The Honda Civic Will Poach the Prelude's Special Drive Mode This Year
One of the Prelude's few defining features will spread across the Honda family starting this year.
Well that didn't take long. The Honda Prelude's unique S+ Shift is one of the hybrid coupe's unique features, developed specifically to give it a sportier feel than the other two-motor hybrids with which it shares showroom space. Honda has now confirmed that the exclusivity will be short-lived, as the S+ drive mode will migrate to the Civic hybrid later this year.
"We're going to be expanding that system to other hybrid models, beginning this year with the Civic hybrid. Bringing the simulated performance transmission experience from Prelude to Civic," said Lance Woelfer, VP of automotive sales at Honda. "It's a unique Honda innovation that will differentiate our hybrids from the competition."
The S+ Shift feature is meant to add an extra layer of interaction in the Prelude by simulating a manual transmission. Honda's current hybrid setup doesn't have a traditional transmission at all, so the system allows the 2.0-liter engine to rev—it typically doesn't send power to the wheels except in certain situations like highway driving—while adjusting the electric motor torque to mirror the feel of a stepped gears.
Does it work? We thought it added a welcome layer of fun in our (brief) first drive late last year. We'll be spending more time with the Prelude in a matter of days, so we'll report back soon, both for would-be Prelude drivers and, as it turns out, future Civic buyers too.
Join the discussion at our 6th Gen BF1 2026+ Honda Prelude Forum
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Kyle began his automotive obsession before he even started school, courtesy of a remote control Porsche and various LEGO sets. He later studied advertising and graphic design at Humber College, which led him to writing about cars (both real and digital). He is now a proud member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), where he was the Journalist of the Year runner-up for 2021.
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More complexity, more problems. BTW, the manual that was in my CRZ worked great and was loads of fun. Why not revive that???
"simulating a manual transmission" ???? It is to weep.
I drove my 1988 Honda Michelin (which was a race car from new) for 10 years both on the street and on the race track every single year, then it was sold and continued on for at least 6 more years that I could keep track of it. That manual trans never required work and as far as I know it's still out there somewhere. But of course the dealers don't make any money that way.