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The Civic Si gets a few key styling tweaks for 2025
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The sedan is only offered with a 6-speed manual transmission
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Civic Si among the highest-priced cars in the class at more than $31,000
I have never bought a car that didn’t have a manual transmission. Sure, I have a truck with an automatic, but I inherited it—and trucks don’t count. From the Toyota Celica to the Jeep Wrangler to the Honda del Sol to way too many Miatas, all my cars have had three pedals, as God intended.
God, apparently, has been on a break as manual transmissions have been harder and harder to find, even in the enthusiast world. I get it. I’ll never be able to shift as quickly as a high-tech automatic, and driving today’s crowded roads can be a drag when rowing your own, but damn it, I want to feel involved!
The good news is that engagement is still possible thanks to Honda and the 2025 Civic Si. It’s the best-selling car with a manual transmission in America and while it doesn’t tick every box for me, I can’t deny that it is a pleasure to drive and incorporates some tech that makes driving a manual in traffic an easier proposition.
2025 Honda Civic Si, Emme Hall photo
2025 Honda Civic Si, Emme Hall photo
2025 Honda Civic Si, Emme Hall photo
You can think of the Civic Si as the Civic Type R’s less-rowdy sibling. With 200 hp on tap, it can’t touch the Type R in terms of brute strength, but it doesn’t look like it was designed by a 12-year old boy. For 2025, the front fascia is a bit more pronounced, but I dig the new matte-black 18-inch wheels. The taillights are a bit darker, and without the Type R’s obnoxious wing the rear end almost looks sophisticated.
Honda says the Civic Si comes in “four sporty colors,” but three of those colors are black, white, and gray. Nice try, Honda. Some gloss-black bits dot the exterior, but by and large it’s a handsome package as long as you choose the one actual sporty color on offer, Rallye Red.
The refined aesthetic continues inside as well, with soft-touch materials and physical HVAC controls. There is a fair amount of contrasting red stitching and trim, which looks cool, and the red and black seats have an incorporated headrest just like the Recaro seats in my race car. Honda listened to complaints and added a heating element to these seats as well. With three levels of heat my buns get both hot and crossed on the highest setting—yay!—but the seats will drop down to level two after a bit—boo! Give me my hot crossed buns for my entire drive.
New this year is a larger 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster and the addition of Google built-in to the 9.0-inch infotainment screen. This gives you Google Assistant that can check the weather, change the HVAC settings, or skip to the next audio track. Third-party apps can be downloaded through Google Play, and of course Google maps is here as well. Buyers get a three-year data subscription free but Honda has not announced final pricing.
One thing I notice, however, is that I have to use Google maps via the standard wireless Apple CarPlay—or Android Auto for those so inclined—to follow the drive route Honda wants me to take. Organizers of the event built the route using waypoints, which isn’t possible to set up via the native Google maps. It’s a small thing, but it’s tough to swallow paying for something that isn’t as robust as what I can get with Apple CarPlay for free. I guess it will depend on that undetermined final subscription fee.
2025 Honda Civic Si
This first drive event takes place on the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway in Tennessee. I put the Si into Sport mode and let her rip. It’s easy to exploit the 200 ponies and 192 lb-ft of torque put out by the little 1.5-liter turbo-4 on this road. Power goes to the front wheels only in the Si, and though I’m more of a rear-wheel drive gal, the car is a pleasure to pilot. I’m in Sport mode with a slightly more sensitive throttle calibration than in Normal mode. In theory, the steering should require a bit more effort as well, but on this road it’s tough to tell. The Si doesn’t sport adaptive dampers so regardless of mode you’ll feel the same composed ride quality.
I meander through easy, sweeping corners and long straightaways all while feeling like I’m driving close to the car’s limit. I’ve always opined that folks don’t need a ton of power unless they’ll be doing plenty of track days and the Civic Si proves my point. With a relatively svelte curb weight of 2,952 pounds, I can get on the throttle, zip up to the 6,600 rpm redline, and wring out the car while keeping it in the pipe in relative safety.
The 6-speed manual just makes the experience better. It has a rev-matching feature, but you can turn it off and practice your heel-toe skills. There is a touch of frustrating rev hang, but the pedal isn’t too heavy and the shifter’s throws are crisp.
New this year are the shift indicator lights lifted out of the Type R. If you’re new to driving a manual this can help you get the most out of your gearing, but older folks will likely just go by sound and instinct.
Honda says that the Si has improved rigidity and a retuned suspension to go along with it, but it’s tough to feel any difference on this road. As beautiful as it is, the corners are pretty expansive. I’d like to get this little guy on a mountain road where the corners come up quicker and turn more sharply to see how it handles weight transfer and understeer. I have no doubt that the standard limited-slip front differential and the optional Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 summer tires can aid grip through the twisties, but this road isn’t really showcasing those traits.
2025 Honda Civic Si
2025 Honda Civic Si
2025 Honda Civic Si
On the way back to the hotel I have an opportunity to drive in a bit of stop-and-go traffic. Honda updated the Honda Sensing driver-assist technology, and I can tell that the active lane control is less jerky than it has been previously as it corrects my position. In general, I’m not a fan of active lane control, but this one gets the job done discreetly. Honda says adaptive cruise control features smoother acceleration and deceleration on hills and that the emergency braking tech can better spot motorcycles and pedestrians when turning. I’ll have to take the company’s word on those last two as I don’t have the opportunity to test those features.
However, the rush-hour traffic is an excellent showcase of the rev-matching, which now works when downshifting from second to first gear. This shift is the bane of every manual-commuters’ existence and Honda makes the transition very smooth and painless. As much as I like to manually heel-toe shift when carving a canyon, I hate to do it at 15 mph. The Civic Si makes it easy.
If fuel economy is your jam, the Civic Si will not disappoint. The EPA gives it a rating of 27 mpg in the city, 37 on the highway, and 31 combined. With 30 mpg combined, the Mazda3 hatchback comes close, with the added bonus of more cargo space. However, other front-wheel drive offerings, such as the Volkswagen Jetta GLI and Kia Forte, sit at 28 mpg and 26 mpg combined respectively.
The 2025 Honda Civic Si starts at $31,045 including $1,095 for destination. The summer shoes are a bargain, adding just $300 to the bottom line. However, the price is damn near at the top of the food chain when it comes to front-wheel-drive compact fun. The GLI has more horsepower and torque for a bit less, while the Kia Forte offers as much power and torque as the Si for about $5,000 less. Only the Mazda3 hatchback is more spendy, but then only by a few hundred dollars.
2025 Honda Civic Si
Plenty of rear-wheel-drive competitors are out there, too, offering comparable power and torque for the same price or a bit more. The Toyota GR86, Subaru BRZ, and Mazda Miata are all good choices, though they’re much smaller and less practical than the Civic Si.
While I personally wouldn’t buy the 2025 Civic Si due to its front-wheel-drive layout, I have no problem recommending it to anyone. It’s not as bonkers as the Type R, yet it’s still something folks will look forward to driving. It’s not the cheapest in the class, but the fuel economy can make up for the initial hit. However, I wouldn’t recommend paying for Google built-in once the trial period is over unless the subscription fee ends up being very low. Apple CarPlay is free, y’all.
Honda paid for travel and lodging for Motor Authority to bring you this first-hand report.
