Article Highlights

• The 2022 Honda Civic Si’s specs and potential
• The 2022 Volkswagen GTI and how it compares to the Si
• We hand down the best new hot hatch crown

Hot hatches are the swiss army knife of cars. They’ve got everything you need in a car and a knife-edge focus on driving. Two of the newest hatches, the 2022 Honda Civic and the 2022 Volkswagen GTI have been going at it since time immemorial.

Now, with the new Civic Si finally here, it’s time to sort out who takes the crown for the latest generation.

The 2022 Volkswagen GTI is a FWD icon

The 2022 Honda Civic Si has to compete with an icon of affordable performance, now back for its eighth generation. Moreover, the 2022 Volkswagen GTI promises to improve upon the excellent MK7 GTI in just about every way. On paper, it delivers. The new GTI is lighter, faster, and more refined than the last generation thanks to a host of changes.

Notably, you can also still spec yours with a manual transmission, per the spec sheet below. However, the new MK8 is let down severely by its interior. Where the MK7 improved and revolutionized, the MK8 fails. Haptic touch controls and poor layout plague the new car in a way we never thought possible.

The 2022 Honda Civic Si is fast as all hell

Where the 2022 Volkswagen GTI fails, the 2022 Honda Civic Si sticks the landing. The new Civic’s interior teaches a masterclass in ergonomics and usability the GTI wishes it could even come close to mimicking. However, the Civic does, on paper at least, appear to be slower than its competition. 200 hp and 2,900 lbs is sure to be a riot, but the GTI makes almost 100 more lb-ft of torque.

Given Honda’s recent success with the Civic platform in the form of the Type R, we wouldn’t be surprised if the new car easily keeps pace with the GTI over the same stretch of road. You have optional summer tires to thank for that, something the as-yet-unreleased GTI won’t have (at least right now). All this to say nothing of price.

Honda’s Civic Si is a bargain on wheels

The 2022 Honda Civic Si doesn’t have pricing yet, but we estimate an MSRP of $27,500. In comparison, the GTI starts where the new Civic is likely to top out, at $30,540. Moreover, you can easily spend another $8,000 on a 2022 Volkswagen GTI should you wish. At the end of the day, the GTI’s interior and heavy price let it down. You just can’t beat the new Civic Si as a performance car and as a value proposition.