Sunday Drive: Sport injected Honda Civic breaks all the rules
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- The exterior of the new Honda CRX Civic Si.
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- The exterior of the new Honda CRX Civic Si.
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- The exterior of the new Honda CRX Civic Si.
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- Inside the new Honda CRX Civic Si.
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- Inside the new Honda CRX Civic Si.
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- Inside the new Honda CRX Civic Si.
From its humble origins almost four decades ago, the Honda CRX Civic Si (that would produce a meager 91 horsepower) included two doors and a hatchback appearance. It has been a long and winding road to get to what is now the 11th generation of the Civic Si, one that is not only powerful but also will keep heads turning as it heads down the road — especially if one chooses to buy it in the Blazing Orange color our test ride came in.
The new Si is made for those of perhaps a younger generation who are driving enthusiasts, as it sets a new benchmark for a sport compact sedan. Now with four doors, the Civic Si only comes with a manual transmission. The three pedals do make it a much sportier choice, and the six-speed manual brought back memories of the first cars that we owned.
In fact, up until about 2010, we always had a vehicle with a manual transmission. Perhaps it is a sign of aging when using your left foot for much of your driving experience gets old and cumbersome and you want to give that foot a rest! It was, however, very exhilarating to be in a sedan with a manual once again.
The newest version of the transmission comes with automatic rev matching when down shifting, something that was previously only available on the Type R Civic. Craig had to explain that it was the car, not him, that kept increasing the RPMs while we were cruising around in the Si. It also has a shorter throw between gears this year and proved to be very easy to manage as we navigated through the week.
Our first look at and drive in this new Blazing Orange Civic Si came at the Rocky Mountain Driving Experience last August, where Honda introduced this new orange sportster to the media in the Intermountain West. Our time then with the Si was short, but we did have some fun on the winding mountain roads around the red rocks in Morrison, Colorado.
But it was nothing compared to the excitement we had here in Utah for an entire week with the same Blazing Orange Civic. In fact, the best part was the look on others’ faces as we got out of the Si. The expressions were priceless; we imagined our empty nest appearance wasn’t what they expected to exit the vehicle.
This would be a testament to the Honda designers and what they have accomplished with this Sport Injected Civic, because it is all that and more. Until there are many of them on the road, everyone is going to look and try to decide what kind of car it is, with its lower stance, wider tires and nicely placed wing on the back. It could pass as a new kind of Italian sports car. Every time we got out of the Honda, those present asked the question: What is that car?
Included standard in the Si are four-wheel disc brakes, a MacPherson front strut system, a rear multilink suspension, adaptive dampers and a limited slip differential. Yeah, a lot of technical stuff has been injected into the Si to help it corner and ride better, especially at higher speeds.
In all forms, the Civic comes with just a 1.5-liter engine. That in and of itself doesn’t sound all that exciting or like anything that would come with a car that might spend some of its weekends on the track.
The engineers have injected all kinds of extra DNA into the Si, including a turbocharger, which allows the Civic to top out at 200 horsepower and 192 foot-pounds of torque. The horsepower hits best at 6,000 RPM, with all the torque coming between 1,800 and 5,000 RPM. This is a much better sweet spot than Civics of the past and makes 31 horsepower more than the normal Civic.
The new Civic Si comes with all kinds of interior enhancements to add even more to the Sport Injected ride. An awesome 12-speaker Bose sound system really helped us enjoy our week with the Civic, and the fact that our phones hooked up wirelessly via Apple CarPlay gave the Si even more bonus points with us.
The Si comes with all the great Honda Sensing safety features. Even with a manual transmission, there was adaptive cruise control, rear cross path detection, lane keep assist, forward collision mitigation, blind spot monitoring and a traffic sign recognition system.
This new Civic Si breaks all the rules we could think of in a compact sport sedan: one, it rides more like a sedan; two, it has way more power than most any of the competition right off the showroom floor; three, it looks fantastic; and four, it costs way less than we would have expected, coming in at under $30,000!
We found the new Civic Sport Injected Si to be a very simulating and exciting drive. It would be a great engaging addition to anyone’s stable.
Base price: $27,500
Destination price: $1,015
Price as driven: $28,910
