Honda has brought the Prelude name back for the 2026 model year with mixed reception. While plenty of people are happy to see a legendary nameplate return, quite a few enthusiasts condemn one particular decision Honda’s made. The resurrected Prelude doesn’t have a manual transmission – a key feature of the old 5th generation Prelude and something many car enthusiasts crave in 2025.
While it might seem absolutely crazy that Honda is refusing to give the Prelude a manual, there’s actually a very solid reason why it won’t, and it’s not what you might think. While the sales of cars with manual transmissions are so much lower than they once were, the real reason for Honda ditching the manual has nothing to do with that. The real reason why is actually to do with how the car’s engineered…
The biggest reason why the latest version of the Honda Prelude doesn’t have a manual transmission is actually pretty simple. The complex hybrid powertrain that it uses doesn’t allow for one. In fact, what it does have is nothing like a conventional transmission at all. The 2026 Prelude uses the same series hybrid powertrain as the Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid, pairing a 139-hp 2-liter inline-4 engine with a 181-hp electric motor for a combined output of 200 hp. It’s also a series hybrid, so the vast majority of the time, the engine just acts as a generator for the electric motor.
Quite a few people have said that the 2026 Honda Prelude has an eCVT setup for its transmission. That’s a total misnomer, as what it does have is more akin to the crazy setup developed for the Koenigsegg Regera hypercar. It’s basically a direct-drive system that leans heavily on the electric motors to power the car. Low-speed driving is done entirely on the electric motors, and the internal combustion engine doesn’t deliver any significant power until speeds get higher.
A setup like this, where the electric motors are providing more of the power than the internal combustion engine, would cause so many problems for any kind of conventional transmission, let alone a manual. That’s something that Honda’s Large Product Lead Horita Hidetomo was very clear on when he compared the Prelude to previous hybrid Honda coupes. “The engine [in Insight and CR-Z] was the main one [reason why the manual was available], the hybrid assist function was there,” he explained to Drive when they spoke to him at the 2025 Tokyo Motor Show, “Now the electricity and the engine is nearly half and half today”.
While the complex hybrid system means that it can never have a manual transmission, it does gain a couple of benefits that you can only get from electrification. As it’s a series hybrid that can run on electric power alone at low speeds, it means that you’ll barely use any fuel at all when driving in town.
The direct-drive nature of the transmission also means that it’s much more efficient while running on its electric motors, as well as being mechanically simpler. It also has a one-pedal drive mode like you’d get in a fully electric car, where the regenerative braking from the hybrid system can slow the car almost to a stop. Not only is this a much more efficient way of slowing the car down, but it also reduces wear on the brake pads over time. The combination of a mechanically simpler transmission and the car putting a lot less wear on its brake pads will no doubt contribute to the legendary Honda reliability and cheap maintenance that everyone expects from the brand!
The 2026 Honda Prelude may not be able to have a manual transmission like Honda sports coupes of old. That doesn’t mean that Honda hasn’t at least tried to bring some of that manual magic back in! Knowing that enthusiasts would want to have shifts in some way or another, Honda engineered the next best thing. The Prelude has simulated shifts, which are activated by turning on S+ Mode. This is activated by an “S+” button just to the right of the gear selector and above the drive mode selector. These simulated shifts aren’t that different from the fake shifts you might find in fully-electric performance cars like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, where the transmission behaves (and sounds!) like a proper manual. This mode is, for now, unique to the Prelude. It’s not been clear yet whether it’ll appear on any other Acura or Honda models in the future.
According to the team behind it, Honda’s refusing to offer a manual transmission and instead offering something that has simulated manual shifts in the latest version of the Prelude isn’t just a clever engineering solution. It’s part of them creating something genuinely innovative in the car market, alongside bringing classic nameplates back. “We’ve talked about the legacy of innovation with Prelude,” said Senior Product Planner Jonathan Yu when talking to CarBuzz. “Is a manual transmission really an innovation?” It’s certainly an interesting question to think about. Barely any cars left on the market actually offer an old-fashioned, 3-pedal manual transmission. The manual transmission is also now seen as a throwback to the earlier, rawer days of driving, rather than something innovative or even current.
“The most important point is that some of the first Honda cars in America were Civic, Accord, and Prelude, and they are about to be back together again, all as hybrids,” Yu continued. “I think that makes a statement about our electrification strategy, and we’re going to make fun products in the future.”
One of the weird side effects of the simulated shifts, however, is that they don’t seem to make the Prelude any faster. In fact, according to data recorded from independent tests, they actually make it slower. The trick to getting the best acceleration out of this car seems to be to disable the S+ mode and using good old-fashioned launch control techniques.
With S+ mode activated and just driving the car normally, owners have reported 0-60 mph times of roughly 9.1 to 9.2 seconds. That’s a very disappointing time for a 200-hp sports car that weighs only 3,219 lb. With this mode not activated at all, though, and using the same kind of launch control techniques you’d use on a conventional automatic transmission, the time drops a full two seconds down to 7.2. Is that fast? Not compared to the Civic Sport Touring Hybrid that uses the same powertrain (that has a 0-60 time of 6.1-6.2 seconds, according to independent tests by MotorTrend and Car & Driver). But, it’s still not as horrendous as people have claimed.
Apart from a proper manual transmission just not being possible with the 2026 Prelude’s hybrid powertrain, even if it had a more conventional setup, it likely wouldn’t have been offered with a manual. That’s because Honda has deliberately intended the Prelude for a wider audience than previous Honda sports coupes.
The two previous coupes Honda tried to market in the US (including the underrated CR-Z) didn’t sell anywhere near enough to make them worth being on the market there. They may have been liked by people who liked driving (although the CR-Z did get some flak for being too slow), but they never got that mass-market appeal. That’s something Honda is hoping to change with the new Prelude. Because of that, Honda made the Prelude a premium coupe with a lot of practicality and comfort. It’s the first time the Prelude has ever been offered in a liftback design, and the one trim level it comes in is very well equipped. The unusual transmission also feels like an automatic to drive in regular driving, something which most people who will actually buy and use these cars will prefer.
“The buyer of anything two-door is going to be more male-centric, but with the overall appeal, styling, and accessibility, we’re going to see women driving it as well. Especially strong, professional women who want a vehicle to express themselves. We want this vehicle to have a wider appeal.”
– Jonathan Yu, Senior Product Planner
The differences to give the Prelude more of a mass-market appeal don’t stop there, either. It has the same suspension and brakes as the Honda Civic Type R, but everything is set up softer. That’s to give it more of a grand tourer-type feel, which most people will prefer over the racier setup that these Civic Type R components would usually have.
Source: Honda
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