New Honda Prelude Could Get A Manual Gearbox

The fact that the Honda Prelude is set to return as a genuine, old-school, relatively affordable coupe is exciting enough. The fact that it’s confirmed for the European market is even better.

The good news just keeps on coming though, because rumours in Japan hint that even though the new Prelude’s only been confirmed as a hybrid so far, it could nevertheless get a manual gearbox.

That’s according to Best Car, which has supposedly unearthed some details about the Prelude’s powertrain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it reckons it’ll share its drivetrain with the current Civic hybrid, which teams a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder with a pair of small electric motors in a ‘self-charging’, non-plug-in setup.

In the UK, that currently makes for a combined output of 181bhp, but in markets such as the US, it produces a quoted 200bhp. Whether this would get an uplift for the sportier Prelude remains to be seen.

In the Civic, that powertrain can only be combined with a CVT gearbox, and while that’s likely to be available on the Prelude, Best Car also reports that it could get the six-speed manual from the recently-revealed Japan-only Civic RS, complete with rev-matching kit. While a manual hybrid is unusual, it’s not unheard of, and Honda has in fact done it twice before: first with the original Insight back in 1999, and secondly with the CR-Z coupe.

The last little tidbit from Best Car suggests that we’ll see the new Prelude in production guise during the second half of 2025, although we’re not expecting it to differ wildly from the concept we’ve already seen which looks essentially production-ready.

Any new, attainable coupe in this day and age is good news. One coming to Europe is even better, and the possibility of a manual is a cherry on top. Now, if we can just convince Honda to drop the Civic Type R drivetrain into it…