The Honda Civic has been a popular car worldwide thanks to its affordable prices, fuel efficiency, fun driving characteristics, and reliability. The Honda Civic makes for a perfect family sedan, whether you’re an Unfinished Man or a fully finished family man. However, that doesn’t mean the Civic isn’t popular among the younger crowd, the Civic is one of the most tuned cars. There are hundreds of thousands of tuned Civics roaming the streets around the world with ridiculous amounts of power, fancy paint jobs, sporty wheels, and huge spoilers… we can’t forget the huge spoilers!
As fun as tunning a Civic is, some of us like factory-tuned cars that don’t need much work to be track ready. Thankfully Honda still offers sportier versions of the Civic for those that want a reliable sporty vehicle that’s great for hauling the family around and can be taken on twisty roads or even to the track.
Honda introduced the 11th generation Civic for the 2022 model year, a car that seems a cleaner exterior look and a premium interior. Honda didn’t forget about the car enthusiast, with the introduction of the Civic Si and Civic Type-R.
Last week I had the chance to review a 2023 Honda Civic Si, the sportier version of the standard Civic, but not as sporty as the Type-R, which we hope to review at some point in the next year or two. In this article, we’ll go over the features, prices, technical specs, and our expert opinion on the 2023 Honda Civic Si.
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2023 Honda Civic Si Canadian Prices
The 2023 Honda Civic Si is offered in only one trim in Canada, and there is no coupe or hatchback version of the Si; however, the hatchback is available in non-Si trims. The 2023 Civic Si has a starting price of $36,630 and is offered with 5 exterior colors. The colors are the only options other than some dealer-installed accessories and extended warranty options. The above price does not include $1,830 for Freight & PDI and taxes.
In the United States, the Civic Si is also offered in the same trim and only as a sedan. The US price for a 2023 Civic Si is $28,800 plus $1,095 for Freight & Delivery.
2023 Honda Civic Si Engine/Driving
The 2023 Honda Civic Si is powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine with direct injection, producing 200 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 192 pound-feet of torque between 1,800 – 5,000 rpm. This is 5 HP less than the 2018 Civic Si we reviewed in 2017 but with the same torque figure. Power is sent to the front wheels via a smooth-shifting 6-speed manual transmission with the rev-matching feature. The Civic Si is not offered with an automatic transmission.
Driving the Civic Si
The Civic sedan is quite a sporty vehicle and with each new generation, it gets a bit more fun to drive. I enjoyed driving the 2022 Civic Touring, the Civic Si takes the same formula but adds in even more sport. The Si is a perfect blend of sport and comfort, it’s sportier than the regular Civic but not as sporty as the Type-R. The 2023 Civic Si is not too sporty that you feel uncomfortable during your daily commutes but is sporty enough to make those commutes a lot more fun.
The 1.5-liter turbocharged engine has more than enough grunt for driving in the city or at highway speeds, especially when you take it up the rev range. It even comes with rev-indicator lights placed in the gauge cluster area, at 5,000 rpm the orange lights come and as you get closer to the rev limiter, they change color to red. At lower revs, the engine feels very tame and easy to live with. Once you build up the revs and get some boost going into the turbocharges, the car feels very alive and is very fun to drive. 200 HP is more than enough for a car like this, for driving around the city and on the highways. I mean, more power is always good, but we have to be realistic about what is enough power. But if you must have more power in a Civic, you can always step up to the more powerful Civic Type-R.
The 6-speed manual is smooth shifting with precise throws and the clutch is light. With the built-in rev-matching feature, you’ll feel like a race car driving with every perfectly timed and rev-matched downshift. The manual transmission is not something very common nowadays, so it’s always a treat to drive a fun little car with a smooth-shifting manual transmission. It’s great to see some manufacturers are still producing manual transmissions, especially on sporty cars.
The suspension on the Civic Si is a nice blend of sport and comfort. Unlike the previous generation Si, the 2023 model doesn’t come with an adaptive suspension. If you want that suspension, you’ll need to step up to the re-introduced Acura Integra. I found the suspension to be quite good, our roads are smooth, so it performed perfectly, I can’t say how it’ll perform on pothole-filled roads. The steering feel is also on the sporty side, it’s neither too light nor too heavy. Again, a nice blend of sport and comfort.
2023 Civic Si Styling
The styling for the 11th-generation Civic took a big step forward, in my opinion. The previous generation Civic’s design was way too busy with lots of fake vents and unnecessary body lines. The new Civic gets rid of all that and goes back to a simpler and cleaner design.
The Civic Si takes the same formula as the regular Civic but adds in some minor differences. At the front, the grills feature a honeycomb design compared to the horizontal lines of the regular Civic. You’d need to compare pictures or have both cars next to each other to notice this difference. The Si comes with different wheels, black twin-5-spokes on our review car, and the side profile removes the chrome around the windows found on our Civic Touring and replaces it with black material. The Civic Si’s rear features a black lip spoiler and dual exhaust tips, the regular Civic hides the exhaust tips under the rear bumper.
The changes are subtle but with the black wheels, side trim, and the thin spoiler, they do give the Civic Si a bit of a sporty touch.
2023 Civic Si Interior
The interior of the Civic Si is the exact same one found on the regular Civic. The only difference is the addition of the sporty bucket seats, which come in red/black, the addition of red stitching on the steering wheel, and the red pinstripes surrounding the honeycomb grill on the dashboard.
The bucket seats give the Si a sporty look and they’re also great at holding you in place when the car is on twisty roads and should be good at the track. The interior is comfortable and decently quiet, the rear seats don’t get the sporty treatment as the front seats, but it’s still comfortable and provides plenty of leg and headroom.
Final Thoughts on the 2023 Honda Civic Si
Honda did a great job with the new 11th-generation Civic; they’ve cleaned up the exterior styling and given it a modern interior. The Civic Si uses the same formula but adds in some extra sportiness. The Civic Si is a fun car to drive around city streets and is also fun on twisty roads. The more I drove it, the more I enjoyed driving it. It is a good blend of sport and comfort and is a great car for those looking for a practical family car but that’s also fun when you need it to be.
2023 Honda Civic Si Review Photo Gallery
