The 2025 Honda Civic Si is the happy medium. It’s not too fast. It’s not too slow. It’s not too expensive, though it’s not cheap enough to get away with cutting corners. It’s new, but not so new that it’s unfamiliar. It’s manual-only, too.
The Civic Si has long been the perfect practical sports car. But as car costs and horsepower figures continue to rise, the question becomes: Can it keep up?
Why This Car Exists
The Si traditionally sits in the middle of the Civic lineup. It’s a sport-lite model that slots in above the normal commuter car, but below the 315-horsepower Type R hot hatch.
The Si nameplate launched in 1986 as a sportier version of the Civic with 91 horsepower, and “Si” stood for “Sport Injection” — originally marketing the fact that the 1986 model was the first Civic with a fuel-injected engine.
Today, the Civic Si has 200 horsepower, 192 pound-feet of torque, front-wheel drive, a turbocharger, and a six-speed manual as its only transmission option. And just like the original Si, that power comes from a 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine.
Honda’s sold about 30 million Civics globally since the car debuted. But the masses aren’t running out to buy a manual-only Civic, especially in America. I like to think the Si and Type R still serve a valiant purpose: to give normal car buyers a reason to think the Civic is fun in every trim, because it is.
2025 Honda Civic Si: The Basics
- Price: $30,250 (base) $31,800 (as tested)
- Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-liter, four-cylinder
- Transmission: Six-speed manual
- Drivetrain: Front-wheel drive (FWD)
- Power: 200 horsepower, 192 pound-feet of torque
- Fuel Economy: 37 highway, 27 city, 31 combined (EPA)
- Body Style: Four-door, five-seat sedan
What It Looks Like
Every day, I ask myself: On the Si and Type R, do I like the 10th- or 11th-generation Civic styling better? Every day, my answer is different.
The 10th-gen Civic looked like a Battle Bot. It was covered in sharp angles, like the embodiment of a 12-year-old’s dream car. A lot of people didn’t like it, but I did — especially on the Type R.
The 11th-generation Civic is much more mature. It looks like an adult’s car, with softer angles and a less garish nature.
Both cars are equally cool to me, because they give people freedom to choose the body style that fits their personality. My personality is simply: “I can’t choose a favorite.”
What About The Inside?
The Civic Si’s interior isn’t revolutionary, but it is tastefully sporty. It’s almost all black, dotted with red accents: the dashboard trim, contrast stitching, shift-knob accents, cloth weaves, and Si logos. There’s a bit of piano black — a material that collects grease, scratches, and dust like there’s a gold medal on the line — but there’s no piano black on one of the highest-touch areas in the car: around the shifter and cup holders.
Instead, Honda used a classy silver-colored material with an etched herringbone pattern in that area. It’s one of my favorite piano-black substitutes, because it’s busy enough to conceal the dirt and imperfections that piano black highlights, but not so busy that it’s tacky.
But much of the Si’s interior is cloth, and I worry about how porous it is. It’s loosely stitched, and it collects dust more easily as a result. When the 2025 Si launched, I drove a car with under 500 miles on the odometer, and it had a massive dusty spot on the center-console cover. I did my best to dust it out, but didn’t get all of it.
The cloth front seats are comfortable, but because they have flat headrests (which is common in trackable cars, because they work well with helmets), I find myself leaning my head forward to compensate. That’s never a cute or ergonomic pose to hit, and I worry about my posture in the Si because of it.
The back seat is workable, even if not glamorous. There are no air vents back there, but at 5-foot-8, I at least have a few inches of legroom.
How It Drives
Mechanically, the 2025 Civic Si has a lot of similarities to the 2024. One of those similarities is the standard helical limited-slip differential for the driven front wheels. A limited-slip diff means if one front wheel has less traction than the other, the Si won’t just funnel tons of torque at it, like a lot of cars will — instead, it’ll send torque to the wheel with more traction until the other regains it. That limits slippage.
But there are some tweaks for 2025, because each new Civic Si is a minor evolution of itself. Those tweaks include: the rev-match system expanding to cover downshifts from second gear to first; updated safety tech that can better sense bikes; smoother inputs from the car while using adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist; standard heated front seats and USB-C ports; new Google built-in with a three-year unlimited data plan; a standard 10.2-inch digital driver-instrument cluster; the shift-indicator lights from the Type R; more rigidity in the suspension, subframe, and doors; and “retuned suspension dampers take advantage of increased body stiffness.”
I believe when automakers make minor drivability tweaks like those, it’s almost impossible to notice how much better they are — or aren’t — unless you’re driving the old car back-to-back with the new one. I didn’t get to do that with the Si.
But generally, tweaks like those make the overall package that much nicer to drive. And if you’re buying a brand-new car anyway, you might as well benefit from those tweaks.
Each time I drive the Si and Type R, the experience feels familiar yet novel. The cars don’t change much, but the novelty comes from the fact that both cars remind me how practical, accessible, and fun performance can be.
The 2025 Si is all of those things. It’s not so fast that you soar past the speed limit immediately; it takes about 6.5 seconds to get from 0 to 60 mph, letting you enjoy each shift and digit change on the way up to speed. The shifter throw is light and velvety, popping into each gear with a teeny thunk, and the car floats into first gear so easily that it would be hard to stall. If you like automated rev-matching, the Si’s system is so smooth that you can climb up and down gears like a chauffeur.
The beauty of an Si is that it’s meant for any style of driving. The suspension is stiff enough to be fun on backroads without being punishing in the city, meaning the Si is almost as enjoyable (and comfortable) to drive in town as it is on a twisty rural road. The steering is weighted and responsive, gliding into each corner while not being overly twitchy for a daily driver. It has a little understeer in tight corners, but that’s to be expected from a front-wheel-drive car.
The new shift-indicator lights from the Type R add another layer of fun to the Si. They light up yellow and red based on RPMs to indicate when to upshift, and they make slamming the car into gear feel like a getaway scene in a movie (or like your sim-racing rig at home). The lights make you anticipate each shift and feel more engaged, because you want to hit the next gear at just the right time.
The only thing that’s missing in the Si is a physical handbrake, because Honda loves electronic ones now. But everything else in the Si is so fun, I can forgive that.
Does the 2025 Honda Civic Si Fulfill Its Purpose?
The Honda Civic Si has long been the bargain practical performance car. But in 2025, my biggest question is how much of a bargain it still is.
When I drove the last-generation Si in 2020, it had 205 horsepower and started at $25,200. When the 2025 Si debuted, it had 200 horsepower and started at $29,950. The price is up $5,000 in five years, which is slightly under the inflation rate.
At its debut in 2024, the 2025 Si was still a “sub-$30,000” car. That number was always a technicality, since there was also a $1,000 destination and handling fee. But when the 2025 calendar year rolled around, the base price went to $30,250 — meaning even our technicality is no more. The Si is now more than $30,000.
In isolation, I think that’s a fair price. But the snag comes in the Hyundai Elantra N: a young, 276-horsepower Type R competitor with a $34,250 base price. (I’ll embed a review of that car below.) In performance-per-dollar, the Elantra N is the better deal than either the Si or Type R. The Si’s price is creeping too close to the Elantra N to have 76 fewer horses, and the Type R’s MSRP is so high now ($45,895) that it’s in a different price bracket.
That doesn’t mean the Elantra N is for everyone. The Si and Type R are stunning cars, they’re great to drive, and they’re still good deals. The Hondas also have a long history of brand loyalty, and plenty of buyers feel more comfortable going with a model that’s been tried and tested over one that’s newer to the market.
To me, the decision comes down to whether you’re bargain shopping and where your brand allegiances lie. I’ve met plenty of car enthusiasts who always have been, and always will be, Honda people. And they’ll love the new Si. But I’ve also met plenty of car enthusiasts who have said: “You know what? The Elantra’s price is too good not to try it.”
The 2025 Civic Si is a great practical performance car, and it always will be. These days, it just has a fire-breathing Hyundai in its mirrors — and a little competition is never a bad thing.
If you’re not a fan of using a screen for normal car functions, Honda has nailed it in the Civic (and the Accord and CR-V which share this interior design). Real knobs, buttons, and levers for HVAC, lights, wipers, and primary safety features.
It’s a weird sign of current interior design trends that features like manual vent controls, a latch for the glovebox, and four separate power window switches on the driver’s door are notable, but here we are.
Yes. Because the alternative is a Hyundai, the fast fashion of the automotive industry.
If I was buying, I’d buy the Si. If I was leasing, I’d consider the Elantra N. I still don’t trust Hyundai engines over the long term after seeing all the oiling issues the past 10-15 years.
I know they aren’t the same audience, but for me the competitor to the Si is the faster Civic hybrid. Which you can get as a hatch, too.
I bought a slower car to get a manual, but I wouldn’t buy a car that was slow and a sedan.
Also true. The hybrid puts out a lot of power.
I had a 2022 Civic Si and I *LOVED IT*. LOVED IT. Even an hour before it got totaled, I was telling someone about how it was the perfect car for me. I liked it better than the Hyundai when I was doing my research. Not just for features, but the styling is much better in the new generation of Civics.
When it was wrecked, I immediately moved to just buy another one, but it turned out I could get an Acura Integra A-Spec for the same price (because of markups on the Honda), and so now I have the same car but with heated seats.
Alright as someone who owns a Kona N and has owned a GTI this class of cars is very near and dear to me so I’ll weigh in.
Here are the reasons you’d buy the SI:
1). It has a way better manual. If you’re one of those stick diehards who makes it your whole identity as an enthusiast and/or it’s the single most important part of driving to you then the Honda takes an easy W here. Honda manuals are as good as it gets this side of Porsche.
2). It’s understated. Like…extremely understated. This could be a plus or a minus depending on what you’re looking for. But it has 0 of the boy racer-ness of a lot of the competition.
3). It gets significantly better fuel economy. Like…it manages real world city mileage that’s better than real world N highway mileage. I get that neither engine is tuned for efficiency but the Hyundai high output 2 liter is SHOCKINGLY bad on gas. My lifetime mileage in my Kona N (which, to be fair, is mostly city miles and there are several track days factored in as well) is 19.9 MPG.
I didn’t buy it for efficiency, but it’s so bad in practice that I wind up wondering why I didn’t just buy something with a bigger NA engine. The N mill absolutely chugs gas. If you’re going for a backroad romp you’ll see low teens at best, and although nothing is efficient on a track I averaged 6 MPG during my last HPDE day and went through a quarter of a tank of gas each lapping session.
4). The reliability and residuals blow Hyundai’s out of the water. If you buy a new Hyundai make sure you have a sizable down payment because you’re taking a bath if you don’t. They depreciate like lead balloons…whereas I’m sure someone will hand you 20 grand for the Civic 10 years from now.
Here are the reasons you’d buy the N:
1). The auditory experience is on another level compared to anything else in this class. The engine rumbles at low RPMs, it screams at high RPMs, and it sounds like something from a class above it. I’ve watched footage of myself lapping and it really sounds like a bigger engine than it is. The pops and bangs aren’t to everyone’s taste but guess what? You can turn them off.
2). The Ns are track capable out of the box. I’ve tested this and know other people who have as well. I’d probably recommend you get better brake fluid if you’re going to be doing a lot of track work but you can literally take it to a track day as soon as it’s broken in and have no issues lapping all day long. Hyundai’s warranty for the Ns also covers anything that goes wrong while you’re on track. There have also been N cars at every track day I’ve been to.
3). The Ns are way, way edgier. Whether or not that’s a good thing depends on the buyer. But you can turn traction control all the way off (hell even in the sport setting mine has never intervened), they’ve basically done nothing to mitigate torque steer, they’ll lift off oversteer all day, they ride rough, and if you cross the limits you can actually get yourself in trouble.
Not like…first gen Viper or F40 trouble but they can get away from you if you’re not careful. Ask me how I know!
4). They’re way faster. An Elantra N will keep up with a CTR on the track (although not surpass it) and they’ll make a stock SI, WRX, or GTI look silly at a stoplight. Hell a DCT EN is faster in a straight line than a CTR. Considering the price point, they’re fast cars.
Anyway, both are great choices. If you feel like an SI is more your speed than a GTI/GLI probably are as well, although in my experience VW reliability is even more of a dice roll than Hyundai reliability (and yes member of Golf Gang, I know your specific EA888 is tuned to make 400 wheel horsepower and has never given you issues). Regardless you can’t go wrong with either of these and we live in a great time for affordable performance.
I moved an Elantra N between dealerships, had about 3 hours of seat time. It wasn’t bad at all. Couldn’t forget it was more than a base model though, even without giving it the gas the telepathic steering let you know it was something special.
That said, it had several ‘sound modes’ that let you make it sound like other things so that “sounds like something from a class above” it is because it’s fake.
I was talking about the exterior noise in my car, the Kona N. It doesn’t have all the silly/fake modes although it does have one of the dumb windshield vibrating sound enhancers. But from the outside at full boogie it sounds great for a 4 popper.
I thought of you the moment I saw the headline. Thanks for the comment. As a lover of hot hatches (and I guess the Kona is a CUV?), this was a helpful read.
They market it as a CUV but I’ve always called it a hot hatch.
I like the look of this generation civic and I’ve always been kind of a honda fanboy so I’d probably drive the Si first but if the N is as good as all the blogger/journo types keep going on about odds are pretty good that I’d land there. That said, the delta in price between the SI and the N is the same as between the N and a base GR Corolla…
I considered both… and then bought a WRX. Out of the Hyundai or the Honda I think I would pick the Honda every time but the Subaru had more emotional pull for me personally.
Had a new 8th gen SI for 6 years. Only car I ever missed after selling it. Still miss it, years later. Most smiles/mile of any car I’ve owned.
The 8th gen was Peak Civic SI
Subaru BRZ Premium for 3.15k out the door. Honda’s driver aids suck.
If you can make a Toyobaru work as a daily then more power to you. Unfortunately most people can’t.
Lifestyle choices have consequences.
I don’t know if I have noticed these in traffic yet.
But man that shot of the front bumper.
So would I buy this?
Not if that’s how it looks in person. YMMV
It only looks like that if your eyes are 8 inches off the pavement. It appears differently to bipedal humans (a category which no longer includes many automotive photographers).
Yea that front bumper looks like an underbite in that shot. Woof.
Hondas are noted for their durability. Hyundais, maybe not so much.
My thought exactly, having owned a KIA and several Hondas.
If you want to lease, pick your poison. If you want to buy and keep for a while, pick the Honda.
I thought I was happy to see the Jeff Gordon jacket, but the Tim Richmond shirt for the win?! Go Alanis! 🙂
I think the important thing is just to choose one and stick with it. Because… Honda makes the “Si” and Hyundai makes the “N”.
If you have them together, you totally have “Sin”. The convergence of these vehicles is pure heathenism.
Suddenly I want to get both and park them next to each other haha.
I love these, especially the manual only, but man do I hate electronic parking brakes with manuals! I learned to drive manual in England and they insisted you use the parking brake all the time, especially when taking off on hills, and to this day I slowly lower the brake while throttling up and find that to be so much smoother. Can’t do that with an electronic one and I hate it so bad!!
Most of them have hill holder functions but I never quite got used to the feature in my GTI, always seemed like my timing was wrong and I didn’t pull away as smoothly as if I had just done it with a handbrake myself. I never did bother switching it off to try doing it the old fashioned way though.
Honda’s holder feature seems more subtle, even without the automatic brake hold feature on. But I’d still rather have a manual handbrake.
Good to know. That would make it better, but I just don’t see the point in having several electronic systems over just running one cable. But I also acknowledge that I am the old man screaming at the clouds at this point.
I’ll chime in on e brakes and hill hold assist.
I was worried when I bought my car—a manual with an electronic parking brake—that I’d have issues with hills.
The hill hold assist works better than I ever could manage with a physical hand brake. You feel like you are on flat ground—you release the clutch like normal, rev like normal, never roll back and best of all, never burn through the clutch in panic.
At this point, I wouldn’t ever want a manual with a physical hand brake.
Good to know. Appreciate the insight. What’s the car?
At some point in the next few years, I’m hoping to add a sporty car w/ a manual to the mix. SI / Integra, GR86/BRZ are kind of where I keep landing. CT5-V if I come into some money haha.
Thanks for the review!
If I had to have manual then N. If I had to have Honda then Hybrid. If I had to have AWD then WRX.
You know what killed the Si for me last year? Driving the Hybrid back to back and realizing the Si just didn’t have quite enough extra fun factor (especially requiring premium fuel, IIRC, which is over a dollar more here). The Hybrid does almost everything really well, and with substantially better economy. It was a hard truth I had to face…
Si…fuera menos costoso.
Si…tuviera dinero ilimitado.
Si…my mujer no tuviera que conducirlo de vez en cuando.
Quizas, quizas, quizas…
I’m of the opposite opinion, the extra fun factor of the Si more than made up for the fuel economy difference (which turns out isn’t that vast). My Si has a 36 mpg lifetime average and gets up over 45 mpg on long highway trips. The hybrid may get 50+ mpg but downshifting, hitting a corner, and feeling the limited slip diff working to put the power down is awesome.
hybrid mileage is cool, replacing the manual with a CVT… not so much.
When I was shopping for a car last month, I drove the Civic Si and really, really liked it. It was between that and a Mazda 3 Sport GT 6-speed. I wound up going with the Mazda not due to any fault of the Civic so much as I really prefer having a hatchback to a sedan. Give me a Civic Si hatchback, and I likely would have made a different choice.
I mostly agree…and to the same comment I made above, the Hybrid is a lot sportier now and is available in both bodystyles, with several trims. I think the Si really needs to “lean into” being more different to separate it a little more. Compact wagon, even. AWD?
+1, though the now-dropped Sport Touring manual hatch did the trick for me, since I didn’t really need the sport extras. There’s always the Integra but I had a hard time seeing 5-6k more value over the Touring hatch, and another couple grand over that vs. an Si for the sake of a hatch. The hybrid like Ash mentioned would be the direction I’d lean if I were to give up a manual and honestly I was thinking seriously about it, but I did want one more round of rowing my own.
The CTR is a hatchback, right?
I can’t figure out why the Si can’t be a hatch, too.
It makes no sense.
I haven’t driven the Hyundai or the current Si. I have driven the Civic Type-R and it is an amazingly good car. So much better than any FWD car has a right of being. Much better than the 2017 GTI and 2018 Golf R I have owned. It is also the only current car that drives so nicely I would swap for my current Miata for one. The R is also a hatchback.
I think the Honda is a much better-looking car, and the Honda shifters are hard to beat. I don’t have any particular brand loyalty, but I would still lean to the Honda based on all the above, and my guess is that it will both hold its value and be at lower risk for mechanical issues down the line.