Chopsuey’s 2025 Civic Si Build Thread

[chopsuey34]

Too long, didn’t read lol

Random fun fact: Honda dealers' Gross Per Unit for a Civic 4 door is approximately $1,480.



Source: when you know a guy in dealer floor plan financing

Sponsored

 

[mickjaggaj]

This thread is awesome. Keep it up!

 

[chopsuey34]

Mods I (will) regret:

Acuity Pedal Spacer – I hated this. My foot was flexed upwards unnaturally so my shin muscles were always tensed. I couldn’t find a comfortable position and would have probably gotten shin splits or cramps after a few days. The stock throttle position is much more comfortable, and I can heel-toe much easier. Only for track use, literally.


Honda Cargo Hooks – Grocery bag aren’t tall enough to hang from them, oh well.


Intercooler – I probably didn't need intercooler living in Michigan. It’s really a 3 months out of the year mod. But I’ve never heat soaked. My planned power levels probably don’t need an intercooler, either. In retrospect, I would have purchased the WOT cool plate first, then assessed if I needed an intercooler.


Rigid Collars – I couldn't feel much of a difference on the street, even after an alignment. While I don't regret buying them and the pain in the ass it was to install them, I probably won't ever install them again on any other of my cars. Chasing problems that don’t exist is how companies market to auto enthusiasts. FYI the Honda HRC cars don’t run rigid collars, at least they don’t list them in their mod lists.


Wheels – I don’t regret my Enkeis because they look dope, but on the street, I don’t really notice that much of a difference in handling despite dropping 30lbs of unsprung weight. Unless I’m buying a Miata, I’m only buying high-quality spacers to push the stock wheels out to flush. If I ever buy an Accord, that’s what I’d do because 19” Accord wheels have always been dope.


Tune – I will probably regret tuning my car because I want a set it and forget it experience, and even on Phearable 1.5R Map 1 (16psi), apparently K-Con rises. Who knows? But I gotta do it.

Civic Si doesn't really get fast until 3rd and 4th gears. 1st and 2nd gears are short and it doesn't really pull well in those gears. 3rd and 4th gears pull smoothly and fast enough but I'm already at 80mph at the top of 3rd. So a tune will really only be for 3rd gear (and partial 4th gear pulls). I mean, do I really need a tune for only 1-1/2 gears? "Yes, you do," says the voice in my head. "And buy me some ice cream while you're at it."

Note to self: Civic Si clutch change requires the subframe to be pulled - stay stock, you dummy!

10th Gen Civic Si clutches hold about 250whp (11th Gen clutch is similar if not the same, I believe):
https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/exedy-clutch-torque-ratings-not-great.41243/#post-681038


Sway Bar – The rear end feels likes it’s dragging behind in fast sweepers, which points to the need for a rear sway bar. But I’ll probably regret it because there are only 3 or 4 places where I really need one and if I need to do a high-speed evasive maneuver, I might spin out, especially when temps are cool and wet and snowy.


Time – Who cares about the $6,000 or $7,000 extra I’ll spend on the car, the thing I regret most is the opportunity cost of time spent thinking about this car and what I will mod out. Hundreds of hours it must have been that I spent deliberating over such inane things! I could have used all that time for more productive things like thinking about my coworker's tits. It turns out that mods don’t change the driving experience that much on the street. I don’t need to chase the last tenth of a second, so mods aren’t really that useful to me. Lesson learned, but at least I had fun.

This has important implications and carries over to other things like watches, houses, and women. Young man! Don't be like me, don't waste your life obsessing about things that won't make much of a difference. Obsess about the things that matter (like your coworker's tits)!

 

[perkidddoh]

Keep on writing! I like this content, it's pretty much reading someone's thoughts in a forum.

Your Type R finance sentiment is also the same reason on what's keeping me from getting one. I have a Sport Touring manual 6mt, owned a 10th gen Si sedan prior so knowing how that drove and always regretted going the hatchback route, I went with the Sport Touring instead. And now - I'm about 1.5 years into my 11th gen ownership and I'm thinking about the Type R, but there's a part of me that 's also hesitant on spending an additional 20k-30k more for more fun, because at the end of it, is the 20k-30k worth the fun? Financially maybe not, I might just do a tune first and reset my urges, for now.

I also have the TS-V, 18x8.5 +38, looks so good in this gen.

 

[chopsuey34]

Keep on writing! I like this content, it's pretty much reading someone's thoughts in a forum.

Your Type R finance sentiment is also the same reason on what's keeping me from getting one. I have a Sport Touring manual 6mt, owned a 10th gen Si sedan prior so knowing how that drove and always regretted going the hatchback route, I went with the Sport Touring instead. And now - I'm about 1.5 years into my 11th gen ownership and I'm thinking about the Type R, but there's a part of me that 's also hesitant on spending an additional 20k-30k more for more fun, because at the end of it, is the 20k-30k worth the fun? Financially maybe not, I might just do a tune first and reset my urges, for now.

I also have the TS-V, 18x8.5 +38, looks so good in this gen.

Thanks! If you want to know how much money your will be torching if you ever trade up from a Hatch 6MT to a CTR, then read my post "Wise or Unwise: Redux (Running the Numbers)". Numbers are a little dated and for the Si, but close enough.

 

[chopsuey34]

The official soundtrack to this thread is:

"Relaxing music from Gran Turismo (#1)" by yeeTWOsduck (YOUTUBE LINK)

(Holy smokes, that's a lot of songs!)
Yes, my favorite artists are CAPITALIZED. I recommend you start with them.

 

[chopsuey34]

Dad bought me a little Civic for my birthday. It’s my new favorite toy! I take my little Civic everywhere! When Mom takes me to the mall, I take my little Civic and pretend to drive like Mom. Mom drives slow, though. I like it when Dad drives! My little Civic drives fast like Dad!

When Dad takes Mom and me to the lake in the summer, me and my little Civic drive next to our van. Vroom, vroom, me and my little Civic leave Dad in the dust! My little Civic is so fast!

When Mom tucks me in at night, my little Civic is right beside me, sleeping just like me.

When Dad wakes me up, I can’t wait to play with my little Civic! I brush my teeth and then Mom makes me cereal and sometimes Dad makes scrambled eggs. I help put away the dishes and Mom gives me a kiss and Dad drives off to work and then I run outside with my little Civic and play! I love Mom and Dad!

I jump inside my little Civic and work the gears like Dad. He lets me shift them sometimes. It’s kind of hard. I guess I have to be strong like Dad to work the gears myself.

I run with my little Civic through the neighborhood. There are some older kids with bigger cars than mine. They don’t let me play with them because I’m too small. Dad says the big kids get to play with Corvettes and Beemers. Maybe someday me and my little Civic will be old enough to play with the big kids.

I run to the park with my little Civic. It has these awesome bronze wheels that look so cool! And Dad says my tires grip. I don’t know what that means, but he says they make my car go fast. Cool! My tires grip!

Mom packed peanut butter crackers for me and my little Civic. My little Civic doesn’t like peanut butter crackers, but I do! Mom says I need to eat them all or I won’t get strong like Dad. I eat them all to be big like Dad and give my little Civic premium just like Dad does. My little Civic is kinda like my little brother. I kinda wish I had a little brother.

I run down the street with my little Civic and turn onto the main road. I run by cars down Fulton Street. Mom says I can’t play this far away from home, but with my little Civic, I’m not afraid!

Where should we go now, little Civic? Where can we have our next adventure?

Should we run to Ada, little Civic? What about Rockford? How about Holland? Maybe Grand Haven? I know, I know, up north to see Grandma! With my little Civic, I can go anywhere, I can do anything!

Go, little Civic, go!

Me and my little Civic are running through the country now. I’ve never been this far from home, but me and my little Civic are never scared!

It’s getting dark now, I better get home. Mom might be worried about me. I can’t wait to tell Dad about the things I saw with my little Civic today.

I run back home with my little Civic. I park my little Civic in the garage, just like Dad. Mom’s a little mad that I missed dinner, but Dad says it’s time for bed. I brush my teeth, say my prayers, and Mom tucks me in. Beside me is my little Civic. I can’t wait to play with it tomorrow!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


On June 27th, I was driving home from my barber. I was going 65 in a 55 on a Michigan two-lane divided highway. I was rolling into a long, gentle hill, when I downshifted from 6th to 5th to 4th to 3rd. The moment I hit 3rd gear, I experienced pure joy. For about 10 seconds, all I felt was joy, unadulterated joy that only a young child can feel. The type of joy we forget about or leave behind as we travel to adulthood.

I couldn’t help myself, I yelled out, no, exclaimed, “Go, little Civic! Go!”

I crested the hill and those brief 10 seconds were over. Back to reality, back to adulthood, but that little moment with my car stayed with me and inspired this post.

 

[chopsuey34]

A thought about weight reduction:

I drive an MR2 Spyder as my fun car. It’s a mid-engine car, and it's also very lightweight at around 2,200lbs. I used to be obsessed with weight reduction, thinking it the best thing one can do to a car to make it faster, but I was wrong.

The MR2 Spyder carries its spare tire in a plastic tub up front. Removing the spare tire and the tub yields about 35 to 40lbs of weight savings over the front axle. But when driving, the MR2 Spyder is so light, that I can tell the difference between driving with the spare and tub in versus with them out. You wouldn’t think it, but the car drives better with the spare and tub in! Despite making the car slightly heavier overall, the spare’s extra weight gives an extremely light front end some extra heft, and even 35lbs helps balance the car out. This is all evident in street driving, too. I’m not at the limit feeling these changes.

Realizing this has cured me of the pathology of obsessive weight reduction. Cars benefit from weight reduction, but removing weight in inappropriate areas can have its negative side effects. Or perhaps it can help a car run around a track quicker, but ruin its feel and road manners. It turns out automotive engineers know more about chassis tuning and vehicle dynamics than I do.

How does this relate to a Civic? I'm not messing with Honda's FF dynamics. No, I won't be relocating my battery to the trunk. No, I won't be removing seats. No, I won't be spending $500 to save 15lbs. Porsche has its track junkie customers over a barrel charging five digits for a lightweight roof that saves 9lbs. The Civic Si has a 60/40 front/rear weight distribution and changing it towards 55/45 would probably make it handle worse. FF handles like FF, don't turn an FF into FR.

The old song on car forums goes:

"Driver mod, driver mod,
wheels, brakes, and tires,
Fluids and practice,
turn slow pokes to flyers."

 

[pwp25si]

Honda trimmed so much fat, there's really not much left, except the boat anchor wheels and maybe lighter battery, which i find not all that worthwhile. Catted downpipe will shed about 10 pounds, but prl intercooler will add 12 pounds right back. Prl Intake/intercooler resonator delete yielded 3 pounds. 27won fromtpipe was 1 pound heavier than stock. Car is already light in its stock form. Its bette to not add any unnecessary mods like strut towers or body itiffeners imo.

 

[chopsuey34]

I’m cruising M-37 southbound, doing an easy 80mph. I just left Mesick behind me with a full tank of gas. The road’s open, and Waze shows a clean corridor all the way to Baldwin. No smokies for the next 40 miles. The summer sun is beating down on me, and I’m daydreaming from the heat.

There’s some traffic up ahead. No big deal, I’m the fast mover today. I check my rearview. There’s some headlights far back. Great, plenty of space for some easy passes.

As I close the gap with the slower traffic, I check my rearview again. Those headlights are closer than before.

That’s not John Law behind me, that’s something fast.

I hit the gas and get up to 90. I’m the fast mover today. Hell if I let someone overtake me.

I pass the slower traffic. I look back again. I see those same headlights pass them, too.
“Damn, this guy’s movin". I hit the throttle and get up to a solid buck.

A quick check up front, then back to the rear view. He’s closing in on me.

“Oh shit, that’s a 5.0"

10 seconds later, a Mustang GT passes me doing a buck twenty. I spot his Brembos as he flies by.

“Guess I’m chasing a PP1 today.”

No time to check Waze again, I’m flying blind for the next 30 miles. It doesn’t matter, my Mustang friend will block for deer and LEOs. I turn my heater to full blast and get after him.

I’m barely gaining on him. I’m down at least 350hp on my new rival. My 4 cylinder is screaming at the top of 4th.

My car wasn’t built for these speeds. My front end is getting nervous. It twitches over every crack in the road. Hurricane winds are ripping through my cabin. I can’t hear the stereo anymore.

This is way out of my comfort zone. Images of death flash before me. “There's a white cross on the side of the road with your name on it.” My subconscious is telling me to slow down. I block it out. My blood’s hot and it ain’t the sun. I’m not slowing down, not today. I’m chasing down that Mustang no matter what. Hell if I let him overtake me today.

I catch up with him a few curves later and settle into drafting position. Dividing lines are rushing by. The forest beside me is a blur. God help me if a deer jumps out at these speeds.

We come around the next curve into a straight. I spot an RV pulling up to a junction down the road. The Mustang throttles off for an instant. He sees him, too, and he’s hesitating. That RV could turn into the road at any second. The two of us are now in a 120mph game of chicken with an RV.

At these speeds, my only out is my brakes. I’m down 1,500 lbs on him, so I know I can out-brake him even with his Brembos and his thicker rubber. I just can’t get beat to the jump.

I’m looking straight through the Mustang’s rear deck, my eyes strained from the sun, my peripherals checking three things: oncoming traffic, the RV, and his brake lights.

RV, brake light, traffic, RV, brake light, traffic.

Brake or gun it, it’s his decision. Whatever he does, I’m there. Hell if I let him get away from me today.

What's he gonna do?

What's he gonna do?

Mustang guns it. Decision made. I’m there right behind him.

We’re flying down the RV. Closer, closer, closer. We’re right on it. Just then, I see the RV crawl forward. The driver just let off the brakes and he’s turning.

The Mustang’s brake lights flash on. I’m already there, standing on my brakes.

Mustang can’t out-brake the RV. He gambles for his life: he ditches left into the tiny gap between the oncoming traffic and the RV. He bucks left into traffic and right back into the right lane, barely avoiding a high-speed spin.

No gap left for me. I have to trust my brakes. I can’t ditch left into oncoming traffic. I can’t ditch right into tree trunks.

My ABS engages. My body is thrown forward and jerks left as the seat belt grips my shoulder. My knuckles are white keeping the wheel straight. I’m bracing for impact. My 25-year-old airbags better work.

I barely avoid the RV’s left hook knockout bumper sandwich.

The afternoon traffic from Baldwin picks up and I’m stuck behind the RV. I’m fuming.

"God Dammit! God Fucking Dammit! That lucky bastard passed me AND he got away?!?" I’m never going to see that god damn 5.0 again and get even.

My blood’s still hot and it ain’t the sun, running southbound down an open Michigan highway.

 

[chopsuey34]

It’s late October and the summer driving season is winding down. As I put my sports car into winter storage, I’d like to reflect on the roads I’ve driven this year. Here is a list of Michigan’s top 6 driving roads:

6) Johnswood Rd. (Drummond Island)

Johnswood Rd. is Michigan’s premier rallycross drive. Featuring 12 miles of wild curves, if you want gravel wash-out on your course, you got it.

Pros: Extremely wild, no traffic

Cons: If you crash, the ambulance is a long, long ferry ride away

5) Lower M22 (Manistee to Empire)

This section of M22 features Michigan’s best curve, an ascending right-hand sweeper north of Arcadia going past Inspiration Point. A friend likes to scream up this curve at the top of third gear. He says he enjoys feeling the G-forces. You just might see the fabled moose (an Outback with four bikes on top going 10 under)

Pros: Scenic views of sand dunes, multiple +100mph straightaways

Cons: Cops, Cyclists, Subarus

4) M37 (Mesick to White Cloud)

This underappreciated driver’s road is a slice of Michigan tarmac straight through the Huron-Manistee National Forest. Play hop-scotch with slower traffic and gamble on multi-car passes. Rural poverty keeps the yuppies away.

Pros: Wide open passing, no cyclists, Subarus keep to M22 30 miles west

Cons: RV traffic, rural poverty

3) M119 Tunnel of Trees (Harbor Springs to Cross Village)

Famous for its narrow width that allows trees to cover the entire roadway, Tunnel of Trees (ToT) is Michigan’s most unique drive. You can technically pass anywhere since there are no dividing lines or medians, so if you drive an MX-5 or smaller, challenge yourself to see how many people you can pass on this tight, winding 20-mile stretch. Test the low speed limits with tree trunks right in your face. Tourist log jams start around 9am.

Pros: Hairpin turns, grey-area passing legality

Cons: No shoulder, tree trunks will test your nerve at speed

2) Upper M22 (Empire to Northport)

The driving north of Leland is simply sublime and features the 2nd best curve in Michigan: a right-hander a few miles north of Glen Arbor. Take it fast but remember that good boys don’t cross double yellows.

Pros: Motoring bliss as long as you don’t hit traffic

Cons: No passing lanes, sitting behind a moving van for 20 miles

1) Pierce Stocking Drive

This 6-mile circuit features a variety of challenging corners. Go in late September after the summer tourists have gone home and before mid-October when the fall tourists start swarming. A friend holds the state record of 7:55.84 with an average speed of 43.88mph. Watch out for the crowned, descending curve towards the end of the circuit. You can get in for free if you bluff the park rangers that this is your first time here and you were just passing through. Getting stuck behind a conga line of Subarus will quickly kill the vibe. Arriving early before the outdoorsy crowd risks deer collision.

Pros: The closest thing to a touge in Michigan, fulfilling your Best Motoring (Hot Version) fantasies

Cons: Deer, Subarus, leaving home at 5am to beat the crowd

 

[chopsuey34]

You know what, forget the sway bar. I've been stuck indoors for the past two weeks because of the polar vortex and about this time of year, I start jonesing to drive my convertible. I used to deal with it by spending hours and hours of time looking up car parts and mods. Now, I write my feelings down, and I'm better for it.

My mind was recently captured by sway bars again. I went through this same process back in winter 2025 and 2024. So I decided to think about why I wanted a sway bar and if I should buy one.



Safety is my primary issue: I don’t want the car to act in a way I can’t expect. I’ve driven FWD cars my entire life and I know more or less how each one acts in emergency situations. But by adding a sway bar, even a mild one, I will change the way the car behaves in emergency situations where full brakes, hard turning, and quick direction changes meet, and predictability is needed. I live in an area full of deer, and deer don’t care what I drive or what suspension set up I’m running. I need predictability at all times, especially when I step it up when driving aggressively.

Having to consciously pay attention to my speed or body control when taking curves in the rain or snow also sucks. For a daily, I don’t want that. I drive my car in four season weather and it's not worth the risk in the winter to have a big bar. Plus, I’m not going to change it every fall and spring. You California boys have the weather advantage, I’ll give you that.



My life isn’t going to change with this sway bar, and I’ve been wasting too much time thinking about something that isn’t a big deal (including writing this post). This is a daily Civic Si. Who am I racing on the street? Nobody. Can I drive this car to the limit? No. Should I drive my car at the limit on the street? No. Will I become Niki Lauda if I swap in a sway bar? No. Do I care if I can carry 3mph extra in the forested, pot-hole curves I drive on? Not really, and there’s always oncoming traffic or deer at the end that keeps my speed in check anyways. I operate under the “Michigan Discount”, which states that in every situation for a given type of road, a driver should drive slower in Michigan than in other states because of the heightened risk of deer collision, because you never know.

So the idea is that sway bars increase performance in autocrosses and track events, where cars are driven at their limits, but those limits won’t ever be reached on public roads. And a thicker bar will change driving feel, but in my use case, it won’t change performance.

(Multiple sources say that Civics oversteer at the limit. If you trail brake hard enough, you can get the rear end to step out. Great. When I do that (hopefully never), I’ll know the limits of the car.)

I drive on roads designed with “public” (mild) curves at generally higher speeds. These aren’t tight auto-cross types of corners. They’re high-speed sweepers. There are only 3 highway on-ramps in my city where I really feel the need for a thicker rear sway bar. My Michigan roads have improved dramatically since 2023 (thanks Biden), but still aren’t perfect. I want the suspension to do it’s job well and give me a balance between sportiness and comfort, which is what the Si already does.



Tires (compound, width, pressures), alignments, shocks, and springs (coils) are more important suspension components than sway bars. Sway bars come after, not before. And the eventual goal is to tune the entire suspension to some effect rather than throw a component at it. And the effect is spirited street driving. And Honda chassis and suspension engineers did an amazing job tuning the stock Si for spirited street driving.

I remembered that Keiichi Tsuchiya said to change the alignment first, not the sway bar. He knows these things way better than any of us, and I'll take his word (comment) on it. I'll save myself $250 and get an alignment sometime.

Opportunity costs – instead of a $250 sway bar, I can buy give or take 6 tanks of gas. I think I’ll take the gas, thanks. That’s 2,160 miles (6 x 12 gallons x 30mpg). Wow, I just realized a new way of evaluating mods, and I’m literally writing this down as I think. I’ve never thought this way. This post wasn’t a waste of time! Instead of dollars, comparing a mod’s benefits to how many potential miles I give up is another way to gauge benefits and costs. Do I want a more neutral handling car or 2-3 months’ worth of driving behind the wheel? I’ll take the driver mod. Think of how many extra corners you could take with the gas money, or track days, or autocross events. Driver mod investments really are the best ROI you can make.

None of my mods passes the opportunity cost test. Hence why “next time”, I’ll just stick to stock wheels, get better tires, get high quality wheel spacers, some odds and ends here and there, and call it a day. It’s the Pareto Principle staring me in the face. 20% of mods (tune, tires) gets you 80% of the way there.

As I car enthusiast, I’m a snob about how cars drive, but I’m not. I’ve been driving a shit box for the past 8 years, and that is a fun car to toss around even if it technically sucks to drive. It seems like I’m beginning to realize that I should enjoy cars in their stock forms. Mods only make incremental changes in my use case out on the street. Just like the gaming PC I use to write essays in Microsoft Word, I will probably never use my mods to their full potential, either. I had to spend $6,000 to get there, but I got there.



Opinions are always welcome.

Maybe you can tempt me into getting a sway bar after all (but don’t mention anything about oil. I don’t want to hear your thoughts about oil or oil changes).

inb4 a banker uses his brain to justify not spending money, anything but that! How about having some fun for a change?



Edit: Superman with a great post

 

[perkidddoh]

Thanks! If you want to know how much money your will be torching if you ever trade up from a Hatch 6MT to a CTR, then read my post "Wise or Unwise: Redux (Running the Numbers)". Numbers are a little dated and for the Si, but close enough.

4 months later after my first FL5 test drive (Thanksgiving) and going back and forth with convincing myself the FL1 was enough but I caved around the end of January and went for an FL5.

I might have torched some money in the process but I quickly forgot about that whenever I see my CW CTR in the garage and whenever I'm driving it. I'm only a little over 300 miles in and only owned it for a little over two weeks but that FL1 6mt felt like months ago. This car is it for me.

I just wanted to share this because you seem to be enjoying your car very much and all the mods that you're doing to it but the Type R is very much worth it (I think, for me at least) assuming it's at MSRP or under MSRP.

 

[chopsuey34]

4 months later after my first FL5 test drive (Thanksgiving) and going back and forth with convincing myself the FL1 was enough but I caved around the end of January and went for an FL5.

I might have torched some money in the process but I quickly forgot about that whenever I see my CW CTR in the garage and whenever I'm driving it. I'm only a little over 300 miles in and only owned it for a little over two weeks but that FL1 6mt felt like months ago. This car is it for me.

I just wanted to share this because you seem to be enjoying your car very much and all the mods that you're doing to it but the Type R is very much worth it (I think, for me at least) assuming it's at MSRP or under MSRP.

Thank you for following up, perkidddoh. I'm glad you traded up for the FL5.

I wrote that post to provide a point of view to help forum members make an important long term decision. I was so obsessed about FE1 or FL5, I started writing up discounted cash flow analyses to model financial losses (God help me). I wanted to explicitly show with hard numbers that trading up to a CTR wasn't a great financial decision. It helped me confront that I had to buy either FE1 or FL5; I couldn't make a "mistake" and trade in my Si because I knew the losses. I had to decide what I wanted first and buy only that. That forced me to think about what I valued in a new car. Slow car fast and some extra $ for mods were my priorities. There are some days when I wonder if buying an FL5 would have been the better decision, but full throttle everywhere in my Si is really, really fun.

I think it was valuable for me, and I hope it was valuable for you. It's there as a reference, nothing more.

Best,

chopsuey34

--------

It's winter. I can't really drive my cars the way I want to, but thinking about driving them fast is a lot of fun, too!

 

[chopsuey34]

Another reason I went with the Si over the Type R is an important factor I call "seriousness". Whether these two cars are or are not serious are important factors in the overall driver-car personality.

What makes a car serious or not? To what degree are cars serious? Why should we care about seriousness? Does seriousness affect lap times? Does it affect driver-car “coolness”? These are important questions to answer to find a car that’s a right fit for you.

Some cars are serious, some cars are less serious, some cars are not serious. What makes a car serious or not? A car is serious if it punches its weight class. A car is serious if it’s a contender. A car is serious if we know it can perform. A car is serious if it has a tremendous engine. A car is serious if it has a race suspension. A car is serious if it has expectations regarding its abilities.

Whereas, a car isn’t serious if it punches above its weight class. A car isn’t serious if it’s expected to lose or come in last. A car isn’t serious if we know it can’t perform. A car isn’t serious if it has the base engine. A car isn’t serious if its suspension is overshadowed by the next-higher trim. A car isn’t serious if it’s the little brother in the relationship because a car isn’t serious if we have no expectations regarding its abilities.

There are relative and absolute levels of seriousness. NA Miatas are never serious, even in the presence of a kei-car like the Suzuki Cappucino. We can say they are absolutely unserious. Whereas Porsches and anything more expensive are serious cars. They all have +500 horsepower, cost the moon, and are more serious than a senate meeting.

The Type R is relatively more serious than the Civic Si, but the Civic Si is relatively more serious than a Miata. Compared to a Miata of any generation, a Civic Si is as serious as serious can be.

Size also plays into seriousness, but there are nuances to elucidate: small cars are almost always unserious, and large cars are almost always serious. Again, the Miata is not serious, while Mustangs, Challengers, and SUVs like Suburbans are serious. Sometimes, though, large cars can be unserious, like Hummers.

Anything with aggressive lines is serious, which means all Lambos and Ferraris are serious. The Cybertruck is serious even though it’s a joke.

Anything slow is less serious while anything fast is serious.

Are EVs serious? Yes, because there’s a climate change apocalypse coming so how dare you joke about global warming doing something about this winter.

Certain cars, whatever their attributes, are serious, and some are not.

Which brings me to the Civic Si and the Type R. The Type R is a serious car while the Civic Si is not.

Why?

The Type R is serious. Look at its widebody kit. Look at that stance. Look at that front grille. And look at that wing. Feel its 315hp. Feel that dual axis suspension. Read its Nurburgring FF lap record. Look at these cars at their local autocross or track days. The Type R is bigger, faster, has actual performance chops, has serious racing hood vents. The Type R has expectations.

The Civic Si is the little brother between the two. In the stable, it is the runt horse who will never run as fast as its thoroughbred brother. It is always the underdog, it is always punching up. It is always scrapping knowing it will never win. It is always looking up to big bro and wondering if it’ll ever be old enough.

And that is why I like driving my Civic Si. Because I never have to prove anything to anyone. If I’m at a stoplight and anything fast pulls up beside me, I’m racing it. I know I’ll lose, but I’ll have fun doing it.

Si vs. 911, let’s play!
Si vs. Alfa 4C, come on, I know you can go faster!

My other car is an MR2 Spyder. It’s even less serious than the Miata. The only people who like it are seven-year-olds and senior citizens. It has a funny bug-eye grill and a wonderful yellow color. Women don’t bat an eye at it. In this car, the last thing I project is masculine energy. And I love it, because I don’t have to prove anything to anyone.

MR2 Spyder vs. Lucid, caught up to you in the curves, didn’t I?
MR2 Spyder vs. C8 Corvette, I got a point by on a public road, whoa.

When a 6-year-old asks me to rev my engine in front of Jersey Junction, I let that bitch rip and he runs scared to dad. Haha it’s a 1.8L, but he doesn’t know that.


Driving becomes play time in an unserious car. There’s zero affectation. And that’s why I bought an Si, the less serious of the two performance Civics.

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