“Answering the $11,500 question:
Should you get a Honda Civic Si
or the more expensive Type R? Turns
out it’s an answer for philosophy.”
Scott EvansService life: 4 mo/2,500 miles*Avg CO2 0.65 lb/mi Energy cons, city/hwy 130/94 kWh/100 mi
Unresolved problems None Maintenance $0 Normal wear $0 Base/
as tested $26,130/$26,130 EPA City/Hwy/Comb Econ 26/36/30 mpg
2020 Honda Civic Si
The Honda Civic Si’s manual shifter is
perhaps the best on the American market.*COVID-19 interrupted our normal data collection for the Civic Si.
Mileage is an estimate, and CO2/energy cons figures are from the EPA.78 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2021IT DOESN’T TAKE
MUCH PRODDING
TO APPRECIATE WHAT
THE HONDA CIVIC SI
HAS TO OFFER.T
he 2020 Honda Civic Si is an absolute
steal at $26,130 out the door, no
question. The real question, however,
is whether you should spend $11,500 more
on the Civic Type R.
With an extra 31 hp compared to a
regular Civic, plus two-mode electronically
adjustable shocks, a mechanical limited-
slip differential, and Goodyear Eagle F1
Asymmetric 2 tires, the Si gives you a lot of
performance hardware for shockingly little
money. But so, too, does the Civic Type R.
A lot of the specs sound the same, but for
the big one: 306 hp and 295 lb-ft. All for
$37,950. So is the Si a budget Type R? Or
should you keep saving?
It’s a surprisingly difficult call to make,
and it comes down to your driving philos-
ophy. Me, I’m addicted to speed, and you’d
easily spend 10 grand or more modifying an
Si to be as good as a Type R, so I say just
get the best one from the start.
In the Honda pantheon, the Si is about
handling, and the R is about absolute
performance. To see whether the latter is
worth the extra money, I took both to one
of the greatest roads in the world, Angeles
Crest Highway. Multiple times. For science.
It doesn’t take much prodding to appre-
ciate what the Si has to offer. You can feel it
on a freeway interchange, in the deliberate
and calculated body control, the traction,
the ability to put the power down, the
mechanical perfection of the shifter action,
and the easily modulated brake pedal.
Take it on a good road, and you’re still likely
to underestimate it at first. Your brain tells
you it isn’t the fastest one, so it can’t be
pushed as hard. Your brain is wrong.
With the limited-slip differential and
only 205 hp and 192 lb-ft on tap, you’re
never going to blow the tires off it once it’s
moving. Instead, it digs in and lets you geton the throttle early
and power out of a
corner without fear of
inducing understeer.
Its trick shocks allow
the tires to do their job.
Their default setting is
honestly fine, but if the
road is relatively smooth, the Sport setting
makes a small but noticeable difference.
Far more expensive cars from brands that
stake their reputation on sportiness don’t
have body control like this. The Si leans
confidently into turns and isn’t bothered
by midcorner bumps. The real beauty of
the shocks is how well they ride whether
you’re flogging it or not. Around town,
they’re sporty firm but not punishing.
Under duress and in their stiffer Sport
setting, they’re just sportier firm.
You can’t ask much more from the trans-
mission. Honda builds the best front-drive
manual transmissions on the American
market, full stop. The Si’s is about perfect.
The gates are closely spaced, the action
slick and clean. You don’t have to think
about finding the next gear or missing a
shift. Just move the shifter gently in the
general direction of the next gear you
want, up or down, and it’ll find its way
there naturally. I have noticed, though, the
infamous second gear grind starting to
rear its head. It’s a known issue with these
transmissions, unfortunately.
The brakes, however, are nothing
special, but they don’t need to be on a
light car. Honda doesn’t even list a brake
upgrade on the Si, so it’s nothing more
than aggressive pads at most. That’s all
it needs. The pedal response is linear and
provides good feedback, and the Si isn’t
heavy enough to overheat the brakes
hauling ass down a mountain.Even better, that brake pedal is snugged
up next to the gas pedal, making heel-toe
downshifting as natural as walking. They’re
spaced so well, I can easily pull off a
perfect heel-toe in my hiking boots.
So far, so good, but then the decision
gets hard. It’s the engine. With a chassis
this good, you can’t help but want a
different power profile. This one is really
strong in the midrange, and it feels great
blasting onto highways. Get it out on a
mountain road, though, and you begin to
notice it goes soft on the top end. In some
cars, you hit the rev limiter and wonder
“already?” Not this one. You keep your
foot in it, then check the tach, then keep
your foot in it some more, then short shift
because running it out isn’t helping much.
The Si is a hell of a handler. It’s a
fantastic car to hone your driving skill. You
can safely push it as hard as you want,
all the while refining your steering, your
braking, and your shifting. You’ll learn more
driving this car hard than you would in
some cars with twice the horsepower. Once
you do, though, you might just find yourself
unfulfilled and looking in the direction of
the Type R. Another 100 hp ain’t nothing to
sneeze at. And once you’ve tasted the
Type R, you’re going to feel like the Si’s
chassis could easily take another 100 hp,
and man, wouldn’t it be great if it had more
power coming out of the corners?
The Si is great. It’s a practical sedan that
drives and handles far better than a car at
this price has any right to. It doesn’t look
ridiculous like the Type R, which makes it
even more fun when you’re keeping up with
drivers in German sport sedans who have
more horsepower than talent and can’t
figure out why they can’t shake a Civic.
You’ll grow out of it eventually, though, and
when you do, the Type R will be waiting.MT GARAGE