The Honda Civic Si has been something of an enthusiast’s forbidden fruit – a sporty, quasi-hot stepping stone between the regular Civic and the potent-but-expensive Type R that we’ve been lucky enough to have. Well, you’re gonna have to continue admiring the car from afar, because the newly-facelifted 11th-generation model continues to be a US-only special.
Still a performance bargain, the Si starts at US$29,950 (RM139,700) and boasts a revised look, improved driving dynamics, increased standard kit and more advanced tech, joining its powerful turbocharged engine and manual gearbox. In fact, the car is the only one in its class to be offered exclusively with a row-your-own transmission.
There was nothing wrong with the uprated 1.5 litre VTEC Turbo four-cylinder (now exclusive to the Si), so it’s been left well alone, continuing to produce 200 hp and 260 Nm of torque. The six-speed manual and helical limited-slip front differential have also been retained, but the gearbox’s rev-matching operation has been expanded and will now smoothen the downshift from second to first.
Most of the effort has been focused on making the Si an even sharper driving tool. Bracing on the lower B-pillars and rear door sills increase torsional and bending rigidity – something the retuned dampers take advantage of. You (well, not you specifically, unless you’re in America) can also now get the car with performance summer tires as a factory option.
The Si carries over all the design tweaks introduced on the facelifted model earlier this year, featuring a larger hexagonal honeycomb grille (no more “forehead”), a gaping Type R-style centre air intake, slim vertical corner inlets and smoked LED taillights.
Si-specific touches include a front splitter and rear lip spoiler claimed to increase downforce, along with gloss black door mirrors and window surrounds and 18-inch black alloy wheels in a new V-spoke design. The latter hide larger brakes compared to the standard Civic.
Inside, the Si gets body-hugging sports seats that are now heated, plus a new shift light in the instrument cluster, alloy pedals, red highlights and stitching and a leather-and-aluminium shift knob. A moonroof and a 12-speaker Bose sound system come standard.
Also standard is a nine-inch infotainment touchscreen, notable for now coming with Google services like Google Maps, the Google Assistant and the Play Store built in. It still features wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but users can now plug in their devices through USB-C ports at the front.
The Honda Sensing suite of driver assists has been improved with better motorcycle and bicycle detection for the autonomous emergency braking, as well as smoother, more natural responses from the adaptive cruise control and lane centring assist.
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- Digital Visual Media
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- Digital Visual Media
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- Location package with matched HDRI
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- Location package with matched HDRI
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