Will the Honda Civic Si Soon Be Available as a Hatchback?

Honda offers a broad range of Civic and Civic-based models these days, but out of all of them, the Civic Si is probably our favorite. It’s a Goldilocks car, providing the simple delights of driving pleasure with a six-speed manual, 200-horsepower turbo engine and limited-slip differential — but it also has room for four adults and gets 37 mpg on the highway. And incredibly for a modern sporty car, it does so with a price tag starting (at least nominally) under $30,000.

If there is a drawback to the Civic Si, it’s that it is only offered as a sedan in America. There’s no more coupe version, sadly, and you can’t buy one in the more convenient hatchback body style that we actually prefer to the sedan. But that could be about to change … or at least, it could become be much easier to change if Honda were so inclined.

Meet the Honda Civic RS

Honda just unveiled the Civic RS for the Tokyo Auto Salon. It’s a sportier Civic with a six-speed manual that slots below the Civic Type R … and it’s a hatchback. There’s no mention of a powertrain yet, but given there aren’t too many engines to choose from for a Civic these days, it seems quite likely i could be packing the Civic Si’s 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-four with 200 horsepower — thus effectively making it a Civic Si hatchback.

The Civic RS will arrive in Japan in 2024. There’s no mention of the model coming to America yet, but you could make a case for a Civic Si hatchback, especially if the model already exists somewhere.

Honda

A Civic hatchback could be a good fit in America

After all, Acura selles the base model Integra, which basically is a gussied-up Civic Si hatchback. But getting one with the six-speed manual requires leveling up to the A-Spec with Technology trim, which starts at $36,800 — a point where the value proposition becomes much harder to justify. There’s certainly room for a Civic Si hatch to slot in below that.

Honda

But we’d bet Honda has more important priorities

Of course, a skeptic would note that Honda does have more urgent needs in the American market, such as a reasonably affordable, Honda-built EV. The visual difference between the sedan and the hatch with the new Civic is not as stark as, say, the one between the VW Golf hatchback and the Jetta sedan. And Honda’s quota for lower volume sports cars in America may be full, especially with a hybrid Prelude on the way. Still, keep your fingers crossed.

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