Plenty of sedans and small cars have been replaced by crossovers over the years and that trend doesn’t look like it’s reversing any time soon.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.
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.
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. 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.