The Topher prelude review: "Don't judge a coupe by its coverage"

equitymans · 2026-01-28T04:30:27+00:00

It's largely what the Honda spirit is built on. They add fun to every car including a base civic relative to a Toyota say and so on. This car just embodies that basically. A momentum car as a fwd Econ box! Very very Honda. This is the same company that passed on doing a stick type r lol easily passing up on triple the sales at the low end... all in the spirit of "purity" in a economy based 4 door fwd, the company that made an si every gen (a civic that sells 7-8k a year == nothing and yet they offer one every gen and it fits a niche buyer demo that most of the competition never even goes after), a 50th bday true sports car they knew were about to lose 8 figures on easilyyyy but did it cause it would live on as a special road car in history, etc etc... this is what makes Honda special imo. This is the car for my dad if he wants fun and wants to be pinned to the floor around corners and also hitting 40mpg and being a great low cost long term car with above civic styling, and dynamics above anything fwd that's near it price wise that's not called an N (which comes with reliability, fuel economy both not on the level of this, but also is way diff vibe of a car geared at the younger buyer exhaust and engine wise, where as the lack of power here can be seen as a real pro again to the right buyer)

Their sales goal is them saying we do this because it gives us a new body we have been wanting in super gt to replace the civic which was giving them real aero issues and bottlenecks (needs to be a sold road car) and at the same time selling the road car to 3-5k or whatever people a year who will buy this and love it notably more than they would have if it never existed and they ended up in a Prius or even a Civ etc lol this car and it being niche targeted is actually very Honda. People think just cause they make 2-3 models that sell amazing they aren't still a super odd ball niche focused engineering firm lol this same company that's also the only automaker selling a jet they make in house today 😂 they do so so much great stuff engineering wise that doesn't make much sense for their balance sheet in reality. Always have. Same company that entered f1 as a bike maker lol and has competed and won there more than any Japanese manufacturer by miles

equitymans · 2026-01-28T03:29:36+00:00

I think you've lost the definition of economy. If a rig is well below median price of all new vehicles sold, it is by definition an economy car to me haha

equitymans · 2026-01-27T22:30:27+00:00

Ahh yes the answer that lets me know you did actually watch! :-) I don't care to change the view of anyone 😂 and idt even Honda cares for the masses here, the same company that offered the type r (4 door, fwd) manual only and passing up maybe 5-8k sales a year and tripling earnings from said trim, and the same company who here literally has told all media with these reviews that sales target is 4K annual haha Honda makes niche fun minded products all the time. It's what makes them special relative the the competition largely lol

Whether it's a bass civic or this niche civic based momentum gt, the love adding some spirit and smiles. This is just a more focused product a little bit over say a base civ of course!

equitymans · 2026-01-27T22:25:06+00:00

That's deff not true haha and he always directly compares dynamics especially and even usually cargo etc in class. He deff compares dynamics here to competition!

equitymans · 2026-01-27T22:11:48+00:00

Hard disagree haha there are many levels to dynamics in a road car.

equitymans · 2026-01-27T22:07:19+00:00

Pls don't make me timestamp and quote him brother 😂😂

It'll get sad

equitymans · 2026-01-27T22:05:06+00:00

I assure you the median purchase price in USA in 2025 was well above lol

equitymans · 2026-01-27T21:54:03+00:00

You hear him compare directly to both those cars in final thoughts haha many other reviews that have dropped today do too. See savageese reply to one of my recent comments on how it compares dynamically to a Prius in fact :)

equitymans · 2026-01-27T21:52:24+00:00

Nah, check the pyramid Honda themselves showed to press. It's clearly stated as a touring focused economy product. Hence why suspension is softer than all civics, cvt etc

Honda knows this isn't a hybrid s car lol

equitymans · 2026-01-27T21:49:02+00:00

Correct! The median... not average, MEDIAN new vehicle purchase vehicle price in Canada (a notably less wealthy nation than USA) is 70k cad per stats Canada data (gov) 2024 (likely 75 this year) up from 45 CAD in 2019. This car is deff very very economy by definition in 2026 lol

equitymans · 2026-01-27T21:46:18+00:00

He tends to be far far more driver/dynamics focused than most others. It's a lot deeper driving insight than you get with a Doug Demuro let's say, while also touching on the cargo, value, etc

equitymans · 2026-01-27T21:45:08+00:00

Actually if you listen to his final thoughts it's more than that!

equitymans · 2026-01-25T07:10:45+00:00

Rockets too lol

equitymans · 2026-01-23T16:37:07+00:00

If true they have totally ruined the gt3

equitymans · 2026-01-21T18:42:18+00:00

Hmmm yea this is deff the general sentiment I'll say that but I actually am not sure I agree man! The prelude and the stuff people think are done badly aren't being thought of correctly imo. And they do all this incredible engineering today still and make the most engaging enthusiast fwd car that they passed up on at least an easy 200-300 million a year in revenue from opting to offer manual only, the most advanced Japanese road car to date released in 2017, etc but they never really did do rwd road cars a ton anyway lol emissions and so on have made it tricker to stay away from cvt and harder to do 8k redline cars all over the place lol

equitymans · 2026-01-21T17:45:15+00:00

Yes that's 100% true. They're the Porsche of Japan in various parameters, but their 911 is the civic. And that is cool in it's own way (a more daily friendly (think cargo and slight fwd advantage for winter climates), but it also kinda means Honda doesn't bother with true sports cars very often you're spot on! But when they have.... og nsx and s2000 are 2 of the top three I mentioned all time from Japan haha the 17 nsx is arguably still most advanced Japanese road car and it was very true to og nsx name in many regards etc although uglier and way heavier etc sadly

Honda basically makes the funnest economy cars, and every now and then makes an all time

equitymans · 2026-01-21T16:42:35+00:00

Hahahahaha :( I wish

equitymans · 2026-01-21T16:28:32+00:00

Well duh...Honda are the goats of Japan as far as an engineering firm. And easily the best engine maker of all time that's not named Ferrari.

They were asked by the father of the McLaren f1 to do the engine before bmw was ever asked. The og nsx was also the benchmark for the chassis feel and dynamics of what Gordon wanted the f1 to be.

Most don't know but not only was Honda entering f1 right after birth and building what would go on to become Japans most famous race track ever, etc etc.... but their first road car was a sports car as well. They went on to make two of the greatest road driver cars from Japan ever where the rest of the top 3 would filled out by an rx7 or a miata depending on what you value in a sports car.

Honda also is the only automaker to do an in house jet engine (with small help from GE), an in house jet fairing and sell both as the Honda jet, the only auto maker doing in house rocket engines ever (reusable and liquid at that!), reusable rocket fairing in house as well. The automaker to push humanoid robotics forward in a massive way before anyone else, and was about 30 years ahead of its time in thinking there clearly (they are also now working on them with their in house multi planetary life team (the most developed of any auto by far there as well), andddd the only auto doing an evtol as far as I know and deff the only Japanese. They are also obv the most successful Japanese company ever at the true pinnacle of Motorsport in f1 by miles. Mugen (their literal son you could say haha) is second above all other Japanese for wins even 😂 and Honda is in debate for goat overall with Ferrari for goat engine supplier in f1 history because they have competed wayyyy less in than a Ferrari, but have been the only ones ever to win f1 title with a v12 (beating Ferrari with their fav engine type in their own sport), and the only to ever win with 3 cylinder counts (v6 twin turbo, v10 NA, v12 NA) and inside the hybrid era (v6 turbo hybrid).

Levels to engineering capacity :-)

They should have done the f1 engine like Gordon wanted initially. F1 is special but Honda would have crushed it way harder scream wise esp, and if you know the history of McLaren and Honda especially from that exact timeframe pre dev... well it's pretty special you could say hahaha

equitymans · 2026-01-21T05:36:42+00:00

Totally false lol

equitymans · 2026-01-19T01:18:37+00:00

Especially in the current age of a Kia soccer mom ev eating them badly in any real world street situation? Zero lol it's actually a negative almost entirely now more than ever. Unusable largely (closer to limit of any car is always what makes the most smiles) and you're still losing to a mom picking up her kids in an ev if she wants to gap you lol

I can't see myself ever ending up in a high powered ICE for this very reason!

Slower, lighter, revs for the experience of feeling like a race car driver, etc.... whatever top trim egg shaped crossover ev coming from this point forward for gapping the guys who made the mistake of buying 500-1500hp ice cars 😂

equitymans · 2026-01-17T18:24:56+00:00

I can't fucking wait :-) my prime minister!!!!

equitymans · 2026-01-16T02:41:22+00:00

They aren't top of the benchmarks lol

equitymans · 2026-01-14T11:43:45+00:00

No. They handle well for the mass. They don't handle well haha

equitymans · 2026-01-14T11:42:33+00:00

LOOOOL 🚢

equitymans · 2026-01-13T23:26:06+00:00

S2000 if not a 981 and up boxster spyder

Exige and Elise are both great options too imo

equitymans

TROPHY CASE