The Honda Civic Si: An affordable burner

Three years I worked with a guy named Julian Turcotte who used to take me for rides in his tweaked 1986 Volkswagen Golf on a weekly basis. We'd scream through Cranbrook's twisty two-lane road in Bloomfield Hills, pushing that little four-pot until we were driving sideways at 65 miles per hour.

I had no idea why his car handled so well, and I feared for my life every time I got in that car. But I loved it.

Car guys love showing off their engine compartments. This ego trip is even better if the driver installs some crazy air boxes, red plug wires, or racing stickers on the inside of the hood. Julian had all kinds of stuff made by Neuspeed, a primarily

Reilly Brennan Daily Driver

Volkswagen and Honda aftermarket company, bolted onto his car, and subsequently adorned the car with Neuspeed stickers.

I get wide-eyed whenever anyone shows me their car has an upper-strut tie bar, a metal brace that connects the top of the strut towers and is visible if you take a look at the engine. This performance upgrade is usually indicative of a person with a penchant for limit cornering and stiffer suspension. But beyond that, an upper-strut tie bar is one of the coolest looking things you can put in an engine compartment. Julian used to remind me on a daily basis that his car had one of these, and I was forever jealous that I didn't have one.

The new Honda Civic Si comes stock with one of these beauties, indicating it's performance nature and endearing itself to people like Julian and myself.

Honda's Civic line comes in a whopping nine different trim levels, ten if you consider the Civic-based CR-V sport utility. That's some serious versatility, and even more impressive when you consider how different each model is.

The Civic Si is a special Civic, but a Civic nonetheless. It's shod with the coupe body, and has a 16-valve four cylinder like it's other brethren. However, the Si's 1.6 liter 16-valve produces a whopping 160 horsepower. That's 100 horsepower per liter, a veritable 4-minute mile mark for engine developers.

This racy engine is the real reason for wanting the Si. It's got the same VTEC technology that can be found in other Honda models, meaning that that crazy sound of cams turning over at around 5500 rpm is present and quite pleasing. Somehow those Honda engineers made this engine pull quickly from 2000 rpm all the way up to its redline.

The Si's redline - 8000 rpm - is another tell-tale sign of it's nature. It has gobs of power, even more when the VTEC kicks over at about 5500 rpm. In fact, there's so much room to play within the Civic's gears you'll think you're pushing the car too much because of the whining sound in the higher rpms. I managed to hit the electronic revolution limiter - basically an engine cut-off when the revolutions pass the car's limit - twice at about 8100.

Another great part of this Civic is it's instrument panel, which is gray with a huge Si logo on to remind the driver that it's okay to take that corner at 65 mph sideways. Also of note is the huge red needle that seems to cover nearly 4 mph and looks really great.

The upper-strut tie bar is actually quite helpful in eliminating body roll when cornering. The Si's tie bar is little by aftermarket standards - most are larger and encompass the entire tower. The Si's has two arms that bolt onto the tower, but one can notice body roll is lessened.

Since the Civic got heavier and wider in its redesign years ago, some people have complained that the quick-footed Civic turned into just another compact. The 1992 Civic Si featured a SOHC 4 cylinder and produced a rather meager 125 horsepower.

Today's Si is better prepared to compete against the hot hatches and coupes of the late 90's, like the VW GTI VR6, Mitsubishi Eclipse, or Ford Escort ZX2. Its exhaust system is bigger and has a reworked, larger throttle body. Suspension is not that different to the everyday driver - it's definitely supple enough for everyday driving. Honda claims the Si's suspension is 25 percent stiffer than the EX model, and the front sway bar is 4mm larger as well. These modifications are small when taken independently, and I couldn't tell each virtue apart separately. But taken as a whole, the Si's dampening seems stiffer and helps for quicker corners.

Ironically, the aforementioned Julian used to speak nostalgically about a 1986 Civic Si that he had before his Golf. That was the first of the Sis, and was quite a burner for it's day. That model was a little less refined than today's, which has every option included - even a leather-wrapped shifter.

The only bad thing about this Si is the absence of anti-lock brakes. True, this does eliminate some more weight, but I'd rather have them for some hairy situations that the Si driver will eventually get himself into.

The Si is well equipped, with standard items such as air conditioning, cruise control, power moonroof with tilt-up feature, keyless remote entry, and power windows and door locks. There are no major options and the only paint colors are red, black and blue.

This is a niche car, suitable for a few thousand smiling enthusiasts but not meant to be embraced by all 300,000 buyers of Civics per year. In fact, there isn't even an automatic transmission offered.

Until this model came out, my pick for the under-$20,000 enthusiast would have been a Volkswagen Golf or Mitsubishi Eclipse, depending on my mood. No longer - the Civic Si is as hot as they come, and the Honda badge ensures years of trouble-free service.

- Reilly Brennan likes things well equipped. He can be reached over

e-mail at brennanr@umich.edu.

Courtesy of Honda The Honda Civic Si is a pretty little number and a great choice in the popular under-$20,000 market. It comes in great colors too.

04-01-99