What Was Honda Thinking? New Honda Prelude vs. Ford Mustang vs. Subaru BRZ vs. Mazda Miata

To the floor, no gears to shift, we're just pushing through. That was 60, and here's the quarter. After a 25-year hiatus, the Honda Prelude is back. And the good news is this is still a stylish, sporty coupe, but the bad news is it's got the same powertrain under the hood as a Civic Hybrid, and Honda wants over $40,000 for it. Now, we did some research, and if you're looking for a sporty coupe, you've got a lot of options for that amount of money, including a lightweight convertible, a hyper-focused driver's car, and a modern interpretation of classic American muscle. All four of these vehicles, they've been through Edmunds' extensive testing process, so we're going to tell you if the reborn Prelude can stack up on performance, fun, and everyday practicality. Should be a fun one. We're Edmunds, and we test hundreds of cars each year on the road and at our private track, so you get the most trusted reviews. If you want to know which car, truck, or SUV is the best, then stick with us. So what is this thing really? Well, without getting too far into it, this is basically a restyled version of the Honda Civic Hybrid combined with the front end out of a Civic Type R, and I'm very curious what the numbers are going to be with this thing. And if numbers are what you're into, we're testing all kinds of different cars all the time out here at the Edmunds test track, and we publish the most interesting ones on our news page, so if you're into that or if you want to see the latest car news and reviews, head over to edmunds.com slash car news. We're going to start with acceleration. Now, in our Kia run, which is when we run the car just as is, no changing drive modes, no brake torquing, no nothing, this thing put up a zero to 60 time of just 8.3 seconds, but now we're going to give it its best shot, and that means ESC off, sport mode, brake torque the hell out of it, and then we just send it. So here we go. Foot to the floor, no gears to shift, so we're just pushing through. That was 60, and here's the quarter. Well, that was a much better result. With all that stuff dialed up, this thing put up a zero to 60 time of 7.2 seconds, and that's better than the 7.4 second time we got in the Civic Hybrid Hatchback that's a member of our one-year road test fleet. It also covered the quarter mile in 15 and a half seconds. Now, how does that stack up against the other cars that we have here today? Unsurprisingly, the Mustang is the quickest, even though it's the heaviest, it's got the most power, and it's almost two seconds quicker than this thing, and then tied for second are the BRZ and the Miata. They put up identical 6.4 second zero to 60 times, and we should know that both of them did it with a manual transmission. Now, speaking of transmissions, this thing, as I mentioned, technically doesn't have one, but Honda does offer this new S Plus feature, which sort of makes it feel like you do have one. It's supposed to improve the driving experience, but we think that because of the way that it works, it actually has the potential to take a bunch of speed out of this car, so I've just activated the S Plus. We're gonna get those simulated shifts, and we're gonna run it again, see what kind of time we get. All right, so same setup as before, sport mode, ESC off, brake torque, just this time with the S Plus on, and here we go. I can feel the little gear shifts as we're going down. There's 60, push all the way down to the quarter. All right, and we cross the line in fifth gear. Let's check out the time. You know, it's weird, because as you're going down the Accel straight, you can feel those shifts, and as we thought, it makes it slower. The time dropped all the way down to 8.2 seconds to 60, and that's just a 10th quicker than the key-up run. Around our skid pad, the Prelude pulled a mighty impressive 1.02 lateral G, which makes it significantly grippier than the other cars here, even the BRZ, which is surprising considering it's also on a summer tire. The Honda felt super stable, too. It's very neutral with very little understeer, and it delivers great steering feedback. The Mustang, it was far behind the others with its all-season tires contributing to the lower number, but with its civic underpinnings and a footprint that's much longer and wider than the Miata or the BRZ, we weren't surprised to see the Prelude weigh in on the heavier side among these competitors. The Miata is still so light compared to the others, even with the convertible hardtop, and yes, when you look at or drive that Mustang next to any of these other coupes, it feels massive, and its number on our scale reflected that. That weight helps inform the 60 to zero mile-per-hour braking performance. At 113 feet, the Prelude is mid-pack, even with its Brembo front brakes, but it felt confident under braking with consistent stopping distances throughout our testing. At least it beat the Miata and the Mustang, but here, the BRZ's combination of sticky tire and lightweight performed the best. We're getting ready to do our track driving, but first, just wanna talk a little bit more about that S Plus system. Once again, first time ever in a Honda hybrid, and these simulated shifts, they kind of are really the same thing that you're getting in the IONIQ 5N, even though that's an EV, and the reason that it's so much slower is because to make it feel to the driver like the car is changing gears, it actually drops power for a moment just to give you that feel, and knowing that it's artificial, knowing that they're pumping sound into the cabin, but also the engine is also blipping to make the experience right, it's all a bit complicated, but the question that we're trying to answer is a bit simple, and that is, is it more fun with it on or with it off? On throttle, and, oh man. Just immediately, you are wishing for a bit more pace out of this thing. By the time we get down here to the first turn, you're only maybe brushing 80 miles an hour, which is not quick around this track. You can probably hear the shifts going off a little bit, and that's why you have these paddles here. You can actually sort of change the quote-unquote gears yourself. Now, when you're not in S+, these paddles, they just sort of affect the amount of region that you're getting, to rack up a better word, so how much engine braking, but here, I'm actually kind of changing gears, and I do have to say that even though this whole thing is fake and a little bit silly, I think it actually might be more enjoyable, and yes, you're giving up a decent amount of quickness in a straight line, but on our circuit, which is pretty tight, a lot of turns, where you're really just trying to keep the momentum up between them, it does make it feel better. It actually makes this thing feel more like a driver's car than it does when it's off, and I think if you're on a mountain road or something like this where you're not trying to put up a time and you're just trying to enjoy yourself from behind the wheel, yeah, it's better with it on. Now, this thing has the front end, again, out of a Civic Type R, and it definitely handles better than your run-of-the-mill Civic. Turn-in is sharper, the steering ratio feels much better, and there's just absolutely no torque steer to be found. Even when I do silly things like getting on the throttle too early to try to upset it, the front end just really doesn't seem to mind at all. I know I mentioned that this thing is kind of like an EV more than a hybrid, but one thing that you're not getting, you're not getting that big punch of initial torque when you get on throttle, so you actually have to get onto it before the apex to try to carry any speed coming out, and that's important because, since this thing isn't so quick in a straight line, keeping up that momentum is the best way to drive it. Yeah, this thing does not get up and go like you really want it to. You know, I don't love the brakes on this car. I wish that they had a bit more initial bite, and I wish that you had better stopping power. If you're really hard on the brakes, you can feel that rear end start to wiggle around just a bit. You know, in their materials that Honda handed out with this car, they very explicitly called it a Grand Tourer, and that's code for, if you think that this is a sports car, you might be a little bit disappointed. Out here on a track, it's really competent, so it still feels fun. Like, the way that it turns in, the handling is excellent. That's the highlight of driving it, and yeah, the S Plus thing could have been gimmicky, but instead, it's additive to the experience, and that's the deal with the Prelude. Needs more power, great handling, great to drive every day, but out here on our track, I think you're just left a little bit wanting. And speaking of deals, if you're trying to find a deal on your next new car, whether it be a Prelude or something else, Edmunds has the tools on our site to help you do just that. We also took the other three vehicles out on the track, because hey, if you've got a track, use it. The Miata's lightness is its calling card. It weighs 400 pounds lighter than the BRZ, and that makes it feel really tossable. There is a fair amount of body roll, but that's on purpose. Mazda has always said its goal with this suspension is to let you feel the car's weight transfer, but while there's noticeable lean through the corners, it never feels sloppy. It feels communicative. All of the Miata's power and torque comes up top, so you really have to let the engine ring out if you want to get anywhere, but its excellent manual transmission encourages that kind of behavior. This is a car that makes you fall in love with driving over and over again. The Subaru is every bit as great to drive as the Miata, but it goes about things differently. It feels more serious than the Mazda and more ready for rough housing. There's way less body roll here than you'll find in the other cars, and the brakes are firm and easy to modulate, not to mention the best performing of the group, and the steering feel is perfect. Don't mess with it, just leave it alone forever. We also love the seating position. You get to sink in nice and low, and you're held in by super supportive seats. This is the best pure driver's car of the group, and it's the perfect affordable sports car to help you become a better driver, because there's nowhere to hide when you make a mistake. The Mustang feels ungainly after driving the other three on the track. It is the quickest of this quartet by a good margin, so no complaints about the turbocharged four-cylinder engine, but in the corners, this thing can feel a bit lost. It has a tendency to understeer on its way into the corner, and then try to oversteer on the way out, and as a result, you end up approaching all turns with caution. Ford used to offer a performance package with better brakes and suspension upgrades on four-cylinder models, but that's gone now, at least until the RTR version launches later this year, and without it, the Mustang simply can't compete. This is a car with potential. It just needs those upgrades and a summer tire, and we'd be much happier with it. Even for cars like these, where performance is really important, how they do beyond the occasional spirited drive or once-a-year track date is also important. Comfort, space, everyday usability, we're gonna check all that out right now, and if you're not satisfied with your current set of wheels, head on over to our site. We've got the tools to help you find out what it's worth, and you can even get an instant cash offer. The Prelude's interior, it is really great, starting with an excellent pair of front seats. Now, if you look closely, you'll notice that in a first for Honda, they're actually a little bit different. The seat bottom here in the driver's seat, it's firmer, so it can give you more support for when you're driving, but for the passenger, you're not driving, so you don't need that, so it's actually a bit softer and even more comfortable for a long drive. Of all the vehicles we have here today, if I needed to sit in these seats for more than a couple of hours, the Honda is the clear choice. And overall, this cabin, it's great when it comes to materials as well. Several of our staffers have said that this feels more like an Acura than a Honda, and that's a compliment. Now, of the other three interiors, the only one that can come close on quality is the Mazda, but it does have some really cramped quarters and basically no storage for anything in there, even though I do love those Recaro seats that it had today when we were on the track. Same thing could be said for the Subaru, a great pair of seats for track driving, but day-to-day comfort, it's lacking, and that interior, it feels old and it's got way too much plastic for what you're paying. Now, the Mustang seats were my least favorite for driving on the track. I was sliding all over the place. And its interior, it has never really wowed in the same way that this one does. But once you get into the back of the Prelude, things take a big step down in terms of quality. The back seats, they're actually covered in cloth rather than the leather that we're getting up here, and there's no amenities back there either. There are no air vents, no charge ports, and it's okay on legroom, but headroom runs out very quickly. And if you're taller than, let's say, 5'5", your head just might be introduced to the ceiling. But that being said, none of the vehicles that we have here today really have good back seats at all. The best one probably belongs to the Mustang, but really, all four of these cars, they're best meant for two. What about cargo? The Prelude has an advantage because it's the only one in this group with a liftback. So that means you get a really big cargo opening. However, the load-in height, it is a bit high for a car. It almost feels a bit more like an SUV. And there's a pretty big sill, so if you're going to load heavy things into the back, you've got to lift them high up and over to actually get them in. But that being said, if you fold these rear seats down, you get a ton of room, plenty for a golf bag, or even bigger pieces of luggage. Now, the other cargo areas, the Mazda, it can't fit anything more than a couple of duffel bags, so it's not worth mentioning, really. And the Mustang, it's got a traditional trunk that's actually pretty big and wide. But the BRZ, it gives you a bit of flexibility because that thing is meant to, with its rear seats folded down, actually fit a full set of wheels and tires if you're going to a track day. And that's not something we think that you can quite do in the back of the Prelude. All in all, this is a good interior that we like a lot, and it matches the stylish exterior of the Prelude. Now, I would personally advocate, if you're getting one of these, to choose the white and blue because this two-tone gives it dimension that I think you're going to lose if you simply choose a black interior. And especially if you're going to choose this very cool blue paint on the outside, the inside, it's gotta match it. Before we wrap things up, if there are other vehicles that you would like to see us test fully, or if you have questions about any of these four cars, drop them in the comments below. That's the best way to get in touch with us. And if you've been enjoying our videos and you want to help us make more of them, a like and subscribe goes a long way. Now, you'll remember in the beginning of this video, I mentioned the Prelude's price, and that's going to be a big part of the conversation about this vehicle because it has not only the highest base price of this entire group, it also has the highest as tested price, and it's also the slowest. However, at least you're getting an interior in the Prelude that somewhat matches that price tag. It's my favorite cabin of the bunch, at least when we're talking about those front two seats. And there's one more thing that the Prelude does that's going to ease the pain over that price, and that's fuel economy. This thing, it's going to offer you 44 mpg combined, compared to 22 to 29 mpg combined in those other three vehicles. And that means that if you drive a decent amount or if you're going to use the car day to day to commute, you're going to save between $1,000 and $1,500 on gas every year versus those other cars. And that's going to help you make up that difference in price rather quickly. Now, to answer the question of which of these you should take home, it's really going to depend on how you're going to use it, except for the Mustang, this EcoBoost Mustang, don't buy that one, get a GT instead. Now, if you're looking for a car to take out on the weekends for a fun drive through the canyons, you pick the Miata. And if you're looking for a capital S sports car that you can take to an autocross or a track day, and it's going to feel right at home, you pick up the BRZ. But if I had to pick one of these cars to live with day to day, to commute with, to have in the garage as maybe your only vehicle, the answer to me is clearly the Prelude with its fuel economy, its versatile cargo area, and it's comfortable cabin. And it's still fun enough that when you do find yourself on a mountain or canyon road, you're going to have a good time behind the wheel. In the real world though, what I would do is I would stop ordering DoorDash so much, save up a few more dollars, and spring for a Honda Civic Type R because if you buy one of those, you don't just get a Type R front end, you get the whole thing. And that package is more dynamic, offers more performance and even more utility than any of the cars that we have here today. Thanks for watching.