The 2026 Honda Prelude review: Didn’t expect such a head-turner

2026款本田Prelude评测：没想到它如此引人注目

You can tell Honda was trying to manage expectations when it emailed me to stress that “the Prelude is not a sports car.” And I can understand why. On paper, the specs make the sleek coupe—technically a three-door hatch—seem underwhelming. Especially if you start comparing it to alternatives. A Mazda MX-5 or Subaru BRZ weighs hundreds of pounds less, and the Subaru packs more power than the Prelude’s 200 hp (149 kW). A Volkswagen Golf GTI weighs about the same as the Prelude at 3,261 lbs (1,479 kg), but it delivers 20 percent more power and offers rear seats that actually accommodate adults. But after a week with the bright blue Prelude, it’s hard to care about the specs. This might be one of the best cars we’ll drive all year.

当本田在邮件中强调“Prelude不是一款跑车”时，我就能看出他们是在试图降低人们的预期。我能理解原因。从纸面数据来看，这款流线型轿跑车（技术上讲是三门掀背车）的规格似乎并不出众，尤其是当你把它与同类车型对比时。马自达MX-5或斯巴鲁BRZ的重量轻了数百磅，而斯巴鲁的动力也超过了Prelude的200马力（149千瓦）。大众高尔夫GTI的重量与Prelude相当，约为3261磅（1479公斤），但它提供了多出20%的动力，且后排座椅确实能容纳成年人。但在与这辆亮蓝色Prelude相处一周后，你很难再去在意这些参数了。这可能是我们今年驾驶过的最好的汽车之一。

Then again, looking back across the previous five generations, the Prelude was never really a sports car. It has always been a technology showcase for Honda, introducing features like fuel injection, four-wheel steering, variable valve timing, and active torque transfer. For the sixth-generation Prelude, the headline feature is Honda’s S+ shift, which adds some sporty character to the OEM’s four-cylinder hybrid.

话又说回来，回顾过去五代车型，Prelude从来都不是真正意义上的跑车。它一直是本田展示技术的窗口，曾引入过燃油喷射、四轮转向、可变气门正时和主动扭矩分配等功能。对于第六代Prelude，其主打功能是本田的S+换挡模式，它为这款四缸混合动力系统增添了一些运动特性。

Fuel sipper

省油利器

Most of the time, the front wheels are driven by the Prelude’s 181 hp (135 kW), 232 lb-ft (315 Nm) electric traction motor, which is powered by either the 1 kWh battery for a pure EV drive or the 2.0 L four-cylinder Atkinson cycle engine via a second electric motor/generator unit that converts the engine’s output into electrical energy for use by the traction motor. But like the Chevrolet Volt and some other hybrids, the gasoline engine can directly drive the front wheels at highway speeds, where it’s more efficient. And efficiency is the name of the game, resulting in a combined 44 mpg (5.3 L/100 km). On a full tank, that means 466 miles (750 km) between fueling stops—talk about a proper grand tourer.

大多数时候，前轮由Prelude的181马力（135千瓦）、232磅-英尺（315牛·米）的电动机驱动。该电机由1千瓦时的电池供电以实现纯电驱动，或由2.0升阿特金森循环四缸发动机通过第二个电机/发电机组供电，将发动机输出转化为电能供牵引电机使用。但像雪佛兰Volt和其他一些混动车一样，汽油发动机可以在高速行驶时直接驱动前轮，这样效率更高。效率正是这款车的核心，其综合油耗为44 mpg（5.3升/100公里）。加满一箱油可以行驶466英里（750公里）——这才是真正的长途旅行车。

And if you leave the drive mode set to Comfort and never touch the paddles behind the steering wheel or the big round S+ button on the center console, the new Prelude might just be a slightly less efficient two-door Toyota Prius lookalike. (At least head-on—I still don’t know how Honda’s designers got away without a cease and desist from their colleagues at Toyota for using a near-identical front.) In Comfort mode, the ride is soft, the powertrain is quiet, and the engine cuts out whenever possible. Toggle into GT, and the Prelude’s adaptive dampers stiffen up a little, the steering gets weightier, and if you engage S+—which mimics an eight-speed gearbox by changing throttle and regenerative braking maps—the shifts become a little jerkier to provide the driver some feedback.

如果你将驾驶模式保持在“舒适”（Comfort），且不去触碰方向盘后的拨片或中控台上的大圆形S+按钮，那么新款Prelude看起来就像是一辆效率稍低的双门版丰田普锐斯。（至少从正面看是这样——我至今不知道本田的设计师是如何在使用了几乎一模一样的前脸后，还没收到丰田同事的律师函。）在舒适模式下，悬挂柔软，动力系统安静，发动机尽可能地停止工作。切换到GT模式，Prelude的自适应减震器会稍微变硬，转向变得更沉稳；如果你开启S+模式——它通过改变油门和再生制动映射来模拟八速变速箱——换挡会变得更有顿挫感，从而为驾驶者提供一些反馈。

Sport takes this further; the engine remains running to feed energy into the battery or motors at a moment’s notice, and in S+, the shifts become more deliberately violent (although only a little—we’re not talking sequential crash box or anything), and the powertrain is at its (still not obnoxious) loudest. It might not be an all-out sports car, but it’s still engaging to drive.

运动模式（Sport）则更进一步；发动机保持运转，以便随时为电池或电机供电。在S+模式下，换挡变得更加刻意地“粗暴”（尽管程度有限——我们指的不是序列式变速箱那种），动力系统的声音也达到了最大（但并不刺耳）。它可能不是一款纯粹的跑车，但驾驶起来依然充满乐趣。

I found GT to be the car’s sweet spot. The throttle response is good—better than a turbocharged non-hybrid, perhaps not quite as sharp as the sportiest EVs. The S+ mode’s party trick of replicating a paddle-shift transmission works well on twisty roads, providing an extra layer of driver engagement. Most of the time, though, I left S+ unengaged and simply used the steering wheel paddles to adjust the amount of lift-off regenerative braking, which can be as little as 0.02 g for coasting or as much as 0.2 g, which is less than you’d find in most battery EVs but is still strong enough to replicate the effect of engine braking.

我发现GT模式是这款车的最佳平衡点。油门响应很好——比非混动的涡轮增压车型要好，虽然可能不如最运动的纯电动车那样敏锐。S+模式模拟拨片换挡的“绝活”在蜿蜒道路上表现出色，为驾驶者提供了额外的参与感。不过，大多数时候我都没有开启S+，只是简单地使用方向盘拨片来调节松开油门后的再生制动强度，其力度可以从滑行时的0.02g调节到0.2g。这比大多数纯电动车要弱，但足以模拟出发动机刹车的效果。

Type-R goodies

Type-R的精髓

There’s more to the drive experience than just an efficient but involving powertrain. The front and rear tracks have been stretched like the Civic Type-R, which donates its front dual-axis and rear multilink suspension to the Prelude, as well as its adaptive dampers, which have been recalibrated for a more comfortable ride. (The stiffest setting in the Prelude is slightly softer than the softest setting in the Type-R.) Consequently, there’s plenty of grip, especially on the ($1,200) optional summer tires fitted to our test Prelude. The hybrid powertrain encourages a driving style that maintains momentum rather than using a point and squirt approach, and there’s so much front grip that you can corner quicker than you expect, with nary a squeal or noise from the tires as you carry your speed through the apex. And while the curb weight is a good deal more than a Miata or BRZ, compared to the usual diet of crossovers and EVs, the Prelude feels remarkably lithe and nimble.

驾驶体验不仅仅在于高效且有趣的动力系统。它的前后轮距像思域Type-R一样进行了加宽，并采用了Type-R的前双轴和后多连杆悬挂系统，以及经过重新调校以获得更舒适乘坐体验的自适应减震器。（Prelude最硬的设置比Type-R最软的设置还要稍微软一点。）因此，它拥有充足的抓地力，特别是在我们测试车选装的（1200美元）夏季轮胎上。混合动力系统鼓励一种保持动力的驾驶风格，而不是“点刹加速”的方式。前轮抓地力极强，使你过弯的速度比预想的要快，在通过弯心时轮胎几乎没有任何尖叫或噪音。虽然整备质量比Miata或BRZ重了不少，但与常见的跨界车和电动车相比，Prelude感觉非常轻盈灵动。

If you’re an introvert, though, this might not be the car for you, especially in the optional ($455) Boost Blue Pearl you see here. I’m not sure what I last drove that garnered as much attention as the Prelude, but the styling appears to be a hit, generating questions from other drivers in traffic and from bystanders whenever I parked. People like this shape, it seems. Things are pretty good on the inside, too, at least from the front. The Prelude interior uses a lot from the Civic, but that’s not a bad thing.

不过，如果你是一个内向的人，这可能不是你的菜，尤其是你看到的这款选装了（455美元）“Boost Blue Pearl”珍珠蓝漆面的车型。我不确定上次驾驶什么车能像Prelude这样吸引眼球，但它的造型显然很成功，在交通中会引来其他司机的询问，停车时也会吸引路人驻足。看来人们很喜欢这种外形。内饰方面表现也不错，至少前排是这样。Prelude的内饰大量借鉴了思域，但这并不是坏事。