Looking for a new Civic, but can't decide which one.

[GenXRavensfan]

I'm currently looking to purchase either a new 2026 Si, or '26 Touring Hybrid. Having a hard time deciding between the two because of the lack of comfort features on the '26 Si, and wondering if the 200hp and 232tq ratings on the Touring Hybrid were accurate and made it actually feel as or close to as sporty as the Si. My '19 Si was killed by a drunk driver in the middle of January and I'm still recovering from a broken right foot from that. I still can't drive yet, so I haven't driven either of them yet. Considering how "loaded" my '19 Si was and the 2020 was even more well equipped I was shocked to see how dirty they did the 11th Gen Si. Anyway, The Touring Hybrid seems to only be missing a manual transmission, which is damned near mandatory in a sports car in my opinion. While I'm not a fan of automatics, I've been told that paddle shifters really are the way to go, I'm still skeptical. Regardless, I plan to mod the car, whichever one I get, with a minimum of a tune, cold air intake, intercooler, exhaust, and most likely a down pipe and front pipe, and possibly a turbo. The one Si I've seen appears to be even easier to work on than my '19 Si was. I was hoping the Touring Hybrid was as well, but with it being the 2.0 and a hybrid, I wasn't sure if it would be crammed in there more. Also, with it not being a turbo from the factory I was wondering how difficult and expensive it would be to add a turbo if/when I decide to do that in the future. So if anyone has any input for me on the US models since the mid gen refresh, I'd love to hear it. Really very stuck on which way to go here. Thanks in advance for all the help.

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[latole]

I'm sorry to hear about your accident and wish you a speedy recovery.

Personally, I'm not a fan of sports cars, but I've always driven manuals.
I traded in my 2018 model for a 2025 automatic, and it's been a dream ever since—especially in increasingly heavy traffic. I wouldn’t go back to a manual.

And it’s more fuel-efficient, which is much appreciated these days.

 

[GenXRavensfan]

I'm sorry to hear about your accident and wish you a speedy recovery.

Personally, I'm not a fan of sports cars, but I've always driven manuals.
I traded in my 2018 model for a 2025 automatic, and it's been a dream ever since—especially in increasingly heavy traffic. I wouldn’t go back to a manual.

And it’s more fuel-efficient, which is much appreciated these days.

Thank you very much! Recovery has been slower than I'd like, but at least it's progressing. I definitely agree that in traffic, an auto is far superior. But so far, for me, that's the only win. Aside from the lack of a manual tranny, I'm wondering if the Sport Touring Hybrid really feels like it has the rated 200hp and 232tq that Honda claims. If it drives like it's got that power, I think I could get past the lack of a manual to gain all those comfort features that the Si doesn't, but should, have. Especially considering they took some that the 10th gen had. How are they gonna put a dual zone climate control in the 10th gen Si, but not in the 11th? WTF? Thanks again for the well wishes And thank you for your POV. I'll keep it in mind.

 

[ModJPB]

I think you answered your own question but others are misleading you. Everything you're saying is for an Si except comfort. If you want si performance with regular civic comfort you should get an Integra.

Options for modifying/tuning a civic hybrid is almost non-existant. You are going to be very disappointed if you plan on going big intercooler and turbo. Also paddle shifters are NOT comparable to a manual. Although a stock hybrid is as fast or even faster then the si, it is not meant for tuning and you'll be missing out on the sport tuned handling, braking and seating of the Si/Integra.

I drove a manual for 30 years and only recently gave it up for a civic touring with cvt paddles. I maybe used the paddles twice in the past year. In eco/drive mode the car does not hold a "gear"and will switch back to auto a few seconds later. In sport mode it'll hold a "gear" but having 7 options to choose from and no tactile way of knowing what gear you're in, makes it a guessing game or choose to take your eyes off the road to look at the dash for "gear" number. This is difficult for entering and exiting corners. I'm not saying the cvt is bad. Honda cvt is one of the best, adjusts quickly and does great job of predicting what you want it to do, it's the paddles that are a silly addon.

 

[chibisky]

I'm currently looking to purchase either a new 2026 Si, or '26 Touring Hybrid. Having a hard time deciding between the two because of the lack of comfort features on the '26 Si, and wondering if the 200hp and 232tq ratings on the Touring Hybrid were accurate and made it actually feel as or close to as sporty as the Si. My '19 Si was killed by a drunk driver in the middle of January and I'm still recovering from a broken right foot from that. I still can't drive yet, so I haven't driven either of them yet. Considering how "loaded" my '19 Si was and the 2020 was even more well equipped I was shocked to see how dirty they did the 11th Gen Si. Anyway, The Touring Hybrid seems to only be missing a manual transmission, which is damned near mandatory in a sports car in my opinion. While I'm not a fan of automatics, I've been told that paddle shifters really are the way to go, I'm still skeptical. Regardless, I plan to mod the car, whichever one I get, with a minimum of a tune, cold air intake, intercooler, exhaust, and most likely a down pipe and front pipe, and possibly a turbo. The one Si I've seen appears to be even easier to work on than my '19 Si was. I was hoping the Touring Hybrid was as well, but with it being the 2.0 and a hybrid, I wasn't sure if it would be crammed in there more. Also, with it not being a turbo from the factory I was wondering how difficult and expensive it would be to add a turbo if/when I decide to do that in the future. So if anyone has any input for me on the US models since the mid gen refresh, I'd love to hear it. Really very stuck on which way to go here. Thanks in advance for all the help.

I feel well suited to comment here because I went from a '19 Si to a '26 Hybrid Touring hatchback.

1) The power and acceleration is similar to what I had in my Si, especially in sport mode, so I'm inclined to believe the 200 hp rating to be fairly accurate. The increase is in torque off the line is way more noticeable since it can make torque from 0 because of the electric motor.

For the paddle shifters, currently the Civic Hybrid does not have the S+ Shift setting the Prelude has so they are ONLY for setting the regen level, not shifting. You can use to charge the battery faster during braking or use it as an "engine brake". The only control you have over the shifting is if you put it in the launch mode by putting your foot on the brake, and gas 100% and then letting go and keeping your foot planted on the gas fully, in which case the transmission will not do the fake shifting and allow the system to give you the best 0-60 possible.

2) It is a shame they nerfed the Si for 11th gen in the US, but I believe it was so they could better push the Integra here, which is a more luxurious and feature packed Civic. For 2026 though, the only noticeable feature missing from the Si compared to the Touring would be the Dual Zone climate, and I think adaptive cruise control. They added the full digital dash, larger screen, and heated front seats back in for 2026 Si.

3) If you want to do at a minimum tune, CAI, intercooler, turbo, and full exhaust, then your only choice between the two would be the Civic Si. The engine in the hybrid is merely a generator most of the time and its primary drive motor is the electric motor. Even if you were to add a turbo to this engine, it would not make a lot of difference and you also would have no way of tuning it. You could possibly do an intake and exhaust on it but no bolt on options for that exist currently. You would need a custom exhaust or modify the one that is available for the new Prelude.

Also, on the topic of exhaust, if you want to rev the engine to hear the exhaust the hybrid will not allow you to do that unless you place the car in maintenance mode, in which case it will let you rev it but very slowly.

Most of the aftermarket support you will have for the Hybrid will be limited to exterior mods and suspension mods that happen to carry over from the other Civic variants.

TLDR: From what your needs/desires is for the car I think the best choice would be the Civic Si or a Integra (if you are willing to pay a bit more).

 

[VarmintCong]

Yeah, the 2026 Si gets some features back.

Personally I think the LSD and the manual make it a lot more fun and capable. But the hybrid drivetrain is pretty nice, so I think it comes down to if you want the manual.

 

[GenXRavensfan]

I feel well suited to comment here because I went from a '19 Si to a '26 Hybrid Touring hatchback.

1) The power and acceleration is similar to what I had in my Si, especially in sport mode, so I'm inclined to believe the 200 hp rating to be fairly accurate. The increase is in torque off the line is way more noticeable since it can make torque from 0 because of the electric motor.

For the paddle shifters, currently the Civic Hybrid does not have the S+ Shift setting the Prelude has so they are ONLY for setting the regen level, not shifting. You can use to charge the battery faster during braking or use it as an "engine brake". The only control you have over the shifting is if you put it in the launch mode by putting your foot on the brake, and gas 100% and then letting go and keeping your foot planted on the gas fully, in which case the transmission will not do the fake shifting and allow the system to give you the best 0-60 possible.

2) It is a shame they nerfed the Si for 11th gen in the US, but I believe it was so they could better push the Integra here, which is a more luxurious and feature packed Civic. For 2026 though, the only noticeable feature missing from the Si compared to the Touring would be the Dual Zone climate, and I think adaptive cruise control. They added the full digital dash, larger screen, and heated front seats back in for 2026 Si.

3) If you want to do at a minimum tune, CAI, intercooler, turbo, and full exhaust, then your only choice between the two would be the Civic Si. The engine in the hybrid is merely a generator most of the time and its primary drive motor is the electric motor. Even if you were to add a turbo to this engine, it would not make a lot of difference and you also would have no way of tuning it. You could possibly do an intake and exhaust on it but no bolt on options for that exist currently. You would need a custom exhaust or modify the one that is available for the new Prelude.

Also, on the topic of exhaust, if you want to rev the engine to hear the exhaust the hybrid will not allow you to do that unless you place the car in maintenance mode, in which case it will let you rev it but very slowly.

Most of the aftermarket support you will have for the Hybrid will be limited to exterior mods and suspension mods that happen to carry over from the other Civic variants.

TLDR: From what your needs/desires is for the car I think the best choice would be the Civic Si or a Integra (if you are willing to pay a bit more).

Wow! Thank you very much! That helps a whole bunch. Now to see what to do about the Si, or the Integra. Do you happen to know if the KTuners work in Acuras as well? I'd imagine they would.

 

[GenXRavensfan]

I think you answered your own question but others are misleading you. Everything you're saying is for an Si except comfort. If you want si performance with regular civic comfort you should get an Integra.

Options for modifying/tuning a civic hybrid is almost non-existant. You are going to be very disappointed if you plan on going big intercooler and turbo. Also paddle shifters are NOT comparable to a manual. Although a stock hybrid is as fast or even faster then the si, it is not meant for tuning and you'll be missing out on the sport tuned handling, braking and seating of the Si/Integra.

I drove a manual for 30 years and only recently gave it up for a civic touring with cvt paddles. I maybe used the paddles twice in the past year. In eco/drive mode the car does not hold a "gear"and will switch back to auto a few seconds later. In sport mode it'll hold a "gear" but having 7 options to choose from and no tactile way of knowing what gear you're in, makes it a guessing game or choose to take your eyes off the road to look at the dash for "gear" number. This is difficult for entering and exiting corners. I'm not saying the cvt is bad. Honda cvt is one of the best, adjusts quickly and does great job of predicting what you want it to do, it's the paddles that are a silly addon.

Thanks, that helps a bunch. Definitely sounds like it's more a choice between an Si or an Interga.

 

[ModJPB]

Wow! Thank you very much! That helps a whole bunch. Now to see what to do about the Si, or the Integra. Do you happen to know if the KTuners work in Acuras as well? I'd imagine they would.

100% Yes, ktuner works. Acura is Honda. The Integra is a civic. The Integra has the same 1.5L turbo L15CA engine in the Si. You can also get tunes from Phearable and Two step performance (TSP) (23psi) if you want even more HP than the base tunes (16/18/21 psi) that come with ktuner for that engine.

 

[Romeoridgee]

Imma just throw this out there, I rented a 25 civic hybrid for Honda training, on the way back decided to see how high I can push it. No more than 65mph except down hill, sitting behind trucks sometimes, using the left paddle shifter to engine brake and charge the battery, and trying to keep throttle below 12% keeping it in ev mode. I was able to get 61.5 mpg.

 

[GenXRavensfan]

Imma just throw this out there, I rented a 25 civic hybrid for Honda training, on the way back decided to see how high I can push it. No more than 65mph except down hill, sitting behind trucks sometimes, using the left paddle shifter to engine brake and charge the battery, and trying to keep throttle below 12% keeping it in ev mode. I was able to get 61.5 mpg.

Wow!

 

[GenXRavensfan]

100% Yes, ktuner works. Acura is Honda. The Integra is a civic. The Integra has the same 1.5L turbo L15CA engine in the Si. You can also get tunes from Phearable and Two step performance (TSP) (23psi) if you want even more HP than the base tunes (16/18/21 psi) that come with ktuner for that engine.

I assumed as much, but thank you for confirming. I still have the unit from my '19 Si that was totaled, and KTuner has confirmed that they'll unlock it for me for a small fee. Now I just need to find out more about Integras. Thanks a bunch to everyone for all the help!

 

[chibisky]

Imma just throw this out there, I rented a 25 civic hybrid for Honda training, on the way back decided to see how high I can push it. No more than 65mph except down hill, sitting behind trucks sometimes, using the left paddle shifter to engine brake and charge the battery, and trying to keep throttle below 12% keeping it in ev mode. I was able to get 61.5 mpg.

I regularly get 40 - 50 mpg CITY easily in my FL4 :3 My Si was pretty efficient, but no where close to that for city driving

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