The Honda Civic Si in its current form has been with us for some time but received generous styling updates for the 2014 model year which come to the 2015 model as well.
These included a new hood and fender design to go with its unique front fascia which is decidedly more aggressive in its style. A new 18-inch wheel design with black painted insets really pops too, especially with our Orange Fire Pearl paint color.
At the rear the Si’s distinctive rear wing stands the test of time looking pretty tastefully integrated here with the new tail lights. There’s also a unique rear fascia locking down the look with the expected large scale exhaust tip.
i-VTEC graphics are sported on the side flanks, almost as retro a touch these days as is the large rear wing, both of which reach back well into the model’s 20 year run.
Inside the Civic Si is a lot of special and unique too. It gets upgraded cloth sport-seats which come exclusively in black and red. They’re manually adjustable but once set, very supportive and comfortable.
The bi-level dash gets some very good looking carbon-fiber style trims. It’s not the real thing, but is very well executed. Standard touches include the top-end 360-watt display audio system, full trip computer, and multi-function sport steering wheel.
The six-speed manual shifter gets a very after-market like genuine aluminum shift knob with rubber grip which looks cool, but we’ll get back to this in a moment.
The infotainment system in our tester is the full on satellite linked navigation unit which also serves up a full rear-camera display and Honda’s innovative lane watch feature that shows your right lane when you light up your right turn signal.
Rear seat space in the sedan is more than adequate with head and leg room near top of its class. There is a center armrest with cupholders, and the seats do of course fold down in a 60/40 split for an expanded cargo area.
The trunk itself is rather impressive too for this class, offering a well lined cargo area with 12.5 cubic feet of space. Below the deck you will find a mini-spare tire instead of the increasingly popular can of fix-a-flat and air pump.
Under the hood is the staring attraction here, a 2.4 liter i-VTEC naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine that cranks out a healthy 205 horsepower and 174 pound-feet for torque. Power is put down to the front wheels through a hellical limited slip differential and only a six-speed manual transmission.
When it comes to the chassis, the Honda Civic Si makes the best of its MacPherson Strut front and multi-link rear suspension which got a significant re-tune last year to answer some of the critics who said it had lost its handling edge.
It has electric power steering like most cars today, larger four-wheel disc brakes, larger anti-roll bars of course and our tester had the stickier 225/40R18 Continental ContiSportContact 5 tires. All of which seek to amp up the fun here.
While fuel economy isn’t always terribly important to many checking the Si trim grade on the option sheet, it’s worth noting that the EPA rates it at 22 mpg city, 31 mpg highway and gives it a 25 mpg combined rating.
Worth noting even more is that in our week with the Honda Civic Si, we achieved an observed combined city and highway average of 32 mpg, far well and above what was promised – even with our stint in the mountains.
When it comes to safety the 2015 Honda Civic sedan gets an IIHS Top Safety Pick honor due to its “Good” ratings in their full battery of crash tests including the brutal small-overlap test. It misses the higher Top Safety Pick + designation only because it doesn’t offer high-end crash prevention options.
