At last year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, Honda unveiled the Civic Si Prototype, which previewed a new high-performance version of the popular model. Said to go on sale this year in both coupe and sedan bodystyles, our spy photographers managed to capture the latter as it undergoes testing in Ohio, United States.
The test mule seen here is wearing quite a bit of camouflage to hide its front and rear bumper, although we should expect the production version to largely mimic the Prototype’s styling. Items like front and rear splitters, a lowered rear wing as well as a hexagonal-shaped exhaust tip (some of which are seen here) should be part its get-up.
As for the interior, there should be plenty of red accents to highlight its sportier nature. Honda has already stated the Prototype’s interior is as close to the final product as possible, so sports seats, red stitching, Si logos, red instrument panel and aluminium sports pedals should appear on the production version.
The same is said of what will be fitted under a hood. On the Prototype, a 1.5 litre turbocharged four-cylinder with dual variable cam timing (VTC) provides drive, mated to a short-shifting six-speed manual transmission. Along with a new active damper system, active steering system, limited-slip differential and high-performance tyres, the Civic Si should be a step up from the regular car, although it is likely no match for the upcoming Civic Type R.
GALLERY: Honda Civic Si Prototype
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VTC = VTEC?
Civic Si is only for North American domestic market. Which is why Honda Malaysia should consider a factory approved Tuning House. Certain upgrades in Si can be optional upgrades available at this Tuning House. Performance upgrade and Exterior (Body kits) upgrades. Not everyone can afford the Type R & (if right hand drive available here) Si will never sell enough volume to be profitable. Which is why a factory approved Tuning House is viable business option for this region.
Change to opposition all everything solved..Type R at Altis Price, Si at City price. Apa Malaysians mau lagi?
MY pipu tak mau toyota. MY pipu mau naik BMW. So mesti mau select dacing.
honda can appoint mugen motorsport as their in house tuning..both honda n m-tec.(mugen owner) largest shareholder is soichiro son, hirotoshi honda..mugen hq is located at the same place as honda rnd center in japan..
Easy to say….a factory approved is a heavy responsibility to the manufacturer. Giving warranty to a work not done by them. Hell run lose by tuning house because they shared the responsibility if something goes wrong. Not a good idea to any car manufacturers.
Looks sporty. But would look better if the chrome bits were blacked out. But it should have a bigger engine rather than sharing the 1.5 turbo with the normal Civic and CRX (and possibly the upcoming Accord as well), though tuned up to 11. A detuned Civic Type R 2 litre would be a better fit for the Si.
I would say the 1.5T is a better bet. Giving a 2.0T will cannibalize the sale of the Type R. The Si has a lot of stuffs that you can find in the Type R already like LSD and active damper.The 1.5T engine still has alot more to offer. In our own Civic, it produce ~170hp, in the CRV the same engine can make ~190hp. Both with a CVT box. This Si is manual only, definitely can tune the engine to upwards of 200+hp easily since you wont be held back by the gearbox.