Photo Gallery: Detail shots of all five cars!
It's no secret that Honda loves relatively small-displacement, insanely high-revving engines, and it's the Civic Si's K20Z3 powerplant that remains both its best and worst feature. Drive it like you hate it, keeping the 197-bhp 2.0-liter on its aggressive set of cam lobes above the 6000-rpm VTEC transition point, and it's tingly mechanical nirvana on up to the cut-off at 8300. Get caught out at, say, 3000 rpm, and teenagers borrowing mom's minivan will have their way with you.
Love it or hate it, this bipolar engine can now be had in our test car's 4-door guise, which adds 2.0 in. of wheelbase and around 59 lb. but increases its usefulness, especially as the rear seating area has a completely flat floor. The driver's seat, though, is where you want to be, its snug-fitting bolsters upholstered with grippy black Alcantara with red stitching. You face the unusual double-tiered dash (an acquired taste, not acquired by all) with the tach front and center, and a digital speedometer up top framed by curved bar-graph readouts for coolant temp and fuel level. The driving position is superb, the short-throw 6-speed shifter seemingly raised by a pack of Formula Fords (“as perfect as a transmission can get,” says Kim) and there are the expected excellent Honda ergonomics and nicely finished plastics.
The consensus was that just enough had been done to the exterior to stand above more Plebian Civics, including sharp-looking gray-painted alloys and a well integrated rear spoiler, touches that toughen its look and temper the “Car of the Future, Today” front-end styling. Pop the hood and the beautifully finished engine shows pride of workmanship that the others can't match…perhaps not so important on a family sedan, but a points-earner here.
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