The Prelude can be a city car, grand tourer, or sports car.
For a generation of Filipino drivers, Honda was not merely a choice but a certainty — the brand their fathers trusted and they inherited without question. Decades later, Honda finds itself in a more contested landscape, where competitors have closed the gap and buyers weigh options more carefully. Two new vehicles, a reworked CR-V and an all-new Prelude, arrive as Honda's answer to a market that has moved around it: not a desperate reinvention, but a quiet reassertion of the qualities that once made the brand feel inevitable.
- Honda no longer commands the Philippine market as a default — rivals now offer comparable equipment at lower prices, and the brand must actively argue for its place rather than assume it.
- Critics had already dismissed the Prelude as too expensive and too soft before most drivers had a chance to sit behind its wheel, creating a narrative the car itself had to overcome.
- The CR-V faced a real-world gauntlet of steep inclines, deep ruts, and mud — terrain that tested whether its Real Time All-Wheel-Drive legacy still holds against more dedicated off-road rivals.
- Honda's answer is not a price war but a values argument: both models carry e:HEV hybrid technology, positioning sustainability as the new dimension of engineering excellence rather than a concession to regulation.
- After driving both cars, the verdict tilts toward vindication — the CR-V proves quietly capable for families venturing beyond pavement, while the Prelude reveals a versatility that skeptics had not accounted for.
There was a time when Honda felt like the only answer that mattered in the Philippine market. The CR-V, the Civic — each generation reinforced a sense that Honda simply built cars better. That era has passed, not because Honda stumbled, but because the market shifted around it. Competitors arrived with comparable equipment at lower prices, and buyers noticed. The brand remains respected, but it is no longer the default.
Two cars were brought forward to address that question: a substantially updated CR-V and an entirely new Prelude. The CR-V's turbocharged AWD gasoline variant has been retired, with two hybrid e:HEV options now anchoring the range. On a demanding test course — steep inclines, deep ruts, mud — it moved through each obstacle without hesitation. The CR-V has never chased the segment of locking differentials and terrain modes. Its target remains families drawn to overlanding and camping, people who want capability without sacrificing comfort, and for that purpose it proved entirely adequate.
The Prelude arrived carrying skepticism. Critics had already declared it too expensive and too soft before most drivers encountered it. That verdict did not survive contact with the car itself. The Prelude occupies an unusual space: a two-door coupe that preserves genuine cargo capacity, a vehicle whose character shifts depending on how you ask it to behave. In normal driving it is quiet, efficient, and refined through its e:HEV hybrid system. Cycle through the drive modes and something else emerges — city car, grand tourer, sports car — all accessible from the same steering wheel, one that carries the skeletal DNA of the Civic Type R beneath its composure.
What Honda has preserved across both models is the quality that once made the brand worth caring about: the sense that someone genuinely considered how a car should feel. What it has added is a new argument for relevance built around sustainability. The CR-V and Prelude together represent Honda's attempt to reclaim ground it once held without question — not for every buyer, but persuasively enough for the ones who still believe that how a car drives is worth paying for.
There was a time when Honda felt like the only choice that mattered. The writer remembers his father bringing home a second-generation CR-V, a decision that seemed obvious against the alternatives available then. Before that came two generations of Civic—an EG sedan, then an EK—each one reinforcing the sense that Honda simply built cars better than anyone else. That was decades ago, when the writer was still young enough to absorb his father's enthusiasm as gospel. Honda dominated the Philippine market then. Now it occupies a different position: still respected, still competent, but no longer the default answer. The brand hasn't stumbled so much as the market has shifted around it, with competitors offering comparable equipment at lower prices, and buyers have noticed.
The question that brought the writer to a one-day Honda event was whether that old magic still existed somewhere in the company's current lineup. Two cars were meant to answer it: an updated CR-V and an entirely new Prelude. The CR-V has been substantially reworked, though its mechanical foundation remains familiar. The turbocharged gasoline AWD variant has been retired, replaced by a front-wheel-drive entry model without hybrid assistance. Two hybrid options now anchor the range—the e:HEV VX in two-wheel drive, and the RS as the sole all-wheel-drive hybrid offering.
On the test course, the CR-V faced a gauntlet of terrain: steep inclines, deep ruts, mud, and roads that had seen better decades. It moved through each obstacle without hesitation or drama. This matters because the CR-V's reputation was built on its Real Time All-Wheel-Drive System, a capability that had defined every generation. The market has changed, though. Dedicated off-roaders now offer locking differentials and terrain modes that the CR-V doesn't provide. But the CR-V isn't chasing that segment. It targets families drawn to overlanding and camping—people who want to venture beyond pavement without sacrificing comfort or practicality. For that purpose, the CR-V proved itself entirely adequate.
The Prelude arrived with baggage. Critics had already weighed in: too expensive, too soft, insufficiently sporty. These complaints circulated before the writer had a chance to drive it himself. After a brief but genuine encounter behind the wheel, his assessment diverged sharply from the skeptics. The Prelude, he found, felt complete—the kind of car worth spending hard-earned money on, at least to him. It occupies an unusual space: a two-door coupe that doesn't sacrifice cargo capacity, a vehicle that transforms depending on how you ask it to behave. Driven normally, it's quiet, comfortable, and efficient thanks to its e:HEV hybrid engine. Switch through the drive modes and the character shifts entirely. City car, grand tourer, sports car—the Prelude can be any of these things. The steering feels responsive and light, and beneath that refinement sits the skeletal DNA of the Civic Type R.
What strikes the writer most is that Honda hasn't abandoned the qualities that made the brand worth caring about in the first place. Those fundamentals—engineering competence, thoughtful design, the sense that someone actually considered how a car should feel—remain intact. What's changed is the addition of relevance through sustainability. The CR-V and Prelude now carry the weight of answering whether Honda still deserves consideration in a market that has moved on. Both cars suggest the answer is yes, though perhaps not for everyone. The CR-V makes its case through capability and versatility. The Prelude appeals to drivers who value adaptability and the pleasure of driving itself. Together, they represent Honda's attempt to reclaim ground it once held without question.
Notable Quotes
The CR-V and Prelude stand as the new halo models with responsibility to answer whether Hondas are still worth it. In short, yes, they are.— The writer's conclusion after testing both vehicles
The Prelude felt complete, the type of car worth paying hard-earned money for.— The writer's personal assessment of the Prelude
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that Honda's market position has shifted? They're still making solid cars, aren't they?
Solid isn't enough anymore. Honda used to be the obvious choice—the car you bought because it was simply better. Now there are five other obvious choices at better prices. That's a different kind of problem. It's not about quality; it's about relevance.
So these two cars—the CR-V and Prelude—they're meant to fix that?
They're meant to remind people why Honda mattered in the first place. The CR-V proves the brand still understands what a family SUV should do. The Prelude is more interesting to me because it's saying something different: we can still build a car that's genuinely fun to drive, not just efficient.
The Prelude seems to be the controversial one. Why do you think it speaks to you when others say it's too soft?
Because I'm not looking for a track car. I'm looking for a car that changes depending on what I need from it. That's actually harder to engineer than being one thing really well.
What does the hybrid technology mean for Honda's future strategy?
It's their answer to the question of how to stay relevant without abandoning what made them worth caring about. Efficiency and performance used to be enemies. Now Honda's saying they don't have to be.
Do you think these cars actually win back the people who've moved to other brands?
Some of them, maybe. But more importantly, they prove Honda isn't coasting on reputation. They're still thinking, still building things that matter.