This Civic has a clean and understated design and should age well.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
Plenty of sedans and small cars have been replaced by crossovers over the years and that trend doesn’t look like it’s reversing any time soon. Thankfully, for those who still prefer to sit lower and like sedans, the Honda Civic has escaped that fate and remains a popular choice for Canadians.
Reliability has played a role in that, and there’s a certain amount of reassurance that comes with a Honda badge, but above all, the Civic has always been fun to drive and it’s garnered a loyal following spanning a wide range of demographics. It doesn’t matter if you’re 16 and newly licensed or about to retire and need a dependable new vehicle that will last a decade or two, the Civic’s appeal is broad.
The manual transmission-only Civic Si is catered to the driving enthusiast. It’s an oddity in the marketplace and one of just a handful of sport compact cars left. It’s essentially a factory-tuned Honda that appeals to a tiny subset of the population and it also lives in the shadow of the more powerful Type R. But the Si has a place. The badge has been around for longer, first showing up on the CRX in 1985. The Civic Si was brought to market the following year. It had less than 100 horsepower but the engine was eager, and there wasn’t much weight to move around. It was agile and fun in the corners and it was also affordable and well made. Much of that still holds true for the new one.
The 2024 Civic Si is equipped with a 1.5-litre engine that makes 200 horsepower with the aid of a turbocharger. That’s not a big number compared with competitors like the Hyundai Elantra N and Volkswagen Jetta GLI, but the Si has never been about brute force or straight-line speed. It’s the type of car where you forget about the specs and just go for a drive.
The seats are comfortable and covered in a grippy red and black mesh-like fabric with just the right amount of bolstering to secure you in place. All the touchpoints like the steering, shifter and pedals are perfectly positioned, and outward visibility is excellent.
The gearshift deserves special mention and will have you shifting gears unnecessarily just to feel the wonderfully mechanical lever slot into its gates with precision and zero slop. And the steering is precise and responsive and feels like it belongs in a car that costs three times as much.
At about $40,000, it might be a bit of a stretch to call the Si cheap, but when the average price of a new vehicle in Canada is $66,000, it’s really not all that much for what you’re getting. The Canadian market Si is based off the Civic Touring, which means it has all the options, including heated seats and a heated steering wheel, and it also has cool shift lights above the gauges, none of which you get on the U.S. version of the Si.
Competitors like the Hyundai Elantra N offer more power for similar money, but the Civic is more engaging and memorable. It’s the one that leaves the bigger impression after you’ve hung up the keys. It’s beautifully balanced and rotates into corners remarkably well for a front-wheel-drive car. It’s also not that fast, so you can enjoy it on public roads, but it’s not so slow that you’ll have trouble passing cars on the highway.
Honda practically wrote the book on making an affordable compact car that didn’t sacrifice quality or fun. The Civic Si has evolved over the years but it still adheres to those principles and is just as rewarding to drive today as it’s always been.
Tech specs
2024 Honda Civic Si
- Base price / as-tested: $35,630/$35,630 plus $1,966 for freight and predelivery inspection and fees, plus tax
- Engine: 1.5-litre turbo inline four cylinder that makes 200 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque
- Transmission /drive: Six-speed manual / front-wheel drive
- Curb weight: 1,360 kilograms
- Fuel consumption (litres per 100 kilometres): 8.7 city; 6.4 highway; 7.7 combined
- Alternatives: Hyundai Elantra N, VW Jetta GLI, Subaru WRX
The Si gets a slightly different grille and badging on the front.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
Looks
The Si gets a slightly different grille, bigger wheels, a rear spoiler and Si badging. Compared with the last generation, this Civic has a clean and understated design, and should age well.
The front seats and dash of the 2024 Honda Civic Si with red stitching everywhere.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
Interior
The Civic’s interior is a great example of how to do a dashboard that uses simple physical controls but still looks and feels modern. The Si adds red trim and red stitching on the seats. Just three tactile knobs operate the climate control; there are big, easy-to-use buttons and the low dashboard allows for excellent forward visibility. Rear seat passengers also get generous amounts of knee and leg room.
The Si is powered by a 1.5-litre turbo inline four cylinder engine that makes 200 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
Performance
The Si is not fast in a straight line but it can carry a lot of speed through the corners, a bit like a Mazda Miata. It also has excellent steering and a perfect manual gearbox.
For the dash, Honda uses simple physical controls and it still looks and feels modern.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
Technology
There’s rev-matching technology borrowed from the Type R, which allows for smoother downshifts, and Honda Sensing includes all the latest safety and driver aids, including adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and traffic sign recognition.
The trunk has 408 litres of space, but isn't a hatch on the Si.Kunal D'souza/The Globe and Mail
Cargo
There’s a 408-litre trunk, which is pretty big, but it’s a bit of a shame you can’t get the Si in hatchback form, like you can with the Type R, which has much more cargo room.
The verdict
The best driving compact sports sedan under $50,000.
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