New Honda Prelude Won't Get A Manual After All

It’s safe to say we were a little excited to hear that the Honda Prelude is making a comeback – and not as a crossover, as so many classic sports car names are these days, but as an honest-to-goodness two-door coupe.

That excitement was increased a little more a few months ago when we heard rumours that – despite looking likely to be a hybrid – the new Prelude could incorporate a manual gearbox of some sort.

Well, now we’ve got more details on that, and while it’s not quite the three-pedal setup we were hoping for, it’s not all bad news. The Prelude won’t get a manual – at least in the US or Europe – but it will have something intended to keep enthusiasts relatively happy in the gearbox department.

That’s a system that Honda calls S+ Shift. This is a drive mode which, as explained by a Honda spokesperson to Carscoops, will effectively simulate gearshifts in what’s likely to be a CVT gearbox.

We’ve been impressed by tech like this in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, although that’s a pure EV, so the simulated shifts are only manipulating the soundtrack and motors’ power delivery. Here, they’ll have an actual impact on the petrol engine’s revs, likely acting in a largely similar way to a paddleshift gearbox without any actual cogs being swapped. Again, it’s something we’ve seen deployed on CVT ’boxes before, to various levels of effect.

As for the rest of the powertrain, nothing’s been confirmed, but we’re expecting the car to be based on the 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.

It’s a bit of a shame, then, that a proper manual doesn’t seem to on the cards, especially as Honda has in fact dabbled in manual hybrids before, with the original Insight and later the CR-Z. Then again, this news relates specifically to the US market, so there might be hope for three pedals elsewhere yet.

At any rate, we’re just happy to see the comeback of the proper, affordable-ish coupe. We'll see the production car next year, and it'll be on sale in the US in late 2025 and Europe in early 2026. Expect it to look pretty much identical to the pretty concept you see here. Now, if we can just convince Honda to drop a Civic Type R drivetrain in it…