A lot of folks who aren’t car enthusiasts tend to believe you’re making a lot of compromises when you buy the sporty version of a car. Miserable ride quality, useless rear seats (if any), equally useless trunk, terrible fuel economy, and more. In some rather extreme cases, that’s true. It’s not true at all for the Honda Civic Si.
I grew up in a rural area on the other side of the mountain from Silicon Valley, but it was plenty close enough to see the wealth that lived high in those hills. Back then, though, it was stealth wealth. At least to me. Sure, these people owned Ferraris and such, but they only took them out on weekends for a quick drive, a wash, and then back in the garage for the rest of the week while the BMW or Mercedes did commuter duty. It was a shock to me when I moved to Los Angeles, where rich people daily drive Ferraris. Sure, it’s possible to use a purpose-built sports car as a daily driver and your only vehicle, but there are a lot of compromises that come with that decision. The inherent beauty of a well-designed sports sedan is you make few—if any—compromises.
The 2020 Civic Si comes as either a coupe or a more practical sedan. No complaints here about climbing into the back seats—it has four full doors. Although compact sedans don’t generally have the biggest back seats on the market, the Honda’s are perfectly adequate for adults with reasonable head-, shoulder-, and legroom. In this class, the rear seats are excellent.
Likewise the trunk. At 14.7 cubic feet, it’s no pickup truck bed, but it’s far more useful than the average compact SUV. Not only is the space large and generally square, but it doesn’t require the installation of a cargo cover to protect my stuff from prying eyes. (First rule of living in L.A.: Never, ever leave anything in your car where people can see it.) The Civic’s trunk had no trouble swallowing a pair of coolers, suitcases, a box of wine bottles, and miscellaneous bags, and other things we forgot to pack until the car was already loaded, as we set out for an extra-long weekend at a meticulously cleaned Airbnb with a pool.
Bags packed and house shut down, the excitement of an anniversary weekend around a private pool was in no way tempered by the thought of getting there. In some sporty cars, three hours on the freeway is three too many, be it because of the ride quality, interior noise, or the constant gas stops. An EPA-estimated 26/36/30 mpg city/highway/combined cures any worry of the latter, and the former two were no issue, either. I’ve talked previously about the ride quality, particularly as it relates to when and where to use the Sport button next to the shifter. The highway is no place for it. In their default setting the dampers might be a little stiff for your average compact sedan, but they’re quite nice for one that handles this well. Interior noise? Again, it’s a compact sedan that’s been made sporty, not a track car that’s been tamed for the street. It’s fine.
As expected, then, the drive out and the drive back five days later were a breeze. The front seats may have bigger bolsters to keep you planted during harder driving, but they aren’t thin, hard racing buckets; they still have plenty of padding. There are plenty of places to stash phones and other accouterments in the multiple cubbies and shelves. Apple CarPlay lets you stream whatever music or podcasts you want, and there’s a real volume knob to control what you’re hearing. I just wish Honda would put the USB port somewhere easier to get to than at the back of the lower shelf down by your ankles. It’s fine if you live somewhere you can leave your phone cable plugged in out in the open all the time, but there are a lot of places you’d prefer not to advertise having portable electronics in your car when it’s unattended.
The Honda Civic Si is a very fun little sedan to drive, but it isn’t one-dimensional. It comes alive on winding roads, but it isn’t the walking dead every other day. It’s still practical, comfortable, and efficient, but when you’re ready, it’s a credible sports sedan, too.
