While the buzz around the 2016 Honda Civic is centered around the 300hp Type R variant, new details have emerged on a less-intense performance version.
Slotting between the grocery-getter Civic and the mental Type R will be a medium-hot version. While Australian press is calling it the Type S, a name last seen in the US on the Acura RSX, CL and TL, it will probably be billed as a Civic Si in the US.
According to Motoring.com.au, power will come from the turbocharged 1.5L inline-four announced at the concept unveiling at the New York Auto Show earlier this year. However, it will be tuned to output somewhere in the neighborhood of 200hp, 25 percent more than the 148hp version of the same mill used in the Japan-market Honda StepWGN. Torque, too, would be similarly bumped, from 150 lb-ft in the minivan application to 192 lb-ft.
Judging by past Civic Si models, the new one would likely come with a manual transmission only, perhaps the 6-speed stickshift offered as standard. With the cancellation of the Civic’s hybrid and CNG variants announced earlier this week, the model appears to be leaning heavily towards a performance-oriented direction, much like the Civics of the late 80s and early 90s, during with the Si trim was first introduced.
Live images by Brian Williams.
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