Honda’s revived Prelude is starting to land in the hands of reviewers, and the early takeaway is refreshingly simple: it’s not the disappointment some feared. The new coupe leans into a sleek, modern look and a more grown-up “sporty GT” vibe, and most first drives seem to agree it feels genuinely well sorted on real roads. Think smooth and composed like a good Civic, but with extra polish in the way it turns in, settles, and carries speed through a corner.

A big part of that is the recipe Honda chose. The Prelude pairs a 2.0-liter hybrid setup from the Civic Hybrid with a front-drive chassis that borrows key bits of know-how from the Civic family, including Type R-flavored hardware in the suspension and braking departments.

Reviewers keep circling back to the same point: it’s not a fire-breathing coupe, but it is responsive, easy to place, and more fun than the spec sheet might suggest. The hybrid system also brings that instant torque feel around town, plus impressive efficiency for something wearing a sporty silhouette. The 200 horsepower from the hybrid setup is fundamentally the same as the last Prelude that was on sale as a 2001 model year – good times back then with that wild VTEC cam switch-over.

Where the consensus gets loud is on value. Multiple outlets peg the starting point right around $43K, and that number changes the entire conversation. At that price, people naturally start cross-shopping cars that deliver more drama per mile, and even within Honda’s own showroom the comparison gets awkward. The Prelude’s price sits uncomfortably close to the Civic Type R, a car that makes a far stronger case if your priority is raw performance and a more hardcore personality. Against cheaper rear-drive coupes like the GR86 and BRZ, the Prelude counters with refinement, tech, and hybrid economy, but you will pay dearly for that blend.

Our read from the early reviews is that Honda nailed the “everyday special” part, then asked luxury-adjacent money for it. If you want a stylish, efficient coupe that feels modern and doesn’t beat you up on a commute, the Prelude sounds like a solid return. Even so, Honda’s expectation of selling just 4,000 examples a year fits the mold that we saw many years ago in eccentric vehicles like the Cadillac ELR, a luxury plugin-hybrid of sorts that wasn’t meant for a mass scale. But if you are staring at a $43K sticker and realizing the Civic Type R is right there, the Prelude’s charm has to work overtime. In other words, it’s a good car, maybe even a very good one, but the price is the detail that keeps it from being an easy slam dunk.