There are very few affordable performance sedans left on sale today. There should be absolutely no surprise that the 2026 Honda Civic Si is one of them, because for nearly 40 years, the Si has been one of the best.
Even though there aren’t as many competitors as there once were, the Si remains excellent — not content to be just good enough, even against cars that cost a whole lot more.
It’s easy to look at the Si’s spec sheet and see a car that doesn’t make any more horsepower than it did 20 years ago. It’s a car that is larger and heavier, and has now been supplanted by the more extreme Civic Type R. Ignore all of those things, though, because to get lost in the spec sheet means you’ll miss what matters with this car.
What matters is what it feels like from behind the wheel. What matters is what it makes you feel while you’re accelerating, braking, and turning the car. And if you like driving, those feelings should be good, even if they aren’t exactly the same as they were in cars 20 years ago.
In short: The Honda Civic is a gem — a small and affordable car that delivers performance and joy that is nearly impossible to find elsewhere in a new 2025 vehicle.
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Sublime steering -
Endless torque -
Ultra-slick shifting -
Massive cabin -
Hybrid-like fuel economy
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Cheap-feeling seats -
Loud cabin -
Misaligned screen -
Unflattering exhaust sounds
2026 Honda Civic Si Review
The 2026 Honda Civic Si is only available with a manual transmission. This has been true of the Si since its introduction in 1986, and Honda has never offered an automatic transmission with a true Si badge.
The latest version has added rev-matching, which makes it a little more accessible for anyone who isn’t confident with three pedals, but the feature hasn’t taken the shine off the car — or removed that gatekeeper.
Fortunately, the six-speed is a joy. The linkage, like every Civic Si that has come before it, is the embodiment of precision. It’s not perfect; the gap between one and three seems tighter than that between three and five. But it’s about as close as you’ll find to it.
The shifter and linkage are Si-specific parts, the now-dead manual basic Civic’s manual was like stirring oatmeal with bricks in the bowl. I daresay that if it had been available on both, the stick-shift Civic would still be alive.
Short throws, precise engagement, and a shift knob that feels perfect — as long as you keep the sun off of it. I could go on about it all day, but there are plenty of other parts of this car to love.
This is the ninth generation of the Si. Until Generation seven, it came with a series of increasingly powerful high-revving naturally aspirated engines. That party ended in 2012 when Honda switched to a 2.4L four in the name of more torque. The eighth -en swapped that for a 1.5L turbo-four, and many enthusiasts were not happy.
Less Power, But It Doesn’t Feel Like It
I can’t blame them. This generation makes 200 horsepower, which is 5 horsepower less than the last car, and on paper, not more than it made in 2007.
But this car makes torque, and it makes it in massive quantities. With 192 pound-feet on tap from what seems like idle, the 1.5 is supremely tractable. On the highway at 1,500 rpm in sixth? No problem, hit the gas and after a moment of building boost, the car pulls forward like a train.
The 2026 Honda Civic Si has loads of torque, but it’s also still fun. No, it can’t zip to an 8,300 rpm redline like it could two decades ago, but when you want it to, it will still zip to its lower redline. Think about it this way: fewer revs just gives you more opportunities to stick that six-speed into another gear.
This engine is also shockingly easy on fuel. No matter how enthusiastically I drove the car, or powered up a mountainside, average fuel economy never dipped below 40 mpg.
Still Comes With All the Performance Hardware
Honda has given the Si a slightly louder exhaust, but I wish it hadn’t. This isn’t an engine that sounds good, and buyers who want noise will add “high performance aftermarket exhausts” on their own anyway. As is, it’s just mildly irritating, which detracts from its highway ride.
It does come with a helical limited-slip front differential as standard, and that plays a key part in how much fun this car is on the road. You’ll never need to worry about spinning just the inside front tire in a corner, no matter how hard you are on the gas. It’s not a clutch-operated unit, so it has more positive engagement and better results.
No Steering Feel, But Plenty of Predictability
The Si is immensely controllable in a way front-drive cars just aren’t. Add more throttle in a corner, and the nose pushes out just like it would in the best rear-drive cars. Lift and the nose immediately tucks back in.
The ability to adjust a car’s rotation without turning the wheel is a lost art, which makes it wonderful that Honda still practices it. The only thing it won’t do is kick the tail out with a boot of throttle like a rear-drive car would.
Honda’s steering doesn’t let you feel what’s happening at the pavement, but virtually no modern cars do. Electric power steering takes the blame, and it’s endemic. Still, it’s predictable, so you can at least feel the nose push and tuck. The weighting is satisfying in Comfort mode and gets downright heavy in Sport, which makes the Si a lot more fun than the extra-light steering found on the standard Civic.
2026 Civic Si Cabin Is Massive, But It Shows Its Price Point
The Civic Si comes with heavily bolstered front seats that scream at you in a way few cars at this price point ever have. The red is toned down from years past, and at least the carpets aren’t red anymore, but it’s still quite shouty.
A bigger issue is that you can only get them in the rough and poor-wearing fabric Honda has been using in the last few years. If you want leather, you’ll need to move to the Acura Integra.
At least it’s a big and roomy cabin. This compact feels massive inside, eclipsing the Corolla’s interior and feeling larger than the Jetta GLI and Subaru WRX.
The latest Civic has plenty of real physical buttons to make it easier to use the climate and infotainment systems. The screen, which now uses Google Built-In, is quick and responsive. Although, like in the standard Civic, it’s aimed frustratingly down and away from the driver.
The trunk is also quite large, delivering plenty of space for your stuff.
The Si Is Never Silent Inside
Is it all great? Of course not.
Honda doesn’t add much sound insulation to any of its models, and the Si is where it’s the most apparent. The larger, lower-profile tires add more road noise to the already busy soundscape inside. Add the louder exhaust, and highway drives aren’t exactly a joy. The center screen facing down and away from the driver makes changing songs or destinations frustrating when you’re trying to drown out that sound.
As much as I love the six-speed, if you can’t drive one, this car is a nonstarter. But its competitors all offer automatics. If you’re focused on bragging rights, you’ll never be happy with 200 horsepower, either.
2026 Honda Civic Si Review: Conclusions
Then you snick the car into gear, and any problems start to fade. Throw it into a corner and you’ll almost completely forget about them. Ride the swell of torque, and it’s not likely that this car will ever leave you wanting. Until, of course, the next stretch of highway.
With a starting price of $30,995, the Si delivers all the performance credentials of its competitors at a much lower price. If you’re shopping this segment, a couple of grand makes all the difference in the world. If it doesn’t, you might find yourself looking at the $34,350 Hyundai Elantra N, which makes a boatload more power.
Want this experience but fancier? You can spend about $8K more to get leather and more paint color choices. Just flip the badge and go to the Acura dealer instead.
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