This 2022 Honda Civic Si Is The Hot Version Of Canada's Favourite Car – Here Are All The Improvements

"It’s clearly the best and most dynamic Si we’ve ever produced," Honda's assistant vice president, Steve Hui says. "And it’s built right here in Canada."

In each of the last 23 years, the Honda Civic has been Canada's best-selling car. For 36 years, from the 91-horsepower 1986 version to the 200-horsepower 2022 edition, Si has been synonymous with all-around, class-leading, prototypical Honda performance. An Si must do more than just master the art of straight-line speed and cornering grip – it must get the feel right. That means everything from the way the shifter engages to the way the wheel communicates with your hands to the way your right foot initiates high revs must be perfect.

So for 2022, the 11th-generation Civic's new Si variant focuses on all of those qualities. 

• • Manual shifting is still the name of the game, and the 6-speed's throws – that's the distance your hand travels from one gear to the next – have been reduced by 10%.
• • The 6-speed manual transmission now includes the Type R's rev-matching system.
• • The 200-horsepower 1.5-liter turbo produces 192 lb-ft of torque, but the torque plateau (1800-5000rpm) comes on line sooner.
• • There's a new single-mass flywheel that's 26% lighter, which reduces inertia by 30%. What's that mean? The 2022 Honda Civic Si's throttle response is more vibrant
• • The 11th-gen Civic's stiffer structure allows suspension tuning that creates both better ride quality and superior handling, two elements that are usually forced into a give-and-take.
• • To be precise, the Civic Si's body is now 8% more torsionally rigid along with a 13% increase in bending rigidity. So spring rates are 8% stiffer in the front and 54% stiffer in the rear than in the regular Civic. Honda then adds much thicker front and rear stabilizer bars to flatten cornering. Front bushings from the Type R are 83% stiffer than in the regular Civic.
• • The steering system's torsion bar is 60% stiffer, so Honda can create quicker reaction to inputs and improve feel.
• • Engines makes headlines, but performance cars are awful when attention isn't paid to the braking system. The Civic Si's 312.4mm front rotors are 30.5mm bigger than the regular Civic's; the 282mm rear rotors are 22.8mm bigger.
• • Those brakes are hidden behind 18-inch wheels wearing wide, low-profile 235/40R18 performance tires.

Compared with the now-departed 10th-gen Civic Si, the 2022 model inherits all of the upgrades present in the Civic LX, EX, Sport, and Touring. That includes everything from better thigh supports in the seats to 12-speaker Bose audio to standard Honda Sensing active safety tech, a 9-inch high-def centre screen, a heated steering wheel, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.