You could lay some blame on the federal government. You have to certify (including all the costs that come with that) the car individually for each transmission for crash testing, fuel economy, and emissions. That does not make it cost prohibitive per se, but it certainly makes things more expensive for differentiation. They supposedly did not bring the Giulia Quad over here with a manual because the clutch pedal was maybe lopping off dummy legs in front offset crash test. I would have taken my chances.

 

Given the performance, the interior looks chintzy.

 

I agree with you, though my comment was proof that there are exceptions, so it seems like a strange time to make that argument (lol). Add in that Civic Si's & Type R's are sold EXCLUSIVELY with a manual transmission, I find it extra perplexing for Honda to go down this path with the Prelude. I mean honestly, if they had just called it the Accord coupe would anyone care? No. We might have questioned why they bothered with an Accord coupe and not a Prelude, (lol), but I digress.

 

Interesting note, but then I always wondered why OEMs offer different engines for that matter, like how Honda used to offer a different engine for various Civic trims. Makes no sense to me, as if someone is really going to make any lasting decisions based on 100 vs 120hp.

Additionally, Honda offers the Civic Si and Type R in manual, so for a car like this, especially at the price point they were targeting, I don't see why they would not. They're charging over 10k more over a Civic Si, and was ok with it being slower, so I don't see how they couldn't fit in offering a manual in that profit margin.

If the Giulia clutch pedal was lopping off dummy legs or whatever, that just tells me that the OEMs are just being lazy. It's a problem, correct it.


That's pretty much the Civic interior, which is probably what the Prelude is based on.


I'm with you, in alot of way Honda naming this a Prelude sorta shows how desperate they were to make this concept work. It may have started out as a Civic Type E, and as development rolled on someone began feeling insecure about this decision and decided to dust off the Prelude name as it will gain some attention, which they were right because there are some people wanting to buy this car simply because it's a Prelude. I get the sense this is how we wound up with a Mustang Mach E- desperation. Good car on its own merits, but they felt insecure and had to associate it with one of their established brands.

But it does exemplify again how idiotic these marketers are. They come up with names like the Scion FRS and Toyota GT86/GR86, they want to link these cars as the successors to the AE86, but didn't think the Corolla name will have cache needed to sell these cars, because these marketers are probably all consumerists who are blinded by brand names. But then they make a GR Yaris, a Yaris, the modern day Tercel, as humble econo box as you can get, and it becomes a darling to the poors and rich.

It goes to show the marketers really do nothing in these companies except make bad decisions.

Was there any car that failed because of poor naming/marketing? I mean people thought that the Miata name held the MX5 back, which is why they tried to transition it to the MX5 with the ND, and now the NA and NB have never been more sought after. Maybe Chevy using Camaro is why it died as the Mustang lived on?

 

This car is such a let down and who Honda was targeting as a buyer is a head scratcher

The price is in line with inflation with past Preludes, but the value prop as an enthusiast vehicle (Honda still meant for this to be an enthusiast vehicle, right?) changes drastically when there's no manual gearbox. I like almost everything else about it, both interior and exterior despite the interior being almost a copy paste from the civic sport hybrid and the exterior side profile looking a little funny. It would be the perfect daily commuter that's cooler than a prius. But I dont see what person who's excited about 50mpgs will also be excited about brembos and Type R dampers in a package that has no manual gearbox and a lethargic powertrain. $42k puts it in a very competitive price bracket and the people who want excellent fuel economy probably have the financial sense to buy a prius or civic hybrid that's 10k less.

This to me just feels like out of touch execs at honda feeling they needed to do something different to remind people they can have interesting cars, but they had a tight budget to do it. So most of it was on redesigning the exterior and packaging, and then the Type R bits and brembos were tossed in to make the poor value prop hurt a little less. Big brake kits are primarily for better brake cooling under for performance driving but Honda themselves said this isnt supposed to be a sporty/track car necessarily, just something that feels nice to drive.

I dont know, I really dont get the packagin. If this were under $40k, it would make a cool daily that I'd strongly consider

 

12 years later I cant believe I'm saying this but I think FRS has the better name out of all the variants. "GT86" or "Toyota 86" is pretty cool, not as crazy about the GR branding. "BRZ" has to be the worst one though. Whenever I tell someone I have a BRZ I just feel like I made up a vehicle. Like those made up clone amalgamations in Grand Theft Auto

 

They say it is topping out over $60k in our country, same price range as a CTR. Not a good place to be. This car should be priced a bit higher than a base Civic, and lower than an Accord

 

This latest "sporty" car from Honda reenforces my intentions to hang on to my last gen 6 cyl 6 sp Accord coupe for a very long time. This car checks all the right boxes for me. It's quick, bulletproof, looks good, easy on gas if not being flogged, and was a deal compared to what the Prelude will cost in Canada. There are no big ugly screens sprouting from the dash, all of the driver assist nannies can be turned off, and last but not least it has a proper six speed for entertainment. Another example of "they don't make them like they used to."

 

I'm a fan of GR86 as a model name. Otherwise fully agree with your sentiment.

Also I'm at a loss to think why anyone would buy a Prelude over a GR86. Unless you want a few extra niceties the Prelude has (I struggle to call them luxuries), prefer FWD (due to weather), or really really care about being green, I think the GR86 makes more sense. And saving money by spending less on fuel doesn't fly as a reason IMO, given that $10,000 (lower price of GR86) buys a lot of fuel. That's my take at least.

 

Honda was tugging at my heart-strings before I seen all of the specs on the car. I thought it looked good, I liked the interior, I really liked the old school Prelude script and Honda logo script, plus the brakes. I was kind of hoping it would be a much higher performing car too. I'm an old school Prelude fan so they were playing with my emotions. But like an old girlfriend they burned me and hurt my feelings , lol. So not for me. My BRZ is the better choice.