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<\/p>\n<\/div>Turn One at Honda\u2019s Mojave Desert proving grounds is a fast, left-hand 150-degree sweeper taken in fourth gear. With no obvious reference points in the featureless desert, I reel the Civic Si tester into the apex somewhere beyond my A-pillar, my right foot squeezing the gas as I dance on the edge of adhesion so I can slingshot off exit and into Turn 2 \u2014 a fast right-hander. Downshift to third. Search for another distant apex, then hard on the throttle over a blind crest. Fourth gear. Stand on the binders into a downhill, third-gear left-hander.<\/p>\n
This high-speed roller coaster goes on for two miles, and as I learn it I never question the car. It\u2019s an extension of my hands, a predictable tool carving unknown terrain.<\/p>\n
The Honda Civic Si is back on my shopping list. But do I want it more than the Civic Hatchback Sport or Type R?<\/p>\n
Truth be known, I covet them all. It\u2019s a fine quandary Tokyo\u2019s automaker has put us motorheads in. To which of the hot Civic triplets do we propose?<\/p>\n
We knew this was coming. Two years ago, Honda debuted an all-new\u00a02016 Civic compact<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a wider, lower, Nurburgring-tested, Audi A3-baselined statement that screamed at the top of its lungs: CIVIC IS BACK! The passionate cry was heard by Honda-philes like yours truly who had drifted from the brand over the last decade as it pursued sales volumes and the growing SUV market.<\/p>\n My 2006 Civic Si is one of the best vehicles I\u2019ve ever owned. My sons learned to race in it at Waterford Hills. An all-around all-star, my front-wheel-drive coupe was a snowmobile through Michigan winters, and an apex-carving pocket rocket when the temperatures warmed.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the last Civic that interested me. Until now.<\/p>\n The base car\u2019s athletic new bones were a clear statement that there was much more sinew to come. The standard Civic was statement enough, taking back the compact segment\u2019s crown with best interior volume, biggest back seat, best base horsepower, best fuel economy, first-to-market smartphone apps, and a partridge in a pear tree. It won 2016 North American Car of the Year by a landslide.<\/p>\n Honda was just getting warmed up. Its performance lineup of Sport, Si and Type R is unprecedented in the segment. Ford\u2019s terrific trio \u2014 meet sexy Fiesta ST, Focus ST and\u00a0Focus RS<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 play across two model lines. As does VW\u2019s Teutonic triad of the Jetta GLI sedan,\u00a0Golf GTI and Golf R<\/a>\u00a0sisters. But only Honda brings three cars of the same model. They\u2019re a triple threat aimed to satisfy gearheads on a budget.<\/p>\n The threesome\u2019s heart and soul is the Si, Honda\u2019s longtime fun badge.<\/p>\n My 2006 car was the howl heard round the world. One of only four cars at the time to milk 100 horsepower-per-liter, the 201-horsepower, 2.0-liter, V-Tec four-banger was a bullet-shaped, cab-forward Rottweiler. At 6,000 rpms, the meat of the peaky torque band, the dual exhaust would release an unholy howl. It was addictive.<\/p>\n Huge Lambo-like front corner air scoops dominate a face smeared with a menacing, black grille. But the air scoops are fake \u2014 an ornament since the mere 1.5-liter turbocharged engine under the hood doesn\u2019t need to inhale like a Huracan.<\/p>\n But it sure tries. This miniature gem acts like a motor with twice its displacement boasting remarkable low-end torque that pulls all through the rev band to a 6,500-rpm redline. There\u2019s none of the drama of my old four \u2014 but then you probably wouldn\u2019t hear it anyway \u2014 so hushed is the Civic interior (even above 100 mph).<\/p>\n The Si comes loaded with Android Auto\/Apple CarPlay, sunroof, limited-slip differential, 18-inch wheels \u2014 everything but leather and safety-assist systems \u2014 at a very tempting $24,600. That\u2019s $1,500 cheaper than a stripped, base GTI. And ALG.com reports the last-generation Si residual value is 15 percent better residual value than the Golf. That\u2019s real money to compact cars\u2019 youthful demographic.<\/p>\n For 2017, Honda even gives the traditional coupe Si a sedan option. Same price. A mere 17 pounds heavier. What Si doesn\u2019t offer, however, is a hatchback. But don\u2019t fret, my hot-hatch brothers, Civic has two new models for you.<\/p>\n At just $23,100, the five-door, 2017 Sport offers a surprisingly roomy hatch (don\u2019t be fooled by the coupe roofline) including a clever luggage-hider that pulls across the rear like a blanket (you\u2019ll never want to go back to the old rail style). The cheaper Coupe lacks only the Si\u2019s infotainment system, limited-slip differential and 25 horsepower \u2014 but so good is the blown 1.5-liter that you may not notice.<\/p>\n What you will notice is the 2018 Type R\u2019s 306 horse, 2.0-liter furnace.<\/p>\n The triplet\u2019s official bad seed, the R is a no-holds-barred, tattooed, winged bat out of hell. Limited to Europe for the last three generations, Honda is finally introducing it to polite company in the USA. It, um, makes an impression.<\/p>\n I took it to road and track and held onto its leash for dear life. The baddest-looking beast this side of a Subaru WRX STI, the Type R is remarkably well-trained under stress. Strapped down with more tire, more suspension, more torque-vectoring and 40 percent more chassis-stiffening than the Si, engineers have put 306 horses through two front wheels with minimal torque steer.<\/p>\n Competitors like Ford\u2019s RS and Golf\u2019s R use all-wheel drive to manage that kind of juice. Not R. Without the extra equipment, Honda\u2019s Hellboy comes in at 3,117 pounds \u2014 more than 350 pounds lighter than the RS. And a whopping $6,000 less to boot.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a lot to process, I know. A day with the Civic triplets will exhaust you. But the great thing is that each is such a cheap date.<\/p>\n Just try and choose\u00a0one<\/em>.<\/p>\n Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/p>\n 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport<\/strong><\/p>\n transmission (CVT)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Report card<\/strong><\/p>\n lots of non-functional styling<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Overall:<\/strong>\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Turn One at Honda\u2019s Mojave Desert proving grounds is a fast, left-hand 150-degree sweeper taken in fourth gear. With no obvious reference points in the featureless desert, I reel the Civic Si tester into the apex somewhere beyond my A-pillar, my right foot squeezing the gas as I dance on the edge of adhesion so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20769"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20770,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20769\/revisions\/20770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
\n VEHICLE TYPE<\/strong><\/td>\n FRONT-ENGINE, FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER HATCHBACK<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Powerplant<\/strong><\/td>\n 1.5-liter, turbocharged inline 4-cylinder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Transmission<\/strong><\/td>\n 6-speed manual; continuously variable<\/p>\n \n Weight<\/strong><\/td>\n 2,871 pounds (manual)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Price<\/strong><\/td>\n $22,175<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Power<\/strong><\/td>\n 180 horsepower, 177 pound-feet torque (manual)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Performance<\/strong><\/td>\n 0-60 mph, 7.0 seconds (Car and Driver)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Fuel economy<\/strong><\/td>\n EPA est. mpg (manual): 30 city\/39 highway\/33 combined<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n \n\n
\n HIGHS<\/strong><\/td>\n ENGINE ONE OF HONDA\u2019S JEWELS; BUDGET BARGAIN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Lows<\/strong><\/td>\n Limited options with manual;<\/p>\n