Honda is about to revive a beloved nameplate from the tuner world. Both the 2017 Civic Si coupe and sedan will debut online today, April 6, at 8:00 am Pacific Time on YouTube. For seven generations, the Si has been the top-dog performance variant available stateside, but with this latest generation Honda has announced that it will bring the Civic Type R here as well. Will anyone still care about the Si?
Last year we saw a close-to-production Civic Si Prototype in Los Angeles. Details were scant, but Honda did hint at a revival of 90s nostalgia and something more in line with what was arguably the best Civic Si, the 1999-2000 coupe, and less like the much-maligned 2001-05 hatchback that followed.
Honda was short on the details but we were told it would have performance upgrades like an LSD and the option of cross-drilled brake rotors. We know too that it will have 192 lb-ft of torque, thanks to an (oops) email leak.
That’s a little bit closer to the Civic Sport’s 177 lb-ft than the Type R’s 295 than we’d like, but that’s more torque than we could’ve dreamed of back in the tunerrific 90s. Everyone wanted to turbo their Hondas back then; now Honda’s doing it straight from the factory with a blown 1.5-liter four.
Honda also told us that the Prototype had some features which won’t be found on the production Civic Si. We’ll miss the beautiful Rallye Red paint, but probably not the spoiler. For the rest, we’ll have to stay tuned to Honda’s YouTube channel.
UPDATE: Here’s the very anticlimactic reveal. But hey, 205(!) horsepower
Seeing as the Type R is more expensive, and less an every day car, sure, the new SI will have a place, and will out sell the Type R handily. I just wish they had released it earlier on in the new Civic cycle, as I was in the market, but picked up a good used ’13 V6 Accord Coupe EX-L manual instead, for the price of a new Fit…
I’m with BP – like it more than the FnF Type R.
Felt like the 2-door civic was dead along with most 2 door cars. It will be nice to see them.
I’m really looking forward to this era of body styling to be over (of course it may be followed by worse things). I’m sure this is a wonderful car but it looks like yet another “styled by an angry 12 yr old” design.