The New Honda Prelude Is Borrowing Bits From The Civic Type R

We’ve been eagerly anticipating the new Honda Prelude at CT towers. Sure, we’re a little bit disappointed it’s coming back as a hybrid-only car with an eCVT rather than a proper manual gearbox, but early reviews have been good.

Now, Honda has confirmed the Prelude is borrowing some bits from the FL5 Civic Type R too, and we’re properly curious.

In effect, the whole suspension setup is lifted from the Type R. That includes its adaptive dampers, plus its front and rear tracks. Also hiding behind its wheels are the Type R’s Brembo brakes, so it should have some decent stopping power.

What isn’t Type R is the engine. That’s lifted from the Civic Hybrid, a 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine that drives two electric motors on the front axle rather than directly powering the wheels itself. No word yet on specs, but we’d hope for it to offer more than the 141bhp and 137lb ft of torque found in the Civic.

Given its beefy suspension and attempts at offering a bit more driver engagement through its ‘S+ Shift’ system, which simulates a dual-clutch gearbox, don’t be surprised to see those numbers boosted.

It remains to be seen if a Honda Prelude Type R could come down the line too, and, given the hardware on the base car has proven to handle that sort of performance, it’s only wet our appetites. Not that we’d be likely to get it in the UK, given we’re just about to say goodbye to the FL5 Type R for emissions reasons.

We do know we’ll be getting the base car at least. It’s unclear at this stage exactly when it’ll be arriving on UK shores, but we’re expecting it to be comfortably into 2026 before you see any out and about on the road. Consider us counting down the days.