This 2022 Honda Civic Outperforms the Civic Si If You Don’t Care About Performance
There’s a lot to like about the 2022 Honda Civic no matter which body style and trim level you choose. I recently had the chance to test out both the 2022 Civic Sport Touring and Civic Si back to back and came away impressed with both, but for different reasons. I also found that the Civic Sport Touring actually outperforms the Si in everyday use, provided that you don’t care for performance.
The 2022 Honda Civic Sport Touring has a robust and efficient engine
Speaking of performance, let’s discuss the powertrains first. The 2022 Civic Sport Touring is powered by a turbocharged 1.5-liter engine that produces 180 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. My test car for the week came equipped with the CVT transmission, but a six-speed manual is available. According to Car and Driver’s testing, this version of the Civic was able to go from 0 to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds, which feels pretty quick in the real world. At least, it’s quick enough to jump on the freeway without sweating bullets and urging the car to go faster.
The 2022 Civic Si is also powered by a turbocharged 1.5-liter engine, but it’s been reworked to put out 200 hp and 192 lb-ft of torque and can only be matched to a six-speed manual transmission. Car and Driver tested this car as well and found that it get to 60 mph from a standstill in 6.8 seconds. In real life, the Civic Si feels faster, but only by a small margin, in a straight line. However, it handles much better in tighter corners and feels planted at all speeds compared to the Sport Touring.
The Civic Sport Touring is more comfortable than the Civic Si
If you can overlook the performance differences between the two cars, then you may start to appreciate Civic Sport Touring more. I say that because my tester felt more comfortable driving around town than the Si, thanks to its automatic transmission. Sure, it was slower, but while enjoying not having to shift, I also enjoyed its more-comfortable interior. The Sport Touring comes with a leather interior, heated seats, power-adjustable seats, and dual-zone climate control.
The Civic Si comes with cloth sport seats with manual adjustment and single-zone climate control. For enthusiasts, that probably won’t matter. But for the other 90% of the population who just want to get into a car and comfortably sit in traffic on the way to work, the Civic Sport Touring gives them what they need. Additionally, the Sport Touring achieves better fuel economy than the Si – 30 mpg city/37 highway versus 27 city/37 highway, respectively.
The Sport Touring’s hatchback shape is an added plus
Performance and comfort aside, the Civic Sport Touring also bests the Civic Si when it comes to cargo volume, thanks to its hatchback shape. The Sport Touring boasts 25 cubic feet of cargo volume while the Si has 14 cubic feet of space in its trunk area. Don’t get me wrong, the Civic Si’s trunk is huge for a compact sedan, but the Sport Touring’s hatch area can definitely fit more stuff.
I was even able to utilize all of its cargo volume during a recent trip to IKEA where the Sport Touring fit the pieces of a large dresser with ease. Overall, I found the that 2022 Civic Sport Touring is the car to get if comfort and everyday useability are high on your list. But if you really need performance, then get the Civic Si.
