Even before it launched, the Honda Prelude has had an uphill battle to win over enthusiasts. It's only available with a hybrid powertrain with adequate but unimpressive power. It can't be had with a manual transmission. Plus, it's quite pricey. Based on sales numbers, Honda isn't winning this uphill battle. After four months, Honda has sold as many Preludes as Mazda sold Miatas in a single month, even though the Miata hasn't had a complete redesign for a full decade.Honda The Numbers Are Worrying Over the month of April, Honda sold 357 Preludes in the U.S. That brought the model's total up to 1,152 for the year. In contrast, Mazda sold 1,163 Miatas in soft- and hard-top versions in April alone, nearly the exact same volume as the Prelude's total. That was admittedly a solid month for the Miata, with a 60% improvement compared with April last year. However, the full-year sales for the Miata are 2,858 units, which is both down 9.9% and still more than twice the Prelude's sales in the same amount of time.Ian Wright/CarBuzz/ValnetThere is a sliver of good news in the Prelude's sales numbers, though even that is arguably a back-handed compliment. This past April represented the best sales for the model this year. From January to March, Prelude sales never topped 300 units. January was its worst so far at 216 sales, and February was the previous height at 299. Back in December, Honda sold just 174. So, at least sales are trending upward, although surely not nearly as much as Honda would like. We Like It, But It's Hard To Make A Case For It We've driven the Prelude a couple of times, and there's an awful lot to like. The whole front suspension and steering comes from the Civic Type R, and that comes through with crystal clarity. It's a phenomenal-handling car. It also has ample torque from its electrified powertrain, and the power number is at least on par with the Civic Si. Honda even worked in eight virtual gears to shift through if you desire (though it actually makes the car slower).Unfortunately, as we've already mentioned, the Prelude is expensive. It has an MSRP of $42,000 even before adding the destination charge (which is $1,195). The Miata, on the other hand, has a starting MSRP of $30,340. Also, not that it changes the calculus, but the Miata's destination charge is barely more at $1,235. That same Miata also offers 181 horsepower, just 19 fewer than the Prelude, while also weighing 900 pounds less. Add in rear-drive dynamics, a manual transmission, and the open-air factor, and the Miata looks mighty appealing in comparison. Even the Prelude's fuel economy advantage doesn't help, as it would take 5 years for the Prelude to become cheaper to own than an automatic-equipped Miata, and a full decade to beat the manual Miata.You can make similar arguments with the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR 86, which offer even more power than either the Mazda or the Honda, and for less money than the Honda. At the other end of the spectrum, if you're looking for something a bit more refined and comfortable than the Miata or the Toyobaru twins, you can get a nicely-equipped Mustang EcoBoost with much more power and torque than the Prelude. You can even get the 400-horsepower Nissan Z for basically the same price as a Prelude. The Prelude is nice, but you have to really want it specifically for it to make sense.
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