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The sports compact market is getting hot, as rival brands bring upmarket technology downmarket to make themselves more competitive. Honda did just that to its Mitsubishi Eclipse and Scion tC rivals with the all-new Civic Si, a.k.a. “Little Speedy.” First, the Civic Si has an intelligent, touch-screen, voice recognition navigation system, and the nav’s display screen tilts open for access to load your music. One of its load options is a PC card slot, which accepts your downloaded tunes. And of course you can hook up your Ipod -- operating it directly from the head unit. Need more technology? Check out the “two-tier” instrument panel, with digital speedo up top and tachometer mounted below. Nice.
Once done playing with its tech heavy wizardry, prepare for the Civic Si’s road-hungry attitude. Race pedals, Michelin Pilot 17s (18s optional), deck spoiler, and a 2.4-liter 197 happy-horse iV-TEC engine allows Honda’s tuner project to explode off the line, and continuously down the line! And while you’re flowing in first gear up to 35-mph, eyewitnesses will only remember that engaging exhaust note that sang merrily down the street. Kick it into second and Little Speedy propels you like a bow from an arrow. Redline isn’t until 8K, allowing the Civic to hold every gear longer. Throws are short and clean and every gear has pull. The Si’s sport suspension maintains the vehicle’s balance when taking sharp and fast corners while the Pilots grip like a wide receiver’s gloves.
The Civic, ironically, is the feature vehicle of the 2005 SEMA Show (industry standard for customizing) in November. Honda must now go all out. More so, the tuners must go full throttle to help reconfigure the Si’s appearance. Most Honda vehicles are angled towards the conservative route. So visually, Little Speedy isn’t the cutest of the import bunch, but he offers enough of the Inspector’s “gadgets” to stay in the forefront. After all, who wants to date a supermodel with no sense?!
On sale in December, Civic Si prices will start under $20,000.
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