2014 appears to be the year of the Coupe as Torque News and others compare a plethora of quality engineered performance 2 door offering. The Civic Si stands out in the crowd as a tech laden, quick, reliable, easy to look at contender for small performance coupe of the year.
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There, I said it. The coupe rendition of America’s best selling small sedan offers comfort, great drivability and style, at a price that most budgets can accommodate without refinancing the farm.
As you can see when logging into the home page of Torque News, the world has no shortage of performance coupes. From $20,000 to $1 million, you will find Asian, Domestic and European manufactures pushing factory production and concept coupes.
Utilizing California Design Studio inspired automotive architecture, race development, bench-mark engineering standards and the latest injection of high tech gadgetry, Acura, BMW,Hyundai,Mazda, Mercedes and others successfully compete to capture a corner of North America’s lucrative automotive marketplace.
The current accelerated state of evolution in automotive engineering and design is mind boggling. The 2014 Civic Si Coupe HFP fast forwards Honda’s long standing tradition of progressive, Eco conscious, automotive evolution. While automotive news reporters speculate as to a yet unreleased power band specification of the greatly anticipated 2015 Civic Type “ R” 2.0 Turbo, the North American Si normally aspirated version is available for order now.
Starting @ $22,515, the base model coupe offers the majority of ‘standard’ features found on all Si Coupes. Fully loaded, the Si Coupe equipped with the optional Honda Factory Performance (HFP) body upgrade will set you back $26,000+. But, what you get for your money is a 201 hp 2.4 liter, 16 valve DOHC 1-VTEC 4 cylinder engine, married to a close ratio 6 speed manual transmission with a limited slip differential and electronic rev-limiter indicator. Effectively a head turning, European metric tuner killer...
This is the same ‘ base’ engine offered in the larger 2014 Accord EX-L Coupe. What Honda engineering has done here is tune the engine up a notch and added 16 hp for the much lighter Civic Si.The power to weight ratio of this Civic is ample teetering on exhilarating. Want to kick it up a notch? Chip it.
The fit and finish of the Civic Si Coupe screams quality meets high tech automotive race inspired sophistication. This reporter at 6’5, can fit(seat adjusted full back position) into the car with relative comfort.
I appreciate the seating, pedal and shifter positioning. In my opinion for a small car, the Civic offers driver ergonomics second to none. Honda’s ‘Bluetooth’ compatible I-Mid power monitor display, drive by wire technology, S1 interior design cues and accents complete a world class act that weighs in at under 3,000 lbs. in its 9th generation, this Civic will prove to be tough competitor in the fly-weight division of quality import coupes.
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I was looking at 2009 Civic
I was looking at 2009 Civic today on the street and was amazed at how far the styling and over-all design had morphed in a handful of years. Then again, Honda has re-designed the Civic 3 times in as many years. How far will they push it?
I think the key thing here is
I think the key thing here is the statement, "to dominate." As is, the Civic will not sit favourably in my books. If they do turbo it, the buyers will come. So much so Honda will be fighting them off with a stick. If not, then its just the next Civic SI and my, like many others, attention will be sniffing around elsewhere.
I agree with you Mike. There
I agree with you Mike. There's a lot of competition out there. As you state, it will take a bit more than a cosmetic makeover to displace Mazda and others. I do believe the 2.0 Earth Dreams turbo is in the future for the Civic. When? I couldn't tell you. Thanks for dropping in...