It’ll work in tandem with the coupe’s hybrid powertrain. Honda’s system in the Civic is paired with a CVT (continuously variable transmission) and we expect to see an adaptation of this where virtual gear ratios will be able to deliver a more traditional driving experience.
A lot of other brands have looked into the use of simulated gears recently. The all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 N can deliver virtual ‘e-shifts’ and Toyota patented a simulated manual gearbox for electric cars, with a next-generation Lexus concept possibly chosen to utilise this technology.
The Prelude takes on a tough segment, not in terms of rivals, but dwindling demand. Only a few brave companies have found ways to build an affordable volume sports car in an age of SUV obsession and ever-tougher safety regulations, but these either rely on technology already in volume production or, in Toyota’s case, settle for a product with a shorter-than-ideal lifespan.
For the development of the new Prelude coupe, neither of these avenues was available to Honda. The result is a particularly ambitious car that doesn’t just renew a much-loved nameplate, it could also kick off a new era of small, efficient, engaging hybrid sports cars.
When Auto Express quizzed chief engineer and project lead Tomoyuki Yamagami what sort of sports car the Honda Prelude aims to be, he told us: “The grand concept of this car was to be like a glider. Gliders have two different characteristics. On one hand, they’re designed to glide for as long as possible, but on the other hand they’re used for stunt flights and need to be agile and high performing. These two characters are also unified in this car to be efficient on one hand, as you can see from the design, but also very agile and joyful on the other.”
Design details
As we mentioned, the concept version of the new Honda Prelude was unveiled two years ago, and since then the design doesn’t appear to have changed all that much, if at all.
