2025 Honda Civic Si First Drive Review: Fun as Ever, Now With Heated Seats

Affordable sporty sedans are a dime a dozen nowadays, but they’re not extinct yet. The enthusiast-favorite Civic Si is one of the segment’s longest-running nameplates packing a manual transmission and a fun-to-drive attitude. The 2025 Honda Civic Si gets minor but important tweaks in the styling, comfort, and tech departments, making it an even better-rounded sedan than before.

Starting at $31,045 including destination, it’s now better equipped—and an ideal choice for those looking for a reliable and engaging daily, or even an economical weekend toy. And if you’re into autocross or hitting your local track, you can opt for the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 summer tires; a $300 option.

The Basics

The Si lives in the middle of the Civic lineup, sitting above the normal LX, Sport, and Sport Touring models but below the feisty Type R. For 2025, Honda didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, so not a whole lot has changed with the refreshed Si. However, the small changes the car did get are noteworthy. I’ll start with the one that I and others have personally clamored for: heated seats. At last, folks who live in colder climates won’t feel punished for choosing the Fun Civic. The rest of the Civic lineup has offered heated seats for years and even Canadian Sis have had them for a while, but for some reason, Honda previously skipped them for the U.S. That changes in 2025.

Another driver-centric update is the integration of new USB-C charging ports and Google built-in. The new interface runs on Honda’s existing OS and is experienced through the nine-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto. It makes it easier to use Google Assistant via voice commands to operate various media features, including Google Maps. There’s even a new feature borrowed from the Type R: the LED shift lights built into the dash. [Ed. note: This is also a Canada Si carryover. -CT]

Look closely and you’ll notice the Si rocks a fresh look too, with a more aggressive front fascia, grille, and 18-inch wheels. The front bumper and upper and lower intakes feature sharper lines and look more robust. It’s a matter of personal preference, of course, but I find the look a bit too “gaping mouth” for my taste. Other updates you can’t see include new, more rigid suspension and subframe mounts for increased body stiffness and improved handling, as well as new rear-door and B-pillar supports for improved side-impact collision performance.

While not an update, it’s worth highlighting that the Civic Si can only be had with a six-speed manual transmission. It’s the only sedan that has this bragging right, given that its competitors are available with both an automatic and manual.

Driving Experience

It’s all about that transmission, man. You get what the Si is all about as soon as your right hand grabs that shifter and engages first gear. The clutch is nice and light but it’s not hollow or springy. It offers loads of feedback to help you find its sweet spot—which is crucial for optimal shifting when you don’t have bags of horsepower. Shifting is crisp and precise, and the new integrated shift lights are a nice touch but only come in handy during spirited driving.

Blitzing around the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, the yellow, orange, and red LEDs in front of me were mostly for show, but one of the Si’s strongest attributes is that, at the end of the day, it’s still just a Civic. It’s always smooth, docile, and low-key until you want it to morph into something rowdier. The suspension is stiffer than its regular siblings’, but even in the bumpy streets of the country music capital things never got uncomfortable. A key contributor to the Si’s ideal ride quality is its 18-inch wheels. Not 19s, not 20s—18s. The Si never tries to be hardcore.

Navigating stop-and-go traffic is easy thanks to the light clutch and well-calibrated pedals. Auto stop-start works well in conjunction with the manual transmission, with the engine firing up quickly once the clutch pedal is pressed. There’s also an auto brake hold feature, too, which is nice if you’re on hilly terrain. The Si is never jumpy off the line but it’s no laggard either, though the steering wheel felt too weighted for the Normal driving mode. There is a Sport mode that will heighten the car’s reactions and make the steering feel even heavier, of course, but this is hardly needed for daily city driving. The brake pedal offers good feedback and a strong bite when needed. With temperatures hovering in the low 80s during my test, I didn’t actually get to experience the new heated seats, but I trust that they perform their job just fine. [Ed. note: If these are the same seats out of the Canadian Si, they do. -CT]

In the outskirts of the city, however, I was able to stretch the Si’s legs a bit, reminding me of how much fun 200 hp and 192 lb-ft of torque can be when the engine and transmission work in perfect harmony. Of course, the Si is great as a whole package, with the software calibration and suspension tuning also contributing to its agility, but the 1.5-liter turbo-four and six-speed manual are certainly the stars of the show. Entering a corner at speed reveals just how much grip the front end has, even on a wet road and with the optional summer tires. The Si is flawless at holding the driver’s line of choice through a corner, and it’s happy to oblige when it’s time to turn the wheel and point the car in a different direction.

Adding to the fun is the engine’s zoomy exhaust note, which is never too quiet and never too loud, even when pushed to the 6,600-rpm fuel cut-off. There’s enough fanfare to make you feel like Max Verstappen, too, especially when downshifting into a corner. Rev matching nicely blips the throttle when rowing down the gears, and new-for-2025 is rev matching from second to first gear, too. While I’m a huge fan of the Civic Type R, it’s hard not to think that the Si is as much performance car as anyone could need. It also makes the Type R feel like a GT3 race car.

Honda Civic Si Features, Options, and Competition

What you see is what you get with the Civic Si, as the only option you can check on the order form is the aforementioned summer tires. Larger brakes, 18-inch wheels (on all seasons), heated sport seats, Honda Sensing, smartphone connectivity, LED headlights and taillights, adaptive cruise control, and a sunroof are all standard.

Its direct competitors include the Volkswagen Jetta GLI, Subaru WRX, and Hyundai Elantra N. Of the three, only the base GLI undercuts the Si in price, but it offers less in terms of equipment. When similarly equipped, the Si is the cheapest of the bunch, with the WRX being the most expensive. It’s worth noting that the Si’s 200 hp comes short of the GLI’s 228, WRX’s 271, and Elantra N’s Type R-rivaling 276—but the Honda is the lightest one of the group by a decent margin, weighing in at a remarkably light 2,952 pounds. For reference, the Subaru BRZ tS, a low-slung, two-door coupe with just as many cylinders and a lot less sound-deadening weighs 2,846 pounds.

While not a direct competitor, I’d like to bring up the fact that the new 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid has just as much power and more torque as the Si, but that car is over 300 pounds heavier and configured quite differently. So while the numbers may be the same on paper, the way the drivetrains deliver and optimize that power is completely different.

The Early Verdict

If it’s a sporty manual sedan that you’re after, this new round of updates makes this thing an even better deal over its competitors than before. The 2025 Honda Civic Si is just about the most fun you can have in a new economy car—if you can even call this 30-grand, nicely-equipped Civic an “economy car” anymore. It’s engaging, it’s agile, and its happy-camper attitude will put a smile on your face.

And now, it can do all that while keeping your butt warm too.

Email the author at jerry@thedrive.com