Honda is at it again. They have fooled us all into thinking that the new Civic Si is special. They have us all believing that there are thousands of man-hours and billions of dollars in design and engineering involved in turning a run-of-the-mill compact Civic sedan into a focused drivers car. The red seats and trim and stitching evoque ideas of spirited driving and of taught chassis feel and of swift acceleration. The drive mode switch alludes to flexibility; to a car with multiple personalities that can be all things to all men. The dual exhaust and its note on full throttle runs to the redline give the aural experience of some of the great four-cylinder engines racing towards the next corner. It's got VTEC, yo! The subtle spoiler on the tail gate hints at speeds high enough to warrant paying mind to lift characteristics.
It is all tastefully executed and makes one believe the lie. The lie is that the Civic Si is a performance car built on the bones of an economy car. They would have you believe that the Civic Si has been altered so dramatically it has become a model unto itself. The truth is that it is an economy car with a trim package. The engine is the same L15 as is in the Civic Touring but with a slightly revised intake camshaft. It has the same turbocharger. It has the same compression ratio. It has the same torque peak. It has the same VTEC exhaust cam setup. It is not special. The seats, as good as they are, are a step backwards from the previous generation. They used to be heated. The wheels are, and have been since the advent of the 'sport' moniker, the same as the lesser trim.
How have they pulled this off? What trickery has been utilized to misdirect so effectively the public perception of this car? It would seem that they have used the same tactic for the last 4 generations of the Civic Si. They started with a brilliant car as a base. The Civic has always been better than its pricetag and specifications would indicate. It is a car that is so well engineered that there are no major chassis alterations needed to produce a world-beater like any Civic Type R has been. After that, the list of bespoke parts is so comprehensive as to nearly create a new model with the same name.
In 2006 the base Civic was equipped with a 1.8 liter engine created specifically for packaging and efficiency. It was used in the Civic and the HRV and was one of the greatest economy car engines ever made. The Si, however, was given a bespoke K20Z3 engine. No other Honda vehicle ever received this gem of a powerplant. It had a redline over 8000 RPM and a sound so unique and spectacular it made die-hard Volkswagen fan-boys (including a well-known automotive journalist) stand up and take notice. The Si version of the 8th generation Civic had specialized wheels and suspension which were shared with no other car. It was special. In 2012, the Civic got a major facelift. With this came the loss of that glorious 2.0 Liter K20 and an Accord-derived K24 was installed. It was no longer a special model, but rather a trim package with another economy engine, albeit one with an engine which was oversized for it's compact dimensions and small car weight. The body was so similar to the base Civic that without the upgraded wheels, it would have been indistinguishable from its lesser cousins. It still moved like a Civic Si, but it lost some of the magic.
In 2016, Honda released an all-new Civic. It was not a major refresh but a completely new model. Fans were forced to wait until the following model year to see the new Si.
When it arrived, it was lauded for its driving dynamics and premium features while still remaining priced as a trim package on a compact economy car. The engine was a derivative of the L15B turbocharged 1.5 liter four in the nicer trims, but with major updates. The turbocharger, cams, pistons, rods, and crankshaft were all specific to the Si. No other model received these parts. The way the engine felt was different enough to warrant that Si badge. The suspension was upgraded with 2-mode adaptive dampers and the front seats were heated with significant upgrades to thigh and side bolsters. There were shift lights in the digital gauge cluster. The Si was once again special. The front bumper and wheels were available on other models, but not together on the sedan or coupe as they were on the Si. The wing on the coupe and spoiler on the sedan were dead giveaways that you were not looking at just another basic Civic Sport.
Then, right on schedule, in 2022, the Civic was redesigned and the Si became just another trim package. The engine is nearly identical to that found in the other Civic Turbo trims, tuned slightly differently. The drive mode switch uses engine sounds from the speakers to fool you into believing the engine gained power when in the sport mode. If you can tell the difference from the outside between a Sport and an Si, you probably own one or the other. The wheels are the same, but are matte finish on the Si and polished on the Sport. There is an extra polished exhaust tip under the rear bumper of the Si compared to the Sport. The Si has a subtle deck lid spoiler painted black where the sport has none. Gone are the adaptive dampers and heated seats of the 10th generation.
So, the cycle continues. When an all-new Civic model drops there is a half-generation span when the Si becomes something more than just a trim package. It is its own car and special. When everyone believes in the magic, Honda capitalizes on that belief and lets the reputation carry the next generation Si for another 5 years while the car is treated to a suite of off-the-shelf good-enough solutions that make a trim package feel like the special thing it used to be. And, yet, somehow, even through the mundane Accord engines and lack of styling differences and sub-par suspension, the 11th generation Civic Si still continues to feel as special as ever. Drive a Sport-Touring back to back with an Si and you will believe you have been driving 2 completely different cars. The steering is heavier and more precise in the Si. The boost comes in stronger. The engine note is deeper and meaner. The body motions are more controlled. The seats hug you in a way that no compact economy sedan has any business hugging you. The shifter action goes from a thing you have to do to make the car move to something that brings joy every time you select another gear. The lie of the engine sounds from the speakers in sport mode works. Somehow, Honda magicians turn the Si trim package into something worth driving. They turn a lowly Civic into an Si. Now, if they could just set the collision mitigation braking and idle stop to quit turning on every time you start the car.....
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