Honda shows off its new Prelude GT GT500 car for the 2026 Super GT season

Fans of Japanese motorsports will know about the famed Super GT series, where Japanese manufacturers go head-to-head with each other in sports cars that are either homologated examples of production cars, the GT300/GT3 class, or purpose-built racing cars that have a resemblance to a production model, the GT500 class.

Honda has been actively participating in this series now under the Honda Racing Corporation, with famous entries such as the NSX, HSV-010, the second-generation NSX, and, more recently, the Civic Type R-GT. That was a sedan-based platform, which stuck out like a sore thumb compared to its coupe-based competitors from other brands.

After two years of varying success, the Civic Type R-GT will be sunset in favor of a new contender in the Prelude GT. This makes sense as well from a marketing standpoint, as the FL5-generation Civic Type R is already on its way out, and Honda’s newest halo car is indeed the new Prelude.

Specs are obviously very light as this car will begin its shakedown today (October 1, 2025), but we can obviously tell from this car’s carbon-fiber body, extremely large aerodynamics, and some slightly exposed mechanicals at the back that this won’t be utilizing the Prelude’s hybrid setup. Instead, it will most likely be carrying over the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder racing engine (the HR-420E) that was fitted to the Honda NSX-GT and Honda Civic Type R-GT.

Honda and its other competitors (Toyota and Nissan) utilize the Nippon Race Engine blueprint, meaning that while all different engines, they will have roughly the same performance output (assuming Balance of Performance and power output caps) of about 650 horsepower and 490Nm of torque, mated to a six-speed sequential transmission, and most notably, rear-wheel drive.

What is your current favorite Super GT GT500-class competitor? The Prelude GT, the Nissan Z GT500, or the Toyota GR Supra GT500?

Photos from Honda Racing Corporation