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.
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.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
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.
Type-R goodies
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.
