Refreshed 2014 Honda Civic Si Coupe gets more bark, more bite (first take)
Unveiled at the 2013 SEMA Show, the refreshed Civic Si Coupe backs up its sharper looks with a small power and performance bump.
- North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year (NACTOY) Awards Juror
LAS VEGAS -- I was a big fan of the 2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe, so I wasn't disappointed when, for the 2013 model year, the Si Coupe went unchanged, despite the many revisions that the Civic Sedan and Civic Si Sedan received as part of the "emergency refresh" of the 2013 model year.
Unveiled today at the 2013 SEMA Show here in Las Vegas, the 2014 Honda Civic Si Coupe finally gets its refresh, bringing it in line with the four-door variant but with styling twists of its own.
The 2014 Civic Coupe gets new headlamps that are visually similar to those of the sedan, but the grille that flows into and joins those lights is more aggressive and streamlined. The result is a fascia that's even less visually complex than the already simplified 2013 design. The Si Coupe model differentiates itself even further with a unique front bumper and air dam that is much angrier-looking, with larger openings at the corners that envelop the foglamps.
The 2014 Coupe and Si Coupe also feature wider front fenders that are more aggressively arched and new designs for the side wing mirrors.
Move farther back and you'll find the most dramatic difference between the new Civic Coupe and Sedan models: there are only two doors. This gives the Coupe a severer roof line and possibly results in a sacrifice of just a bit of second-row headroom. This being a model refresh and not a total redesign, the 2014 Coupe's dimensions haven't changed much versus the 2013 model.
Filling the wheel wells of the base coupe are 17-inch wheels, but the Si model will roll on 18-inchers shod in 225/40 R18 Y-rated Continental rubber. These tires are 10 millimeters wider than the 2013 model's -- a small upgrade, but improvement where the rubber meets the road is a good one. If I'm not mistaken, the new wheels are all-season, but summer performance tires should be available.
Move farther back and you'll find that the Si Coupe's short decklid finishes with a larger wing spoiler than even the Si sedan offered. Here, you'll also find a rear bumper that's been molded to resemble a racing diffuser, redesigned taillamps, and the business end of the retuned exhaust system.
It's no surprise that the front-wheel-drive Si Coupe will be powered by the same 2.4-liter i-VTEC engine that powered the 2013 model. However, thanks to that new exhaust system, the Si Coupe now outputs 205 horsepower and 174 pound-feet of torque. That's a 4-horsepower and 4-pound-feet-of-torque bump over the 2013 model. The 2014 Honda Civic Si Sedan will also get the same upgrade when it's unveiled.
Honda is reserving the rest of the details about the 2014 Honda Civic Si Coupe, including pricing, availability, and any dashboard tech improvements, for the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show, which is just a few weeks away. We'll be there, so stay tuned.