I was thinking the same exact thing if only they made the type r also in a coupe model. I'd be willing to save the extra 10k to get it. Because in the end I'm very picky and if I'm going to spend that much im spending it on something I like. God Willing!
They really need a Type R hatchback, like the EG civics from 1992 - 1995. I would bust a nut over a redo of that if it came with nice suspension and 300 hp.
It’ll be a sad day when Honda slaps the Si badge on an Automatic car and get rid of the coupe. Mad respect to whoever that guy in Japan is that makes sure the Si still offered in the US as manual only.
big man on campus chrome in general is debatable, the issue on the civic is that it’s one piece of chrome among entirely black trim so it doesn’t match at all. Luckily on the sport it comes blacked out but they should really just make that standard.
What a great looking, sporty little car. Honda consistently cranks out fun little driving machines and with manuals. Much respect to Honda! Thanks for the review.
I had a 2006 SI in Fiji blue pearl. Loved that car. Bought a manual 17 Mustang GT in 2017 and loved it but traded it for a 19 GT 10 speed. Both awesome and beautiful cars but for some reason I just can’t get the SI out of my mind. Just really loved that car. Never once gave me a single problem except some AC issues around 10 years after I bought it. Still regret selling the SI
@@andrewmoore7927 You know, it is sad because they are so hard to find. Right now my local Honda dealers, at least three of them, don't have a SI coupe or sedan, no type R, no Sport or Sport Touring Civic hatchbacks in a manual transmission. How can they sale if they are not available? Generally, most people, even those that can drive a manual, will test drive the automatic version of cars and be satisfied enough to buy it with the automatic. What doesn't make sense is if the manufacturer still makes them , why are they not more available? Dealers say that they sit on their lot too long. I believe the manufacturers should give them these specialty cars on consignment, so the dealer doesn't have to make payments on them until they sale. That would solve everything and when the dealer sells one, they can get another to replace it. ???
What i like about Matt's videos is he's all about the buyer. He's there to go into detail about the specs and benefits of owning each car and then comparing based off of the buyer's preference. Keep up the great work Matt!
I just bought this car in black back in March. Absolutely love the car. Beautiful car and fun to drive. Clutch isn't heavy on it either which is nice. I've also said this ever since I've had the car.... I absolutely love the front seats in the car. All in all, beautiful car and I'll be driving this one until it dies.
I have a ‘19 Si coupe, and been having it for over a year and a half now. It’s my first manual performance oriented car. I love, love it. I have a list of mods I wanna do to it, so far, I’ve done interior lightning, and window tinting mods. When I’m the road I drive normally cause I wanna save that rush for once-in-a-while moment
A tune can help with the initial rev overun when you let off to shift. But these cars have pretty heavy flywheels compared to previous Si's and it will always take much longer for the revs to fall.
It's hard to be smooth with this civic si because of the high clutch engagement, too light of a clutch, and rev hang. It feels really inconsistent most of the time to be honest. A ktuner, shift bushing, and stiffer rear motor mount will make the car feel how it should. The type R is so much easier to drive than the Si because of the low rev hang and stiffer RMM.
Engineering Explained did a great video on why rev hang exists on modern manual transmission vehicles. I recommend watching it! It's a strategy to avoid emissions when the throttle body closes suddenly.
Rev hang is caused by clutch disk to flywheel weight. Get a lighter flywheel with a more stable clutch disk. Factory flywheel is ~~15lbs, so probably a try a 10-11lbs...any lighter and you'll be burning your clutch disk faster than normal.
I love when Andy from Toy Story has a good review, Just kiddin'! I've been car shopping for a few months now and I keep coming back to Matt's in-depth reviews. He must have similar taste in cars as me, because whenever I look up a make/model of car I'm interested in, up pops Matt Maran and I always watch. Keep it up, man!
Just test drove a 2020 Si today: it's a mature, premium, & modern car plain and simple. No sense of unique sportiness, racing, or exciting about it except as a nice Honda car
Just got my red 2020 Si Coupe. As long as Honda doesn't make another Si Coupe I'll never sell it. Coming from a 2004 Ford Ranger this car is amazing. I wanted a Type R Coupe but Honda doesn't make one so I'll make one myself.
I've been in the market for a 2018 Honda Civic si and was wondering what type of fuel you put in it. I know the owner's manual states that the car should receive premium, but can it take regular? Furthermore, I think the car has a knock sensor that changes the ignition timing caused by the difference in the fuel quality. Still, I would like to eliminate knocking altogether to preserve the engine.
In my experience Honda builds excellent vehicles. Owned a '96 Prelude that gave me excellent service for almost 10 years. Followed it up with a Mazda RX-8, a significantly flawed but much loved ride. (Its lack of torque was like driving a 600 cc Japanese motorcycle.) After that I moved on to MK6 GTI and more recently a MK7.5 GTI. From my perspective the Civic SI coupe is the spiritual successor to the Prelude and prompts some nostalgia on my part. I'd readily concede that 2 door coupes are more stylish than 4 door vehicles. But with a spouse, a teenage daughter and a big dog the 4 doors and hatch in my GTI is so much more versatile and practical than a true coupe that I couldn't give it up. And if I didn't value the hatchback's cargo space so highly I'd opt for the VW GLI with its GTI engine/drivetrain over the Civic. Different strokes for different folks.
I would love a hatchback Si and have it be the better 2.0T motor the 1.5t has a lot of problems weak powerband rev hang and oil dilution the 2.0t motor is great in my accord would love it in the civic
Cross shopped this and the Hyundai Veloster Turbo R Spec... Went with the Veloster R-Spec due to the discounts, style, handling, and fantastic short shifter. The Civic Si are great cars but I definitely had more fun in the Veloster R Spec.
I think the best feature that SI models got is that factory Helical LSD. Even you can install an aftermarket one on Sport Hatch, but that will definitely void the warranty, which is not a good thing for sure and might cause some reliability issues.
I had the opportunity to drive this same car today, albeit in white, and the first thing I noticed was the rev hang and high clutch. I daily a 2006 Accord 6-6 and it was very unsettling to say the least.
In Canada, I can get the LX sedan (similar info centre and heated seats) for $8500 less. At that reduced price, you get an engine that starts to sing when the 1.5t needs to be short-sifted and no need to manageable rev-hang. Also suspect that LX Sedan is lighter around the turns and doesn't require LSD because of better distribution of power over rev range (another way to say significantly less torque). Would be cool if Matt got his hand on a 6MT Sport Sedan to do a back to back comparison. Granted, extra 100lb of toxic weight in Sport Sedan vs LX Sedan would come into play, but it'd still would give us a really good idea , if the old-school Civic still exist in the form of a base 6mt sedan.
Would you buy this over the Veloster Turbo R Spec if You have to spend your own money You can not do any mods And you had to drive it daily for 5 years or more ??? Anyone compared the two cars before making a purchase ?
They need to give the Si auto rev matching to lessen or remove the rev-hang. I mean if Toyota can put it on the lowly Corolla Hatch then why can't Honda ? How much would it cost for them to bring that one feature over from the Type R to make the Si better.
Drives well enough, but that powertrain needs some help. That rev hang and fake engine noise...no thank you🥴 Personally, I’d like to see the Si get the Type R 2.0T detuned to like 220-230 hp. I bet the fuel economy wouldn’t take a huge hit, and I think a modest price increase would be fair for the increased power. Make those changes, and then we’ll talk. Until then, it’ll be a Veloster R-Spec for me. And also, if any company should be able to prove that a turbocharged engine can sound good without crackles and pops or fake engine noise, it’s Honda...smh.
The rev hang on the manuals is so bad they should just put the CVT in the Si. Waiting for the ECU to close the throttle for emissions while I'm holding in the clutch is not my idea of fun.
I had a 8th gen Si, Now a 12' 9th gen. Might start looking for a low mileage '15. Still not a fan of the 10th gen. These cars are amazing daily drivers!
my local honda dealer let me drive a 2018 si coupe while my 2013 Si was getting an oil change and i was not impressed at all lol. they tried to get me to trade my car in and i told them to their face “FUCK nooo haha”
I had a 17 si and now the 20. It actually sounds pretty cool. It's not that bad...I know it sounds pretty shitty though the vid but in person ur like damn, it sounds aight hahah
The wrx has open front and rear diffs now only 2 wheels delivering power just like the civic so it really doesnt have too much of an advantage. Ill say from experience a fwd car with lsd dominates in snow
Great review, as always, Matt. Overall a nice car, but that rev hang is ridiculous. It ruins the manual driving experience, which is one of the main reasons for wanting a car like the Si. Can't be good for clutch life, either. It's hard to believe that hitting reasonable emissions/fuel economy targets requires programming in that amount of rev hang.
Yeah, and Hondas seem to have it more than most for some reason. The Veloster Turbos don't really have it. The Corolla hatch has a little but it's not as bad.
I had a 2020 Si Coupe for about 2 and a half years. I loved it at first and was planning on keeping it until it died but I noticed how bad the rev hang was and the clutch was trash as well. It was slipping ever since I got the car. The rev hang and the bad clutch eventually made me decide to trade it in and I got a 2023 Subaru WRX. Love the WRX way more because there's no rev hang and the clutch in it is good. I disabled the rev hang in the Si with Hondata for a little bit but the rpm's still dropped slow which got annoying after awhile. The hotter it was outside, the slower the rpm's dropped. The colder it was, the faster they dropped. The rev hang drove me bonkers. I hated it. It's a nice car that's ruined by the rev hang. I will not be buying another Si again.
Former 2020 Si Coupe owner. I agree. It was terrible when I had it. Traded the car in Friday and I couldn't be any happier. It completely killed the driving experience for me.
Emissions controls. When you take your foot off the gas after a hard acceleration, you get a spike in emissions, so the ECU gently lets the throttle out. It sounds stupid, I know. Burning more gas somehow cuts emissions. Also, it's not just the SI, almost all have it these days. Just some are worse than others.
They should have come from the factory without rev hang in Sport Mode and however they wanted in Non-Sport mode. That way they could have got whatever EPA credits or whatnot and we could have disabled if wanted. The Si should have always been tuned for "performance" nothing else.
@@subvet3668 that is true but some regard its performance is better on the track. It beat the 8th gen and 9th gen by 10 secs on the virginia track. Its better then the accord 2.0t by 4 secs as well. But still why put rev hang to save fuel if its performance. I really think they toned down because of the type r. If the type r wasnt released here in the states that rev hang would be gone.
Hey Matt, I am curious how the enhanced sound is in person. On camera is sounds very strange (near redline) but maybe thats just the video? What are your thoughts?
To me, it just accentuates the sounds the engine already makes, but it does sound a little synthetic. I'd say it sounds about the same in real life as it does in the video.
Hey Matt! Would you wanna do another review on a 2013 focus st2? I know you’ve done one before this one is stage one but mostly stock and just hit 100k thought you might wanna do a 100k review on one
Thank you for the offer! I try to only review cars I haven’t done yet so that I can cover as many vehicles as possible. That’s awesome that yours has hit 100k though, that’s a huge achievement! I hope I get there in the Bullitt eventually.
I want one, I can drive stick pretty damn good. Is the rev hang really all that bad? I don’t shift all that quick and probably won’t beat on it too much, will I notice it?
From an engineering perspective, can someone explain why the couldn't have shortened the gear ratios for 1-5 and leave 6 taller for a lower RPM (better fuel economy) at highway speed?
The only thing I do not like about the high performance tire option is that you're limited to only 3 different exterior colors. Thats lame. Makes no sense.
I like the civic si. Always have but this generation is not "tall people" friendly. I'm 6 foot 2 and my head hits the roof even if the seat is all the way down. It's like anyone over 6 feet tall might be a bit to talk for this car.
The Si ends up being almost half the price of a Type R. The type r is like 37 k and about 40 k after tax while I got my Si coupe new for 21 k after taxes and licensing.
@@jimmypena2442 22 k* sorry. I got it during a memorial day sale or something. The coupes don't sell as well as the sedan so you can usually get a deal on them. I'm from California btw if that helps
@@aseeds7785 the thing is, even without the markup, the dealer might not be willing to negotiate that much on the type R. The type R MSRP is 37 k and the dealer doesn't budge much on that and I'm from California so the tax and licensing pushes to 40 k+
Rev hang sucks. On some cars, when it's a hot day, it's almost impossible to drive aggressively without smashing through gears. Honestly, I think it's dangerous. You can count your fingers between shifts.
The hotter it was outside, the worse it was to me. I had a 2020 Si Coupe and it was terrible. I ended up trading the car in on Friday and rev hang was a huge reason as to why I got rid of it.
