2025 Honda Prelude (BF1) | PH Review
The Honda coupe returns, with Civic Type R hardware and hybrid power - what's it like?
Nobody could accuse Honda of jumping on the hybrid bandwagon. It isn’t rowing back from an all-electric pledge to safer ground that retains combustion; it’s been offering up electrified petrol power for a quarter of a century, and selling millions of them, all the way back to the original (and very clever) Insight. Ever since, Honda has been nothing if not determined to do its own thing with engines and electric, and plans to continue in that vein for the foreseeable future. Some of it has been special - see the NSX - while other cars haven’t made quite the same impact. But you could never accuse Honda of following the crowd when it comes to hybrids, an approach we can surely all appreciate right now.
It’s an attitude that has helped create the Prelude. Because not only is it novel to offer a new two-door coupe in 2025, this isn’t even the first time Honda has resurrected a classic with hybrid help - remember the CR-Z? Like that 21st-century CRX remake (launched 15 years ago), the Prelude promises to bring the efficiency benefits of some electric assistance alongside the fun of a relatively light two-door coupe.
Much like the old Z, you’re never going to mistake the Prelude for anything else. The design is said to have been inspired by gliders, which perhaps doesn’t feel like the clearest route to a great-looking sports car, but there’s definitely something about the Honda that doesn’t quite come across in the pics. There’s a confidence to the stance that can only really be seen in person, lower and wider than it initially seems, as well as genuinely sleek. Or maybe we’ve been starved of two-door models for so long that anything would seem a million times better than a five-door SUV purporting to be a coupe.
But there definitely seems to be a presence about the Prelude, especially in the Civic Type R’s Racing Blue Metallic. You know it’ll look even better still once the wheels are silver. There’s some Ferrari Amalfi to the front end, which is surely not a bad association, and maybe a bit more old Mitsubishi Eclipse to the back of the Prelude than is ideal; that being said, the design appealed more at the end of the day’s test drive than the beginning. That’s usually a good sign.
While the Prelude’s interior is more obviously Civic-related, that’s not the end of the world. Because, against current market trends, it actually works. The HVAC controls are simple and effective, ditto the steering wheel buttons, and while the touchscreen isn’t anything amazing, its usability is significantly improved with a few buttons flanking the display. The steering wheel feels great, as do the new-for-Prelude seats with their asymmetric support, and probably the only disappointing bit of the interior are the transmission buttons, which feel cheap. They’re just about acceptable in a Civic, rather less so when a coupe derivative costs £40,995.
It would be best to treat a prospective Prelude as a 2+2 rather than a full four-seat coupe, because there’s not much adult room behind the front chairs. More than 400 litres of boot space seems a fair trade-off, even with a higher load lip than the average hatch. These sacrifices we used to make for style seemed commonplace not so long ago; now they almost seem a novelty.
While much was made of the Type R hardware in the build-up to the Prelude’s launch, it’s important to remember that this isn’t pitched as some razor-sharp, track-focused coupe. Again, like the CR-Z, the Prelude aims to cloak modest hybrid power in something that looks smart and drives well, which feels like a cause that’s easy to support (if not, get rabidly excited about it). This new Honda isn’t about lap records or redefining front-drive expectations, just in case the presence of Brembo brakes and dual-axis front struts led you to believe otherwise. It’s a Prelude like so many of them used to be; it’s just we all remember 8,000rpm Motegis.
This is the preamble to saying that the Prelude powertrain is a disappointment. Maybe hopes would always be unrealistic when bringing back that name and with the Civic such a recent memory, but the E:HEV setup - even with the new S+ Shift - just isn’t as interesting or as exciting as hoped for. While the instant torque offered by electrification is useful at low speed, the Prelude feels weak once up in the hills; the sound of the Atkinson cycle four-cylinder is plain whichever mode you’ve chosen.
Probably that was all to be expected from a 184hp hybrid moving a tonne and a half of coupe. Arguably the S+ Shift is the bigger letdown, promising as it did ‘enhanced driver engagement’ and not really delivering. While elements are impressive - the paddles feel nice, the shifts are quick enough, if undramatic - the system is let down by details. There’s no clear and obvious way to keep it in the manual setting, so often it’ll default back to auto, where it’s always too keen to kick down or hold a droney gear, and always changes up at the 6,000rpm redline.
The ratios that have been created are far too close to feel convincing, so the car doesn’t seem to know which one is best. Third gear is wrapped up by about 60mph, then fourth by 75, which never really feels natural; maybe it was a ploy to make the Prelude feel faster than it is - either way, it struggles to convince. Put most simply, the Hyundai Ioniq 5N is the more rewarding paddleshift driving experience (ignoring the power disparity or anything else) without an engine or transmission than the Prelude is with a CVT and 2.0 litres of combustion under the bonnet. Pity.
Particularly so given the chassis is terrific. It should, of course, come as little surprise on the basis that the standard Civic drives smartly and the Type R is exceptional - but the coupe treads a nice middle ground where it’s keener than the regular hatch while stopping short of the turbo car’s intensity and tenacity. The spring rate is said to be between the two, and the adaptive dampers are borrowed from the FL5, then modified for this installation. Honda sees the main rival for the Prelude as the BMW 220i (a two-door with the same power, easily matched up on price with a few options), and in the areas that matter for the driving experience - the feel of the steering, the feel of the brakes, the damping - the Honda is superior. Even in those areas that would typically favour a rear-drive coupe, like traction and balance, the Prelude is competitive against the BMW. All the driver’s key controls offer better weighting and feedback than the 2 Series.
Despite six (!) regen braking settings that can be a bit of a muddle, the brake pedal is resolutely firm and really powerful. The front end is easily guided with well-weighted steering; the more aggressive modes don’t entirely spoil it, and you’ll never feel anything close to torque steer. The Prelude’s ability to maintain that hard-won momentum really is notable, too; lateral and vertical stiffness are impressive, without compromising the ride quality, so you can be confident tackling whatever the road throws up. Grip and traction are abundant, the front end always willing to turn harder if required. String a few good bends together, feel the Prelude gamely hold on and ably manage its mass, and the powertrain concerns ebb away. It really is a very nice two-door to drive. Just ideally downhill, rather than up.
Over-engineered is probably the best and fairest way to describe the Prelude. While so many cars initially offer an impression of dynamic panache that crumbles under duress, this just keeps on delivering no matter what. It feels like a very Honda approach to making a coupe, sophisticated and capable without being that thrilling, and a rare one in a style-over-substance era. The impression actually jars slightly with a mode-mad user interface, with Comfort, GT and Sport for pretty much everything - plus an Individual setting on top. As with the Type R, you tend to shy away from the racier, more frantic settings, which sounds counterintuitive to performance models, but allows the driver to actually appreciate the quality of what’s underneath, rather than being bombarded by noise and harshness.
And for all the whingeing about an engine that’s not all that, an official 54mpg means an easy 40 in the real world. Leave S+ Sport alone and the Prelude is as inoffensive to bimble around in as a Civic, from urban crawl to motorway cruise. There really is precious little penalty for its chassis smarts, the Prelude happy to play at GT without compromise. Presumably, it would do so for many years and many miles, too.
Honda reckons it’ll only sell a few hundred Preludes here over the next couple of years, the aim of this model being more about jazzing up (no pun intended) the perceived image of Honda hybrids than drastically improving overall sales volumes. It seems certain to do that: a Civic or CR-V will pass you by unnoticed - a Prelude most certainly won’t. There’s real star quality to both the way it looks and the way it drives. Once the powertrain ticks that box as well, Honda will have something really special to offer.
SPECIFICATION | HONDA PRELUDE (BF1)
Engine: 1,993cc, four-cyl, 1.05kWh battery, electric motor
Transmission: e-CVT, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 184 (engine 143@6,000rpm)
Torque (lb ft): 232 (engine 137@4,500rpm)
0-62mph: 8.2 seconds
Top speed: 117mph
Weight: 1,480kg
MPG: 54.3 (WLTP combined)
CO2: 117g/km
Price: £40,995
Then again, Preludes have never really done that for me. They've always been cars I respect and admire rather than lust over. They have fans though, a certain LJKS and a guy called Harpal anyway. Believe.
Surely there's some headroom for a Type-R version?
but if you look at this in the same lens as the basic 130bhp 2.0 Preludes with an Auto, youll see they are a lot more similar than youd expect. its a cool looking commuter car, not an outright sports car. Like a BMW 218i or an Audi TT, Peugeot RCZ.
Am i sad that honda didnt go all in on this to make it fun? yes. am i happy this exists over the sea of grey and silver Crossovers? also Yes.
A bit stylish. A bit sporting.
Not something for the dedicated helmsmen, but pleasant enough.
There nothing wrong with that.
Interior looks ok but feels like they've gone with the 'that'll do' approach.
I wonder if they've left space for the CTR drivetrain to be shoehorned in to create a range topper!?...
The FL5 interior is actually a nice place to be (for a Japanese car).
However…the front end of this is NOT attractive at all, which all Coupés really should be. The rest, although not exciting, looks pleasant enough and is not just another SUV shape on the road.
I’ll definitely go and check one out at a dealership when they arrive as I am probably their target market for this car.
The kind of person that buys a sporty looking car but doesn’t care about the performance is presumably not going to want it to have a Honda badge I would have thought.
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