2025 Honda Civic Si is a sporty, do-it-all, manual compact car – Reviews

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It wasn’t long ago when the Civic Si was the go-to sport compact car of choice, with high-school and college-aged car enthusiasts eagerly scooping them up to get some driving fun at a reasonable price. Things have changed since then. Those teens and young adults have grown up with an automotive industry shifting towards crossovers and electrified rides. The 2025 Honda Civic Si has grown up too, with a mild refresh that reminds people that driving fun is still out there, though it’s far from what we remember as kids.

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What’s new with the Honda Civic Si for 2025?

For 2025, the Honda Civic Si maintains its sedan-only body style. Those seeking a hatch will be encouraged to check out the heavier, though just as powerful (with more torque too!) Civic Hatchback Hybrid, while the coupe has been out of the rotation for a while now.

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The refreshed Civic Si gets a few exterior tweaks, with a different lower grille, redesigned matte-black wheels, and darker tail lights. The cabin gets smarter with an infotainment system that includes Google integration, USB-C ports, and wireless support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

While most of the running gear and safety equipment is the same as last year, it’s all been refined and tweaked to give the 2025 Si a more modern and grown-up feel, though owners of the 2024 likely won’t turn green in envy of any one feature.

Tech and safety in the 2025 Honda Civic Si

Still, it’s refreshing to jump into a manual-only vehicle like the Si and still get treated to a thorough suite of safety-minded technology. Just because one likes to drive, doesn’t mean they don’t mind something like adaptive cruise control or lane-keeping assistance, which are both standard on the 2025 Si. The emergency collision avoidance system can now spot motorcycles and bicycles in addition to pedestrians, and the Si gets standard blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert, which were all lacking in the previous model.

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The Civic Si also sports a pair of innovative airbags that I (happily) didn’t get to test. The driver airbag is a doughnut shape that cradles the head and prevents rotation in a collision, which can mitigate some spinal and brain injuries. The front passenger airbag has a three-chamber design which also cradles the occupant’s head to prevent rotation.

In addition to the safety gear, the new Civic Si boasts a nine-inch infotainment system that integrates Google services like Google Assistant and Google Maps. The system also supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, ensuring everyone can enjoy the system, not just those locked into Google’s ecosystem. The Si also has a nice digital gauge cluster which is easy to use and customize with the steering wheel buttons. Above the gauge cluster is a shift light made up of several bright LEDs which come together as you reach the rev limiter to remind you to shift. It looks right out of a race car or racing sim-rig and is a nice touch for those picking an Si for its approachable performance.

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The automaker claims that the Si has a best-in-class audio system. I didn’t get to test it on every SiriusXM channel, but the few I did listen to sounded solid, thanks to the standard 12-speaker Bose setup.

Is the 2025 Honda Civic Si practical?

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Thanks to its four doors and standard safety gear, the 2025 Si takes on a more grown-up appeal, and as such, it’s also worth mentioning how much more spacious it is, especially compared to other compacts in the market. The interior feels far more spacious compared with a Mazda3 or Hyundai Elantra Sedan, and the Honda offers more cargo room.

With exterior proportions in spitting distance of the BMW 3-Series Sport Sedan, it’s clear that the Civic Si is a bit more accommodating for daily commutes than it once was.

Is the 2025 Honda Civic Si fun to drive?

However, we used to believe the Si trims were meant to prioritize fun-to-drive characteristics over everything else. That’s getting harder to believe, thanks to the addition and focus on things like technology, safety and practicality, but the Si still has a few elements that enthusiasts will appreciate.

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It’s one of the few manual-only models on the market today, and the six-speed is very nice to row through. I never had any concerns about vague gears or uncomfortable pedal placement, the Si was a joy to shift, and watching the light bar illuminate to redline was a fun gimmick. Furthermore, the Si includes a rev-matching downshift feature, which feels seamless. It’s been upgraded this year to operate during the harrowing 2nd to 1st downshift, which is typically a weird, occasionally rough downshift to perform in motion. This setup is much smoother.

Under the hood is a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 200 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. It’s an acceptable fit for the Civics but lacks personality. There’s no characteristic noise or build-up of power, it just does what it needs to do and gets the car going quickly. The Si also boasts a limited-slip front differential, designed to efficiently put power to the road. I suppose it could be used to prevent torque steer or any unwanted dynamics that come with the usual sporty front-wheel-drive car, but at 3,000 lbs, the Civic Si never felt too powerful to get in its own way.

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The handling borders the line of engaging and responsive. The 2025 Si has been designed with new supports at the lower B-pillar and door sills to improve rigidity, making it the most rigid Si ever, for whatever that’s worth. The suspension has been retuned to accommodate these chassis tweaks, but the outcome isn’t ultra-engaging. In my hands though, I will say the steering has been marginally improved. It still lacks feedback, but it is at least properly weighted now in the Sport mode to provide more confidence when on the road. The Si boasts larger brakes than the Civic Sedan and includes 18-inch performance-oriented all-season tires.

Honda hasn’t revealed fuel consumption figures for the 2025 model, but it shouldn’t be far from the 7.7 L/100 km combined that the 2024 model offered.

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2025 Honda Civic Si’s value and competition

The Civic used to be known for fairly basic transportation, and the Si was the sportier edge of that classification, but today the Civic is so much more. It’s loaded with safety, space, and tech and is still enjoyable to drive, but it all comes with a serious cost.

With a starting price of $37,816, the Si doesn’t feel like the bargain it used to be. That’s how things change though. A similarly performing Hyundai Elantra N-Line is slightly cheaper ($33,905), as is the Mazda3 GT ($36,426), though those don’t offer manual transmissions. [Update: it turns out that, while hard to come by, a six-speed manual can still be had in the 2025 Mazda3 GT. —Ed.] The Mazda3 even offers shoppers with deeper pockets to swap in all-wheel-drive and a 250-hp turbo engine, which makes it stand out in the segment.

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It’s also important to note, that the automaker offers a Civic Hybrid with 200 horsepower and 232-lb-ft of torque which is almost as much fun to drive as the Si, while delivering 5.0 L/100 km combined, offering a tangible trade-off for opting for a continuously variable transmission-powered compact.

Final thoughts

We’ve all grown up, the Honda Civic included, and unfortunately that means a Civic can’t just be a Civic anymore. It needs to be a bit of everything, and the Si adopts that mentality, acting as a commuter car, a family car, a sporty car and one loaded with cool tech. That helps justify the relatively high price, but it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. For a do-it-all sedan with a stick, there are few better choices.

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