2025 Honda Civic Si First Drive: Grippy Tires and Nice Warm Buns

• The Honda Civic Si heads into 2025 with a few small updates.
• The biggest changes are the addition of heated seats, summer tires and Google built-in tech.
• Power comes from a turbocharged inline-four, exclusively paired with a manual transmission.

Get the summer tires

Arguably the biggest contributing factor to the Si's poor showing in our $35K fun-to-drive shootout was that it was riding on crummy tires. All of its competitors were shod in grippy summer tires, but the Civic ran on all-seasons. Honda used to offer a summer tire option straight from the factory but took this away a couple of years ago. Now, this crucial option is back on the order sheet. And since it's only a $300 upcharge, it's well worth the money.

I'll definitely be curious to see how the 2025 Civic Si's skidpad data compares to its predecessor when we take one to the Edmunds track for instrumented testing. But on pretty two-lane roads outside Nashville, Tennessee, the extra grip from the 235/40R18 Goodyear Eagle F1 tires is a noticeable improvement over the 2024 model with all-season rubber. There's less skittishness under braking coming up to a tight 90-degree turn, and the Si's front end turns in quicker and sharper than before, with more grip so you can confidently apply the throttle sooner on corner exit.

Even better, the summer tires don't destroy the Civic Si's ride quality; on city streets and country roads alike, Honda's sporty little sedan is nicely damped and really quite comfortable. No, the Civic Si doesn't have the adaptive dampers Honda offered in this car's previous generation, but I promise you won't care.

Turbocharged and stick-shifted

Mechanically speaking, the 2025 Civic Si is largely identical to last year's model. Sure, the subframe is a little stiffer and there are more rigid suspension mounts, but these don't things drastically affect the car's general on-road vibe. The steering is still great, nicely weighted and crisp. More than anything, the Civic Si just feels light and easy to maneuver. It's a car that's easy to drive, fast or slow.

Power continues to come from a 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-four with 200 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque and an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 31 mpg combined (27 city/37 highway). Interestingly, this makes the Si less powerful than the new Civic Hybrid sedan, but at 2,952 pounds, the Si is also 256 pounds lighter.

The turbo engine delivers its power smoothly, with the full 192 lb-ft of torque hitting at 1,800 rpm. There's a little bit of rev hang that accompanies the standard six-speed manual transmission when upshifting, but downshifts are nicely smoothed out thanks to Honda's automatic rev-matching tech, which actually works for second-to-first shifts now, making this a stick shift that won't annoy you when you get stuck in stop-and-go traffic.

Heated seats FTW

Heated seats were the other big thing that Honda took away with this generation Si, and hooray, they're back — and standard. The 2025 Si also gets the 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster that you'll find in other Civic models, as well as an updated infotainment system with Google built-in software, housed in a 9-inch touchscreen.

Speaking of tech, the Civic Si still has the full Honda Sensing suite of safety aids, which includes a smoother lane keeping assistance system with less steering vibration, as well as updated adaptive cruise control that better adapts to accelerating and decelerating on hills. The only other bit of Civic Si newness to talk about is cosmetic, and limited to new 18-inch wheels, darker taillights and a restyled front bumper.

And it's not even expensive

The 2025 Civic Si comes one way, with the only options being color and whether or not you want the summer tires (hint: you do). Equipped correctly, a new Civic Si will run you $31,345, including $1,095 for destination, which is a heck of a deal in a day and age where the average transaction price of a new car is more than $47,000.

Changes for its midcycle update might be minor, yet the Civic Si remains a car you could legitimately drive on the daily and still have a good time. And unlike some of its competitors, the Civic is super comfortable inside and doesn't look like a child's drawing of an anime creature. (Like, have you seen an Elantra?) What the Civic Si lacks in outright quickness or raucous behavior, it more than makes up for by being so gosh-darn well-rounded and easy to like.