Car Brief: 2007 Honda Civic Si Sedan

It was 1986, you were 22 years old, and life was about busting tail to work off college loans, with what little time you had left over devoted to having fun. That last part’s the reason you forked over your hard-earned, junior mailroom executive wages for Honda’s first Civic Si. You and that high-revving ride lived fast, but while the Si remained largely ageless, you simply aged. What once offered endless good times now made you cringe at the thought of reaching back to the car seats, and trying to stuff a growing family of three, and then four, into this two-door was a lesson difficulty. If only that little rocket could morph into a sedan… Fast forward to 2007, and that’s just what the Honda Civic Si has done. Due to arrive in the fall of 2006, the 2007 Si Sedan (yeah, that’ll take some getting used to) promises the kind of grins that can only be had near 8,000 rpm, and until now, only in coupe form. In addition to those oh-so-useful rear doors, the Civic Si Sedan draws its power from the same 2.0-liter, dual overhead cam, 16-valve, i-VTEC four-cylinder engine cranking out 197 horsepower at 7,800 rpm and 139 lb.-ft. of torque at 6,100 rpm. Power goes to the front wheels thanks to a six-speed manual transmission, and a limited slip differential is standard. EPA ratings for the Si coupe are 22 mpg city and 31 mpg highway, and one could expect the new sedan to mirror those figures. Pricing, which hasn’t been released, should also be similar to that for the coupe, which starts at about $20,000. Making its debut at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show, the Civic Si Sedan graced the stage in concept form, and as such, included goodies like some sweet black 18-inch alloy wheels rolling on 225/40 performance tires, large cross-drilled disc brakes with Brembo calipers, and a body-color rear spoiler that’s a few inches shy of garish. We’ve spent a lot of time in the 2006 Honda Civic Si coupe, and have had a blast doing so. Chances are we’ll feel the same about the sedan, especially considering our over-30 editors are already drooling.

Photo by Ron Perry