Honda remains committed to selling fun-to-drive cars with manual transmissions. For 2025, the Civic Si, exclusively available with a stick shift, gets some welcome updates. Some changes apply to the entire Civic Sedan lineup, and some are exclusive to the Si.
Photo: Connor Hoffman
For 2025, Honda gives the entire Civic Sedan lineup a light refresh that includes:
The 2025 Honda Civic Si gets several upgrades specific to this model:
Otherwise, the 2025 Civics are virtually identical to the 2024 models. JD Power previously published reviews of the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2022 Honda Civic Sedan, and 2022 Honda Civic Si. This review focuses on the Civic Si’s updates for 2025 and how they potentially impact its overall consumer appeal.
For this 2025 Civic Si review, Honda provided a test vehicle equipped with the following options:
The test vehicle’s price was $31,800, including the $1,095 destination charge to ship the car from the Honda assembly plant in Alliston, Ontario, Canada, to your local dealership.
Photo: Connor Hoffman
The Honda Civic has long been a fun-to-drive economy car, and the Si ups the ante. However, there aren’t any changes under the hood. It still has a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine producing 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque, and a six-speed manual is the only transmission available. It powers the car’s front wheels.
Driver engagement is a core tenant of the Si, and for 2025, Honda tweaked the chassis for more stiffness while retuning the suspension. I didn’t notice much of a difference on this initial drive. Still, with the optional Goodyear Eagle F1 performance summer tires, the sport compact ripped down the Natchez Trace Scenic Byway south of Nashville and begged me to push it harder.
Honda also tweaked the excellent six-speed manual’s automatic rev-matching system to auto rev-match from second to first gear. However, there were a few instances where the rev-match feature didn’t register a move from second to first. I turned the feature off for most of my drive, and I’ll say that the option to turn it off shouldn’t be so buried within the settings menus. You’ll also want to disable one more pesky feature: the fake engine sounds pumped in through the cabin.
Photo: Connor Hoffman
Honda slightly changed the look of the entire Civic lineup for the 2025 model year, and the Si gets a unique grille, new wheels, and new taillights. But that’s not the most significant glow-up for 2025.
Step inside, and a new, standard 10.2-inch digital gauge display with crisp graphics and F1 racing-inspired shift indicator lights borrowed from the track-focused Civic Type R greets you. It’s a nice touch to help make you feel like you’re not in an ordinary Civic. Both front seats are now heated as standard too.
There’s also a new 9-inch touchscreen with a new Google interface. It works well, and maps display nicer graphics than when using Apple CarPlay, but I and most other drivers will relegate it to the standard CarPlay or Android Auto.
When you’re not carving a backroad, the Civic is a comfortable commuter with plenty of practicality. Honda updated its standard Honda Sensing advanced driver assistance systems package with improved adaptive cruise control—which, surprisingly, works with the Si’s manual transmission—and lane-keeping assistance.
Once I was off the twisty roads and back on the freeway heading into the city, the new systems helped keep me in line during heavy traffic in a downpour, averaging around 24 mpg, according to the Civic’s computer.
Photo: Connor Hoffman
If you don’t know how to drive stick shift, you’ll sadly have to pass over the Civic Si. The remainder of the lineup, especially the new Civic Hybrid model, is also worth a look. However, other performance-oriented compact sedans with automatics exist, like the Hyundai Elantra N and Volkswagen Jetta GLI. Still, they don’t offer the driver engagement and composed chassis like the Si. Plus, the Si has one of the best manual gearboxes in the shrinking list of offerings. Get one while you still can.
Connor Hoffman has worked in the automotive industry since 2018 in both editorial and public relations. He has tested and written about hundreds of cars and helped lead the media launches of the 2024 Toyota Tacoma and Land Cruiser. Connor started his career at Car and Driver after a summer internship and has contributed to Edmunds, U.S. News & World Report, and Capital One Autos.
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