The Internet Was Wrong.... 2026 Honda Prelude Review

So this is the 2026 Honda Prelude. And if you've been paying attention, this is by far one of the most controversial vehicles on the internet right now. And we'll get into every reason why many people are disappointed. But I'm also here to tell you, the internet's wrong. Let's talk about the exterior design. For starters, we have this incredible color, this boost blue. I can promise you this, if you do pick this one up, you will get tons of compliments almost based on the color alone. Now for our headlights, we do have LED projector style headlights, as well as kind of this strip up here, which is gonna be your daytime running headlight. Working lower here along the front bumper, you are gonna have all of this open kind of grill, a ton of ventilation there to kind of keep the engine bay nice and cool. Although the need to do that with this EV battery is gonna be a little bit less needed. Now, as we work our way to the wheels and tires, we do have 19 inch glossy black alloy wheels with Brembo style brakes. And we do have this really cool blue color for your caliper. It even has some Prelude script on it. Now these brakes are actually gonna be the exact same ones that we would find in the Type R. Now working our way to the side of the vehicle, one way that Honda has really added to that sporty and sleek design is gonna be that our door handles here are flush up against the door. Now, if I just press the unlock button on the key fob, the door handle will pop out. And this is actually a mechanical lever. We've got springs on the inside of here. And I think that's a good thing. Less electronical parts, less things that can go wrong and break down over time. The one thing that is really interesting, I would be very interested to know how do these door handles work in really, really cold weather? Or when you get kind of that freezing rain, will these lock into place and get frozen? I'm not sure yet. If you have any experience with that, let us know down below. Now, one of the reason people do enjoy the look of the Prelude is because it has this classic 90s coupe looking sports car design. And by just looking at it right here, you would assume that it is a coupe. Ironically enough, however, it's actually a hatchback, which I'll show you here in just a minute. But here on the backside, we do have this long LED light bar gonna be for your taillights and your brake lights. We do have the kind of spaced out Honda lettering right here, as well as more of that cursive Prelude script writing. Now, as we open up the back and reveal that this is in fact a hatchback, one thing you'll notice is actually just how big the opening back here is. Now, you're never gonna buy this vehicle for the space, but as you can kind of see in here, it's a little more practical than you might assume. Now, while there may not be a ton of space for your passengers, if you do need to use this to kind of just carry everyday things, bags, groceries, whatever it might be, you actually do have quite a lot of room back here. While it's not perfect, I believe Honda actually did a phenomenal job with the interior, starting with these seats here up in the front. We do have heated leather seats that kind of resemble that of some bucket seats. We have tons of bolstering here on the sides. Now, one funny thing to note is that on the driver's side, you're actually gonna have a lot more bolstering support here than you would here in the passenger seat. Clearly, Honda's saying that this car is meant to be prioritized for the driver, not so much for the passenger, and then definitely not so much for the back seat back here. That'll definitely be a test of friendship to see whoever you be putting in the back if you so choose to do that. But here on the front seats, I just love the look and design here. We do have the Prelude scripting here up on the headrest, as well as just a really, I don't know, just cool-looking design. They've definitely tried to make the seats look premium. And I'll even say this, at least in the driver's seat, it feels premium as well. Working our way to the dash here, we have this really nice, nice, soft-touch material. Again, more Prelude scripting. Kind of have this contrast stitching of the blue and silver right here as well. On the door side, we have even more of that soft-touch material, more of that blue and silver stitching. You know, obviously Honda just wants you to feel comfortable, kind of have this like borderline luxury experience here on the inside. It's not luxury, that's not what I'm saying, but Honda definitely added some small little details that really add up over time. We do have a Bose surround sound system, which is gonna be that same sound system that you'll find kind of in the touring trims of the other vehicles like the Civic and the Accord. We do have our digital screen right here, which is gonna be the same exact nine-inch display that, again, you'll find in the Honda Civic. One cool thing about the infotainment system, however, is that we do have Google built-in. So if you don't like connecting your phone and using your built-in apps, you do have some native Google apps here at your disposal. The steering wheel has gotta be one of the highlights of the interior. I really do believe that this is one of the most comfortable and best-shaped steering wheels that I've felt in a very long time. We have more of that blue stitching here along the inside. Of course, it is leather-wrapped, and you actually do have metal paddle shifters, which is a nice change. We do have the digital gauge cluster over here, which, again, is gonna look very familiar if you've been inside of a Civic at all recently in the last couple of years. Now, what I would say is one of the most important parts of your interior is gonna be your climate controls right here. Everything is physical knobs and buttons for your heated seats, for your temperature, for your fan controls. All of the most important features right here are going to be physical. We do have a wireless charging pad just underneath the climate controls. And surprisingly enough, I'm usually not a fan of wireless charging pads because it makes your phone so dang hot. This one, I don't know if it's just because this car is brand new or kinda what the situation is. My phone did not get very hot, and I've had it on the charging pad for about 40 minutes now, so it's nice to see that. We do have all of our different drive modes, our gear selectors, as well as our S plus drive mode right here. All of these are going to kind of look similar to something that you might find like in the Honda Pilot, ironically enough. So, you know, again, this is gonna be an EV hybrid vehicle, so you're obviously not gonna have more of your traditional gear selector or even a handbrake or anything like that. So I don't know if I would call this a negative. It's pretty easy to use, so it's, I don't know, I'd put that as a wash. We do have some really deep cup holders right here, a little bit of extra storage space right here, but everything along the center console, we have more of that soft touch suede, more of that contrast stitching, really nice leather material here on the center console with, again, more of that stitching. All right, so we have a few elephants in the room, so let's address them. Starting with what's underneath the hood is a 2.0 liter four-cylinder hybrid producing 200 horsepower. The zero to 60 time is uninspiring. The horsepower in itself is gonna leave a lot to be desired, and I think if you were to only focus on the spec sheet of this vehicle, you might be disappointed in asking yourself what the heck is going on, and I think to be fair, that's what most YouTuber viewers are doing with this Prelude. Now, one of the major differences between this Prelude and the Type R is actually gonna be the weight. The Prelude is just simply heavier, and so even though it shares the same dampers as the Type R, the driving and handling experience is actually a heck of a lot smoother in this because of that weight distribution. With the EV battery, you're gonna get some instantaneous torque, which especially when you're going around corners, you're really gonna feel that EV engine kick into place. Now, one thing that we don't see here, which you do typically see in hybrid vehicles, is gonna be wheel spin. The wheel spin is virtually nonexistent here, but I'll be honest, even though the zero to 60 time is not inspiring, here I am right now. I mean, it's not nothing, right? But I think where the internet has been so unfair to the Prelude is thinking that this is supposed to be a track car, okay? And it just simply is not. It's not meant for straight line speed. It's not meant to win the press release when it comes to its numbers and its specs. What I do think it's meant for, however, is kind of this really interesting combination of daily driving use, so we have the EV hybrid system, we have great fuel economy, but because it shares so many of its mechanical components with the Type R, that leads me to believe that the handling was a massive priority for this vehicle. Now we have this little button here in the center console that's labeled S plus. Now, where I think so many reviewers have got this wrong is you almost naturally are inclined to think, oh, this must be some kind of like hyper boost overdrive mode that's gonna get you more performance, that's gonna lower your zero to 60 time. Maybe it's something like the Hyundai Elantra N where you get a boost to the horsepower for a short period of time. No, no, no, no, no. You don't get any of that. You actually take it either on some back roads or you can kind of engage this accelerating through corners and through turns. When you do that, you actually feel the vehicle dip down into the corners. The Prelude can rotate as well as you're exiting the corners. And when you let off the gas or you downshift manually, you start to really feel that EV hybrid kick into place and add some extra benefit that you wouldn't get in just a normal gas powered engine. I think it's so funny because if you were to only just go online and see what all the reviews and the responses is to the Prelude, you're probably gonna be pretty disappointed and feel like, man, this car, I feel like this car sucks. But now that I'm behind the wheel here and I feel like I'm using it in its best use case, which is on the back roads, able to kind of rip into a corner right here, which I'm gonna do just now. I know the performance doesn't jump off the spec sheet, but my gosh, the handling is incredible. I just feel like I have so much confidence going around these corners right now. Yeah. No, I mean, this car is so fun to drive and I feel like I don't hear anybody say these things online. Now, the other elephant in the room that we really haven't addressed is gonna be the price. I do think it's a little steep, but at the end of the day, like who am I to say what you can afford or what you can't afford? I do believe maybe this price is, you know, maybe five-ish thousand dollars too expensive. But again, that's gonna come down to such a personal preference on what you can afford and what you can't. I think the main thing that I would try to express to you as you're watching this video right now is what I'm doing on camera right now, it cannot fully do justice how this vehicle feels. And listen, I'm not gonna give you a TED Talk right now, but at the end of the day, the truth and the reality is this, people make emotional decisions when they purchase vehicles. A lot of people purchase vehicles based on how it makes them feel. And I'm telling you right now, I may not come across perfectly over the camera, but when I'm sitting in the driver's seat, my hands are on the wheel, I've got this car pushed to its limits in the intended use purpose, I feel great. Like I'm having the time of my life driving this car right now. I love it. Okay, it's a different experience than a Type R or an SI or an Elantra N. It's a different experience, but different doesn't always mean bad. And I think once you actually put your hands on the steering wheel and you take this for a test drive, I think so many of the negative points that you find on the internet, they just don't seem to matter. And sometimes we get vehicles like that where they outperform their spec sheet. Sometimes we get vehicles where they underperform their spec sheet. It really just comes down to what do you want? What are you looking for? And when you've actually had time to test it out and put your hands on the vehicle, did it make you feel differently than just reading things on the internet or watching video reviews like this one? Now, if you own this car, or at the very least you've driven the Honda Prelude, let me know in the comments down below where I got things right. And maybe more importantly, where I got things wrong and help us answer the question. Is the internet overreacting? Did the internet get a lot of things wrong? Or for me, am I being too biased? And did I get things wrong? If you enjoyed this video, the best way to let me know is by hitting that thumbs up button. And if you wanna see more video reviews, just like this one, subscribe and we'll see you in the next video.