8 daily, and will allow me to enjoy the back roads to and from work. If they get the right Hybrid drive train(plug-in) in this it could probably convince more people than you expect.
“The New Honda Prelude Is What The New Integra Should Have Been”
Nah… I disagree. The Prelude was always a larger upscale coupe. I think Prelude name is right for that car.
HOWEVER… Honda does having naming issues with its other vehicles.
In my view, the Honda Fit is what the Civic should be. The Honda Insight and CRZ should have been the Civic CRX… with Si and SiR versions
The Accord should be what the current Civic Sedan is.
The Integra should be what the Civic hatchback is.
And a new Honda Legend should be what the Accord currently is.
Oh and the HRV should be the Civic Wagovan.
Fight me!!!
They shouldn’t have killed off the Fit in the US, or they should have brought the City (which is available both as a sedan and a hatchback) to the US. The Civic and Accord are growing and have been for a while. It’s just that there’s no longer anything slotted in below the Civic; as always, I blame Americans’
love affairobsession with the crossover and SUV.A Prelude should be Accord based, not Civic based.
The Accord is so big today, I’m not sure how many people are willing to shell out for a 2-door Honda that large.
The Civic of today is basically what the Accord should be. And the current Accord should be called the Honda Legend.
The new Prelude is nice but put a Toyota badge on it and nobody would notice something odd.
The front end is essentially the “hammerhead” design that Toyota is implementing across their lineup.
Yep, I can’t stop seeing the new Camry in that front.
Came here to comment the same thing. That’s Toyota’s current signature look.
I keep looking at the nose and think First Order stormtrooper helmet for some reason.
To me it actually is very similar to the 3rd gen Prelude that most everyone does not remember fondly and doesn’t want back (but the new one is much better):
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/KV6GxWQK/1996-honda-prelude-vtec
I had a 5th gen Prelude, but I loved the 3rd gen (4WS and pop-up headlights!).
This isn’t a Prius coupe?!
Toyonda Priluse
Naming aside, it’s a new 2-door Honda, and a good bit sportier in intention than the previous gen Civic Coupe, so I see it as a massive win. Seriously hopeful they bring it here with a manual option, as Honda has always been the one manufacturer insistent on the manual hybrid option, but time will tell.