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2006 Honda Civic Si Long-Term Road Tests Archives

Civic Si: on the way out

Yesterday I took our long-term Civic Si to the car wash. Nothing significant about the visit except that since the Civic has served its time in our fleet, this might be my last trip to the car wash with the revvy little Honda. Earlier this week we ran the Si through its post-fleet-duty test as we do with all long-term cars. It put down numbers nearly identical to its first test...

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Honda Civic Si: fun-ctional

I've been driving a lot of SUVs and trucks lately, so sliding back into the Si over the weekend reminded me how fun cars are. Especially this one.

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2006 Honda Civic: Test Ending

One year ago the Civic Si first arrived in our garage. A final visit to the test track next week makes it official, our test is over.

Nearly 20k miles between then and now stirred up a lot of talk and made the Si one of our most-blogged long-termers. If there are any more comments to share before it leaves the fleet, now is the time...

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Honda Civic Si: Flat Rear Floor Makes All the Difference

2006 Honda Civic Si Coupe backseat

Here's something I've always liked about our Civic Si (and the last two generation Civics in general): the flat rear floor. I'm not the world's most coordinated person, and not having a hump to trip over when getting in the backseat makes life easier. And it's more comfortable to sit back here because your feet don't feel confined. All front-wheel-drive cars should have this kind of packaging...

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Honda Civic Si: Not a looker but a great dancer.

In the past, I've compared the Civic Si to a BMW M3.  The unfiltered connection between the Si and the road, the immediacy of the car's responses (be they to steering, throttle or brakes), the racy, ultra-supportive seats and the way the car feels as solid as a rock all remind me of an M3.  More like the previous, simpler generation M3 (the '95 to '99) than the current one. 

In styling, however, the Civic Si reminds me of the previous generation M coupe.  That's the breadbox shaped coupe that was spun off the Z3 roadster and was made from '99 to '02.  No, I haven't lost it -- it's not that the Civic Si and a '99 M coupe actually look similar.  It's that I didn't like the looks of that Bimmer at all (awkwardly tall greenhouse, wagon-like rear end)...until I drove it and discovered how entertaining it was.  Somehow, that changed things and now I find myself admiring some aspects of that M coupe's design, such as the view from directly behind that shows off the aggressively flared rear quarters. 

The point is, sometimes a car can be so good, so much fun to drive, that it can make you accept its somewhat unattractive styling.  Now, I still think the Civic is oddly proportioned, with its stubby hood and massive windshield giving the front end all the sporty pizzazz of a minivan.  But like that M coupe, when I'm behind the wheel winding out the VTEC while dancing through a twisty road, she's a beauty indeed.

BTW, like some other drivers, I've noticed that the reflash has lessened the rev-hanging problem somewhat, but hasn't eliminated it entirely.

John DiPietro, Automotive Editor @ 19,326

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Crisp Fall Morning in the Civic Si

2006 Honda Civic Si - Erin Riches

I set out for a quick drive in our long-term Honda Civic Si this morning to see if I could detect a difference following the ECM reprogramming Brent had performed. I'm not really best editor for such a task, as I was never overly bothered by the hanging rpm effect. I think there's a slight improvement, but you still don't get a smooth drop. I know that's not the way it should be, but I got sidetracked by running the Si hard around a few corners...

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2006 Honda Civic Si: Throttle Response Fix. Sort Of.

I had our Honda Civic Si serviced yesterday for the hanging throttle issue that many 2006 Si owners have reported. For those readers unfamiliar with this problem, it's basically this: When making a transmission upshift, the engine's rpm doesn't immediately drop as would typically be the case with other manual-transmission cars. Rather, the 2.0-liter engine's rpm stays at the point where the driver depressed the clutch pedal and closed the throttle, and then slowly drops.

This can be annoying as it makes it harder to closely match the vehicle's engine speed to the wheel speed via the next gear when the clutch is engaged...

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2006 Honda Civic Si: Popping Out of 3rd Gear

2006 Honda Civic Si -- Brent RomansA few of our editors have noticed in the past that the transmission shift lever in our long-term 2006 Honda Civic Si will occasionally pop out of gear or grind when making a 2-to-3 upshift. This trait does not seem to be endemic to our car as other Civic Si owners have made forum posts about this topic. (Other six-speed manual Acura vehicles might also suffer from this problem.) It typically only happens when the transmission is cold, and I've noticed it a little more now that it's winter. Various tidbits of advice float around the internet for a possible fix; personally, I just take a little bit of extra care when shifting into 3rd...

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Honda Civic Si: Seat Comfort

2006 Honda Civic Si Seat -- Brent Romans

Over the weekend I had the pleasure (if one can call it that) of driving a family relative's rented Pontiac Grand Prix. After a futile attempt to get comfortable in the GP's driver seat, I believe I said, "These seats are garbage."

In contrast, I happen to be quite fond of the seats in our long-term 2006 Honda Civic Si. Despite a lack of fancy adjustments, they're supportive during cornering and comfortable on long-distance drives. True, seat comfort is highly subjective...

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Honda Civic Si: Being Thankful

2006 Honda Civic Si -- Brent RomansEarlier this week, Karl blogged about his automotive "thank you" list. I would think for many Honda fans, the latest Civic Si would be pretty high on the list. It embodies the best Honda qualities -- it's quick, fuel efficient, well built, sharp handling, safe and pleasurable to own. I'd have to say that this is my favorite Honda car since the second-generation Honda CRX...

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2006 Honda Civic Si: Engine Soundtrack

2006 Honda Civic Si -- Brent Romans The sound that our 2006 Honda Civic Si makes under hard acceleration is a major contributor to its engaging personality. There are two Si-specific design elements that directly contribute to the car's aural aggressiveness.

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Honda Civic Si: Interior Durability

Honda Civic Si -- Brent RomansOur 2006 Honda Civic Si is nearing 19,000 miles now. Though this isn't enough mileage to truly judge durability, I did examine the Civic's interior to see if I could find any future problem areas. Overall, it all looks pretty good. The seat fabric is still in fine condition and all of the little rubber nubs on the alloy pedals are still intact...

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Most Famous "Si" Since Sperling

If anyone gets that headline, I'll mail them my AP Stylebook as a prize*. The Honda Civic Si has never quite worked out in my mind. I was part of a comparison test that had this screetcher up against the VW GTI, a car that appeals more to my tastes.

But after spending several days in the Si, not only was my hair feeling fuller and thicker, my appreciation for this little contraption blossomed as well...

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2006 Honda Civic Si: Litmus Test

2006 Honda Civic Si - Photo by Warren Clarke
I'm in the process of trying to find a new place to live. I currently live in Hollywood, which - in good traffic - is about 40 minutes away the Edmunds homebase here in Santa Monica. One of the neighborhoods I'm considering relocating to is the San Fernando valley. It's a move that would likely add at least 20 minutes to my commute...

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Civic Si: of Rear Seats and Torque

It has been a few weeks since I've plopped myself behind the seat of our long-term Civic Si for a weekend. The last time I did, I hadn't yet seen or driven the Mazdaspeed3.

Rear seat access: The Civic's "walk-in" rear seat access is mighty slick. My ten-year-old daughter frequently gripes when I bring home a two door, banished as she is, by mom's strict adherence to the "rear seat until they're 16" policy, or whatever it is. I swear that my daughter's first experience in the front seat will occur when she's learning to drive...

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I don't like Tuesdays

I love Tuesdays. Why? Because that's the day I get to drive my two-year old to preschool and listen to her describe the world to me in her usual, unfiltered and precious way from her perspective strapped in the back seat. She points to the ten-foot-diameter 1950s-era metal donut atop a local shop, and (because she's never actually eaten a donut) says, "Bagel, Daddy. Big bagel!" Okay, so that's not as cute as some of the other things she's said. But I also hate Tuesdays because after kissing my daughter good-bye in Garden Grove, I find myself at the wrong end of a 37-mile commute to Santa Monica which an online mapping site says should take 32 minutes. Guess again...

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2006 Honda Civic Si: Finding My Focus

   Drive the new Honda Civic Si long enough and you'll get used to the somewhat unorthadox gauge cluster. I know I have, but I also can't deny the effect of having three major focal points in my driving experience (versus the more traditional two). The tachometer, the speedo and the road ahead are all at different distances, so if you're driving aggressively you have to re-focus everytime you switch between them. If you're 19 you probably won't notice this, as the human eye focuses almost instantly at that age...

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Civic Si: Still likable even in the age of the Mazdaspeed 3

2006 Honda Civic Si coupe - Erin Riches 

I spent most of last weekend driving around in a Mazdaspeed 3 (actually, it was an MPS because this was in Germany), and as Josh noted in the full road test, this is a very impressive car for the money -- loaded with torque (280 lb-ft), fearsome through corners thanks its limited-slip differential and stable at high speeds. It's enough to make you wonder if the Civic Si, which is only about $1,100 cheaper and has only half the torque (139 lb-ft), is really worth considering now that this Mazda exists.

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Honda Civic Si: Makes even more sense in Europe

After driving around Europe all last week, I can see why they love cars like the Civic Si. It fits through narrow streets, handles twisty roads with ease and gets decent mileage along the way. It does all the same things back in L.A. but here it's a matter of convenience rather than necessity...

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Civic Si: Greenhouse Effect

This was an unseasonably warm weekend here in L.A. with temps near 90 and the sun shining brightly most of the time.  Not really something to complain about, eh?  However, while driving the Civic Si I noticed that the cabin seemed to heat up pretty quickly when the car was parked.  The chief culprit is most likely the massive windshield, which, like that of a minivan or Lamborghini Murcielago (never thought those two would be mentioned in the same sentence!) is so steeply raked that it continues quite a ways over the cabin. 

The big windscreen is great for outward visibility, but the result is a "greenhouse effect" that admits a lot of sunlight, and hence passive solar heating, into the cabin.  Great in the winter time, not so much on a hot day.

John DiPietro, Automotive Editor @ 15,830 miles.

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