2017: the return of the driver’s Civic!
- Details
- Published on Friday, August 25, 2017
photo by Dan Cowell
The 2017 Honda Civic Si has an excellent quality interior and a number of unique, model specific features.
2017 Honda Civic at a glance
Powertrain: 1.5 litre four cylinder turbo with 180 horsepower, 177/(162) pound feet of torque, 6-speed manual/(CVT auto), Civic hatch; 1.5 litre four cylinder turbo with 205 horsepower, 192 pound feet of torque, 6-speed manual (Civic Si sedan); 2.0 litre four cylinder turbo with 306 horsepower, 295 pound feet of torque, 6-speed manual (Civic Type R hatch).
Trim levels: Sport, Sport Touring, Si, Type R
Starting price: $25,290 (Sport Hatch manual), $28,495 (Civic Si sedan manual), $40,890 (Civic Type R Hatch manual)
Price as tested: $28,495 (Si Sedan manual)
Highway fuel economy: 6.2 L/100 km (Sport/Sport Touring/Si); 8.3 L/100 km (Type R)
Test fuel economy: 7.1 L/100 km combined (Civic Si Sedan manual))
Warranty: 3 years/60,000 kilometres bumper-to-bumper; 5 years/100,000 kilometres powertrain
Service interval: Variable as per oil life monitor
By Ben Castle
The Neepawa Banner
This time last year, I reviewed the then new 10th-generation 2016 Honda Civic sedan in turbocharged Touring guise. I came away very impressed with its more mature, distinctive styling, interior quality and space, large trunk, improved refinement and more powerful and economical new engines. It was easy to see why the 2016 Honda Civic sedan was christened 2016 AJAC vehicle of the year, as the car was a giant leap forward over and above its predecessor and actually made me question why you would need to buy the larger, more expensive mid-size Honda Accord. So why am I testing the Honda Civic again in 2017?
Just one thing disappointed me about the new 2016 Civic sedan. The ride and steering were great and the chassis showed a lot of potential, but the Civic, with its multi-link rear suspension, high-revving naturally aspirated VTEC engines and slick manual transmissions, has always been the sporty choice in the compact car sector and here it fell a little short. The 1.5 litre turbocharged engine had ample power, but lacked some character compared to its non-turbocharged predecessors, it didn’t feel as quick as I had hoped and with the standard CVT automatic transmission, lacked a Sport mode or paddleshifters, so felt a little uninvolving for the keen driver. You could still get a manual transmission, but were limited to the base 2 litre engine and entry level DX or LX trims.
For 2017, you can still get all those Civic sedan and coupe models as before, but Honda has been busy and launched not just one, but three sports-oriented new Civics: Civic four door hatch, Si sedan, Type R hatch. The European-built Civic four-door hatchback is a new bodystyle for 2017 and the first Civic hatchback available in North America since 2005. In my opinion, the base LX hatchback is less attractive than the sedan, but the Sport and Sport Touring hatchback models really look the part, with 18 inch aluminum wheels, dual centre-exit exhausts, fog lights and front, side and rear skirt package. The hatchback gains a massive 728 litre trunk and a really neat cargo cover that retracts from the side but you lose around an inch of rear legroom over the sedan and the centre-exit exhaust means that you lose the spare wheel.
Next up is the Civic Si Sedan. It gets more power and gains some additional features. Civic Si is available with a six-speed manual transmission only and for an extra $400, you can also get it in the rakish coupe bodystyle.
Finally, the Civic Type R hatchback is expensive, but with a 305 horsepower, 2 litre turbocharged engine, six-speed manual transmission and “Fast and Furious” style bodykit, the Type R is the ultimate Civic and has caused a bit of a stir in Europe, where it has set the lap time record for a front-wheel drive car around the legendary Nurburgring race track in Germany. Yes, it is quite expensive and for this reason and limited numbers, it will always be rare, but don’t dismiss it, it’s as quick around a race circuit as a previous generation Corvette Z06 and is putting out more power than the Acura NSX supercar was 20 years ago!
My tester supplied by Forman Honda in Brandon was the $28,495 Civic Si sedan in striking Aegean blue. In photographs, some of the styling “enhancements” of the Si model, such as the gloss black front grille, rear wing spoiler, centre exhaust finisher and black plastic honeycomb panels on the front and rear fascias look a little awkward, but in the metal and particularly in this colour, I think that it looks great and very smart.
Inside, the unique Si specific seats hold you in place well and are very supportive, you have a very cool digital rev counter, the instruments light up red when you’re in Sport mode and you have change up lights, which tell you to shift when you reach the red line, just like in a race car! Overall, you benefit from the excellent interior quality and space of the regular Civic sedan, but the cabin is special enough for you to know that you’re sitting in the sports model.
A few minor annoyances are that at 379 litres, you lose a little trunk space over the regular sedan (428 litres) and the rear spoiler feels a little flimsy when you shut the trunk. The metal-topped shifter looks fantastic, but can get a bit hot to the touch in the sun! Also, the infotainment system is not the most intuitive system around and you have to use the touchscreen to control most functions, such as the ventilation controls and the heated seats, which can be tricky in bright sunlight.
It’s very easy to recommend the Civic Si. It may be down on power and torque compared to rivals, but it is around $6,000 cheaper and also being lighter, it doesn’t really feel significantly slower.
The Civic Si has been the go to sports compact choice in North America for the last 30 years, thanks to its reliability, performance, a sporty drive, low running costs and value for money. This new one continues that legacy, whilst adding more accessible performance, refinement and better all-round liveability to that winning formula.
