2020 Honda Civic Si

Also, the 2020 Honda Civic Si is a hoot to drive, and the engine paired with that slick six-speed manual makes it a perfect combo. For the money asked, the 2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe is a brilliant car to drive and own. Apart from the performance aspect, Honda Civic Si gives an impressive fuel economy. The 2020 Civic Si coupe is running against the likes of the Toyota 86, Subaru BRZ, and Chevrolet Camaro.

This performance version of the Honda Civic has only one trim level on offer which is priced at $25,200 with an optional upgrade to summer tires that can cost you $200 extra. For the money, you get a pretty steamy car powered by a turbo motor paired with a manual gearbox. Talking of the feature list, LED headlights, Taillights with Integrated LED Light Bars, cloth seats, a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Honda link, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, leather-wrapped sport seats, rear spoiler, matte black 18-inch wheels, and a lot of Si specific features. 

Which Trim should you buy?

The Civic Si Coupe is available in only one fully loaded trim which retails for $25,200. However, you can get the optional summer tires as well. 

Powering this ultra sexy-looking 2020 Civic Si coupe is a 1.5L turbo inline-4 motor churning out 205hp and 192 lb-ft torque. And to keep things sporty, there is no automatic transmission available and instead what you get is a 6-speed manual gearbox. The power is transferred to the front wheels as standard. With this arrangement, the Honda Civic Si goes from 0 to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds. 

That said, like all other motors by Honda, this one is extremely refined and super smooth. Now being a turbo-four, it does suffer from quite some turbo lag when the revs are low. But once you start pushing the pedal hard, then it pulls quite neatly and constantly till the engine hits its rev limiter. Furthermore, once you've mastered the springy clutch, the transmission and the engine play well together. The Civic Si is that rare example of a car that can drive like a little terror when you want it to but also cruise placidly when you don't.

The Subaru and Toyota being cousins use the same flat-four engine and are the only ones here that have naturally aspirated motors. Though the power figures are pretty much on par with the Civic and due to being light on weight, they are as quick as the Honda in terms of acceleration numbers. On the other hand, it's the Camaro with the 2.0-liter turbo engine that is the most powerful coupe here.

How well does the 2020 Civic Si Coupe handle?

The 2020 Civic Si Coupe is one of the best-handling front-wheel-drive cars available in the market. The chassis is so well balanced that there is literally near to no understeer and around a corner, the car is able to hold its line quite well. It also has a limited-slip differential.

While it shares its basic underpinnings with the regular Civic, it has a stiffer suspension, standard adaptive dampers, and returned steering. The suspension is extremely supple over bad roads that you could almost forget that the Si was designed for more serious stuff.

2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe Braking Performance

The 2020 Civic Si coupe is not a very heavy car but because it has a very potent drivetrain under the hood. So good braking hardware is necessary to make all that mass come to a halt in a rather less dramatic and controlled manner.

Moreover, it is equipped with 12.3-inch discs at the front while at the rear there are 11.1-inch rotors handling the braking duties. 

The Chevrolet Camaro is the most powerful and heaviest car in the competition and so it gets the biggest braking hardware. Subaru and Toyota twins are pretty much evenly matched in terms of braking performance due to near-identical brake disc sizes and nearly the same curb weight. 

Roaming around the city will get you a fuel-economy figure of 26 MPG while at the highways that rise up to as much as 36 MPG. EPA-rated combined fuel efficiency is 30 MPG. With these figures, Honda Civic Si becomes the most fuel-efficient coupe among the bunch. But the fuel tank is not very big and the overall driving range is less than 400 miles.

In real-world conditions, it is the Camaro that has the best driving range as it has the biggest fuel tank with a capacity of 19 gallons providing it with a range of over 500 miles. But it has the most thirsty engine. The Toyota and Subaru, both return 24 MPG combined. However, on the highway, the BRZ from the Subaru consumes slightly less fuel compared to the 86 from the Toyota. 

There have been a few changes to the interior of the 2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe. More red accents are observed on the updated Si-branded sport seats and on the dashboard. Civic Si has an all-black-themed cabin with tasteful use of Red accents at a few places to give it a racy feel. There are red accents around the AC vents and on the door trim and also on the seats. The low and wide dash isn’t as boring as it has been in the past—it’s visually separated with horizontal bands of glossy black plastic or brushed trim, and a 7.0-inch touchscreen breaks up the space. 

As standard, you get a leather-wrapped steering wheel, 12V outlet, push-button start, rear-window defroster, dual-zone automatic climate control, and heated front seats. Compared to some of its rivals, the 2020 Civic Si coupe feels a lot better in terms of overall interior design and comfort. The drive and front passenger seat can be manually adjusted in 6 and 4-ways respectively. The seats though are a bit narrow and while these can be an amazing fit for people with not a very heavy build. Further at the back as well the space is a bit limited because of this being the coupe version and while two adults can sit here easily. The rear seats can be folded down in a 40-60 pattern. 

The rival from the Chevrolet has the most spacious front row but the least roomy second row. Actually, it’s the Civic Si which has the most generous rear row seats followed by opponents from the Toyota and Subaru. One more area where the Honda wins hands down is the trunk capacity. The smallest trunk is offered on the 86 and the BRZ. Also, Honda Civic Si is the only coupe with a seating capacity of five whereas all the rivals in the segment only allow four individuals inside the cabin. Standout interior features are: 

• Heated front seats
• Si-branded sport seats
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Dual-zone front automatic climate control
• Fade-to-off interior lighting 
• Aluminum shift knob with leather

What’s there to keep you entertained?

The 2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe comes equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The touch is super responsive and while there can be a few jitters when the system boots, the experience is majorly fuss-free.

A 10 speaker premium sound system with a subwoofer is standard while the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also given for smartphone connectivity. Two USB ports, speed-sensitive volume compensation, Bluetooth, SiriusXM, HD radio, and radio data system are some other features included in the infotainment unit. Standout infotainment features are: 

• 7.0-inch touchscreen
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• 10 premium speakers with subwoofer
• HondaLink
• SiriusXM satellite radio

The 2020 Honda Civic Si is undoubtedly one of the best-looking cars in its class and especially in the two-door coupe form, it looks sizzling hot. There have been updates to the exterior styling for the 2020 MY in the form of a slightly changed front and rear bumper. There are now even more aggressive air intakes in the front bumper to give the car a sportier stance. Also LED headlights are now standard and new matte-black 18-inch wheels have been given by the Honda.

At the front, you get an aggressive black grille while at the back center outlet exhaust and body-colored wing spoiler tries to maintain the athletic stature of the Civic Si. The side profile has got to be the hottest angle to look at the Civic Si coupe. The long-wheelbase along with a two-door body makes the car look sleek. That being said, heated power side mirrors, smart entry with walk-away auto-lock, LED Fog Lights, and fin-type roof-mounted antenna are some exterior features. On the top of your head, you also get a one-touch power moonroof with a tilt feature. 

Dimension-wise, the Toyota and Subaru cousins are the smallest cars here and that is well understood as they both are teeny tiny sports coupes. The Camaro being a proper two-door is the biggest car here in pretty much all the dimensions except the height. The 2020 Civic Si slots right in between them somewhere and is fairly the most practical one here without being humongous. Standout exterior features are: 

• Matte black 18-inch machine-finished alloy wheels
• Sport-tuned suspension with adaptive dampers
• LED fog lights 
• One-touch power moonroof
• LED headlights
• Wing spoiler

The 2020 Honda Civic Si earned a five-star safety rating from the NHTSA. However, it didn’t perform well in the IIHS tests. There has also been an update to the driver assistance feature list. Every 2020 Civic Si now has active-safety features. The 2020 Civic Si comes with a Honda Sensing suite as standard which includes safety features such as forward collision warning, collision mitigation braking system, road departure mitigation system, lane-keeping assist system, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and Honda's LaneWatch blind-spot monitor. Standout safety features are: 

• Adaptive cruise control
• Collision mitigation braking
• Forward collision warning
• Lane-keeping assist
• Road-departure mitigation
• Multi-Angle Rearview Camera
• Automatic emergency braking 
• Lane-departure warning
• Honda’s LaneWatch

2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe vs 2020 Subaru BRZ

The only car that can hold a candle against the Civic Si in terms of looks is the Subaru BRZ. Especially in that shade of blue, the BRZ looks extremely gorgeous. And while the BRZ can be low on torque as compared to the Civic Si, performance-wise they are pretty evenly matched. The 2020 BRZ also is less spacious than the Civic Si. Both the BRZ and Civic Si are pretty amazing cars to drive as they are proper enthusiast cars. However, the Civic Si offers more practicality and a more efficient engine in comparison. 

2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe vs 2020 Toyota 86

The 2020 Toyota 86 is essentially a rebadged Subaru BRZ with a slightly different makeover. So you can’t be wrong about choosing any of those. Just like, the BRZ the Toyota 86 has a slightly smaller cabin and trunk but it comes with a bigger fuel tank. Meanwhile, the Civic Si is more fuel-efficient compared to the Toyota 86. In terms of exterior dimensions, the Toyota 86 is smaller than the Honda Civic Si. 

2020 Honda Civic Si Coupe vs 2020 Chevrolet Camaro

The 2020 Chevrolet Camaro is altogether a different beast when compared to the Honda Civic Si Coupe. It packs in a lot more power and is a literal hoot to drive. Also, the Camaro is a bit more spacious than the Civic when it comes to the front row space. But that’s where the Camaro runs out of brownie points and everything else works in the favour of Civic Si. The Honda is more engaging to drive because of its lesser weight and consumes less fuel. 

This is probably the last year we are witnessing a Civic Si coupe as from 2021, there are rumors that there will be an all-new Civic and there won’t be a coupe version. The 2020 Civic Si Coupe is a proper enthusiast car that drives like a charm and does not limit itself with the performance but displays a great deal of practicality. So if you are considering the new Honda Civic Si Coupe as your next car, we would suggest you straight away go and buy one.