New Honda Prelude to get virtual gear shift tech: sporty coupe coming in 2026

• New Honda Prelude coming in 2026
• Sporty coupe to get virtual gearshift technology
• Prototype spotted testing
• Focus on driving pleasure rather than outright speed
• On sale in 2026

The new Honda Prelude is on the way, and it’s the first time this nameplate has featured on a car since 2001. It won’t be revived on a big electric SUV either, unlike the Ford Capri, this will be a slinky coupe which is built for fun.

It’ll feature a petrol hybrid engine, which is more than likely to be shared with the Honda Civic, and it’ll get clever virtual gear shift technology to make it feel more engaging. We also got to speak with Tomoyuki Yamagami – Chief Engineer at Honda Motor Japan – about some of the technical aspects of this new car.

New Honda Prelude virtual gear shifts

Honda recently announced that the new Prelude will come with something called S+ shift technology – but what is this?

Well it’s basically some computer wizardry which mimics the sound and feel of a gearchange, despite the fact this car will have a CVT transmission. We have a full guide on CVT gearboxes here, but in short they don’t have discernible gears, rather just one gear which is constantly changing. If a standard gearbox is changing the volume on your stereo using buttons, a CVT is more like swiveling a dial.

This is great for efficiency because the engine only works as hard as it needs to in any given situation, but CVTs aren’t known for being all that fun.

This is where the Prelude’s S+ system comes in. It’s a bit like the virtual gear shifts on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, using a computer to simulate the sound and feel of a gearchange to make the car feel more involved.

The Honda Civic has a similar system already, but that just uses sound to replicate gearchanges. You can’t control it manually in that car either.

New Honda Prelude design

A lot of car manufacturers are resurrecting old nameplates and sticking them on SUVs. Ford kick started this trend with the Mustang Mach-e, Puma and the new Capri. Honda has taken a different approach though, because the new Prelude is a sporty-looking two-door coupe – just like the original from the 1980s.

It looks a lot more modern than that car though. You have sleek LED headlights up front, with a slim vent running between them. The carbon fibre vents around the lower bumper also make it look more aggressive.

Down the side the Prelude has a sporty coupe silhouette, which is a breath of fresh air for petrolheads in this age of jacked-up crossovers. The black wheels and red brake callipers look great, especially when paired with the carbon side skirts.

You get a full-width light bar at the rear of the car, along with a neat carbon fibre lip spoiler for added downforce. The black lower diffuser finishes things off nicely – it’s a properly handsome-looking coupe.

New Honda Prelude spotted testing

Following on from the Prelude concept reveal, it’s been spotted out on the road for the first time in prototype form, and not much seems to have changed.

Up front the sleek headlights are completely uncovered, and you can see the thin, curved air intakes across the bonnet as well. The lower bumper is unchanged as well, meaning you get an aggressive-looking splitter.

The sporty side profile hasn’t changed either, and even the wheels fitted to this prototype are the same as the ones you’ll find on the concept. You get flush-fitting door handles for improved aerodynamics, and the door mirrors appear to be nicked from the Civic.

Moving to the rear, the light bar is covered in camouflage, but you can still tell that it’s unchanged from the concept’s. There are also no fake exhausts to be seen here, just a reasonably subtle rear diffuser in the lower bumper.

New Honda Prelude engine and driving

Honda is keeping its cards close to its chest in terms of performance figures for the new Prelude, however Chief Engineer Tomoyuki Yamagami has hinted that this car will be more about the driving experience than outright power.

Speaking to Carwow he said: “The performance will not be defined by specification, torque or top speed, these are just numbers on a piece of paper that do not really represent and reflect the dynamic feeling to the driver.”

Yamagami-san also confirmed that the new Prelude will use Honda’s latest two-motor petrol hybrid system, which is likely to be a similar setup to the one found in the Civic. That car uses a 2.0-litre petrol engine with two electric motors powering the front wheels. It puts out 184hp, however it remains to be seen whether the Prelude will get more power than this.

These days a lot of performance cars are going electric – just look at the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and the Alpine A290. Yamagami-san explained to us why Honda has stuck with petrol power for the Prelude.

“Honda is also developing battery-electric vehicles – our ultimate goal for 2040 is to have a fully carbon-neutral lineup. However, in our current path of transition we also wanted to demonstrate that Honda has not forgotten about the most important part of our DNA, which is the pleasure of driving.

“For the concept Prelude we have considered many other kinds of propulsion systems, however it was quite clear that the two-motor hybrid system we have at the moment is the most suitable in terms of packaging and capability.

“We wanted to have a full four-seater with sufficient luggage space, while still enabling a low centre of gravity. All of these aspects were in favour of a hybrid powertrain.”

New Honda Prelude: when can I buy one?

The new Prelude is still being developed, and the final car will be going on sale in 2026. There’s no word on price just yet, however we’d estimate it to cost between £40,000 and £50,000.

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