We drove the Honda Prelude in Malaysia and here is our honest verdict

KUALA LUMPUR: There is something Honda did not quite say out loud when it brought the Prelude back. They dressed it up in a sporty coupe body, gave it a legendary nameplate, and let everyone's imagination run wild. And then they built a GT car.

That is not a criticism. In fact, once you understand what the Prelude actually is, everything about it starts to make a lot more sense.

We got behind the wheel at Sepang International Circuit courtesy of Honda Malaysia, and here is what we found.

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It is not what you think it is

Let us get this out of the way first. The Prelude is a hybrid. Not just any hybrid either.

Honda officially classifies the drivetrain as an eCVT, but in reality it does not have a traditional gearbox at all.

What it has is a two-motor direct-drive hybrid system, where one electric motor drives the wheels, and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine spins a second motor-generator unit which produces electricity to power the system.

The petrol engine can also clutch directly into the drivetrain when efficiency demands it. It is clever engineering, but it means there are no gears to speak of in the traditional sense.

In numbers, the 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle petrol engine produces 141 PS at 6,000 rpm and 182 Nm at 4,500 rpm. The traction motor adds 184 PS and 315 Nm to the front wheels, bringing the combined system output to 203 PS.

Honda claims a 0 to 100 km/h time of 8.2 seconds. It is not a fast car on paper. But as Honda's own chief engineer has said to one of the local medias, performance here was never meant to be defined by numbers alone.

It is not a hot hatch. It is not trying to be a sports car. And if you came here expecting a spiritual successor to the B-series glory days, you need to recalibrate your expectations.

What the Prelude is, is a refined, comfortable, sporty-looking coupe that Honda has positioned squarely between the everyday Civic and the all-out Civic Type R.

Honda's own performance concept describes it as the meeting point of two philosophies: smooth and clean on one side, responsive and engaging on the other. It is not leaning heavily in either direction. That balance is the whole point.

This is a car built for the long drive. The GT driver. Someone who wants to look good, feel relaxed, and still have something in reserve when the road opens up.

The chameleon effect

One of the most impressive things about the Prelude is how different it can feel depending on how you set it up.

There are three drive modes: Comfort, GT, and Sport. The fact that GT sits right in the middle tells you everything about what Honda thinks this car is. And the adaptive electronic dampers do a remarkable job of transforming the character of the car between them.

In Comfort, it is genuinely relaxed. Smooth, hushed, the kind of car you would happily cruise the highway in for hours without fatigue. The active noise canceller and noise-reducing wheels do their job well, and the cabin feels like a genuine refuge from the outside world.

Flip it into Sport, and things tighten up meaningfully. The dampers firm up, the steering feels more alert, and the car starts to communicate more. But here is the thing. In its default state, even in Sport mode, the Prelude can still feel a little muted. A little too composed. Like it is holding something back.

And that is where things get very interesting.

The S+ Shift changes everything

Because the Prelude has no traditional gearbox, the driving experience in its base form can feel disconnected. Smooth, yes. Effortless, certainly. But not particularly engaging. Honda knew this going in. It is actually why S+ Shift exists.

At the press of a button, the system simulates an eight-speed transmission through the hybrid powertrain. You get step acceleration, rev-matching on the way down, and engine sound that rises and falls in sync with your inputs.

It is designed to engage all your senses at once, what you hear, what you feel through the seat, and what you see on the tachometer, all working together to create the sensation of driving something with a real gearbox.

And it works. The car comes alive in a way that is genuinely surprising. There is soul in there, real driving pleasure, and it transforms what was a very competent but slightly anonymous cruiser into something that actually rewards you for being behind the wheel.

Switch S+ Shift off and the paddles revert to adjusting regenerative braking levels instead. Two completely different personalities from the same car.

Without S+ Shift, the Prelude is a very good daily car. With it switched on, on the right road, it is a genuinely enjoyable one.

Surprisingly nimble, surprisingly large

Here is something that caught us off guard. From what we can gather from the few hours of curated sampling of the car, the driver's seat, the Prelude feels like a big car.

The long bonnet stretches out ahead of you, the cabin is wide, and the whole thing carries itself with a sense of heft. You would be forgiven for expecting it to feel a bit unwieldy through tighter sections.

But put it through a slalom, and it shrinks. Noticeably. The adaptive dampers earn their keep here, keeping the body composed and the front end pointing exactly where you want it to go.

There is a nimbleness to it that the size would not suggest, and that is a credit to the chassis work Honda has done, which draws directly from the Civic Type R programme. It also comes with Brembo four-pot calipers and large two-piece discs up front, so the stopping power is genuinely there to match the go, even if we thought the brakes are overpowering.

It does not feel like a sports car. But it does feel considerably more capable than its GT brief would suggest.

Inside and out

The interior is comfortable and well put together. The seats are well bolstered and supportive, exactly what you want for long-distance driving, and the cockpit feels purposeful without being overdone.

One of the nicer touches is how the digital displays change character with each drive mode, reinforcing the sense that the car is genuinely transforming around you rather than just changing a number on a screen.

The rear seats are there, technically. Small children will manage. Adults on anything longer than a very short hop will not have a great time. Treat them as an emergency option rather than a genuine selling point.

Boot space, however, is genuinely good. For a car that looks like a coupe from the outside, the practicality on offer is a pleasant surprise and another tick in the GT column.

Honda Sensing comes fully loaded as well, with adaptive cruise control, low speed follow, lane keep assist, forward collision warning, collision mitigation braking, and a lead car departure notification system. It is a thorough suite of safety technology that makes the Prelude feel like a proper modern car rather than a style exercise.

So, is it worth the hype?

That depends entirely on what you were hyped about.

If you wanted a reborn sports coupe, a driver's car that sets pulses racing from the moment you press the start button, the Prelude is going to disappoint you. 

But if you wanted a car that looks genuinely special, drives with refinement and composure every day, and still has enough character and ability to put a smile on your face when the roads are right, then the Prelude makes a compelling case for itself.

The S+ Shift system is not a gimmick. It is the feature that gives this car its identity. And combined with the adaptive chassis, it makes the Prelude one of the more interesting things you can drive in this segment right now.

It is a GT car. Honda just needed to say that from the start. And now that we know, we think they have actually built a pretty good one.

Pricing and full specifications for the Malaysian market are yet to be confirmed. But we will know in a month or so as the launch of the reborn Honda Prelude in Malaysia is imminent. 

How much do you reckon it would be? Sub RM300k? 

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