Slick new Honda Si will raise the heartbeat of gearheads

Although car buyers by the millions drove one home, the previous-generation Honda Civic reputedly was a disappointment to enthusiast types. Most disappointing of all was the Civic that was supposed to be built for them - the Si, whose styling was uninspired and horsepower output unexciting at 160.

For 2006, the gearheads should be happier. The new Si has 37 more horses under its hood, 7 more pound-feet of torque, a six-speed stick instead of five, and larger, 17-inch wheels. The engine air intake and exhaust systems deliver an engine tone guaranteed to raise the heartbeat of anyone who loves cars. Slick new looks outside and futuristic styling inside are as fresh as a sunrise.

The Si is a coupe now, not a hatchback, and unfortunately it has lost almost 3 inches of badly needed rear-seat legroom in the redesign. All Civics still are front-wheel-drive. For the record, Honda says the new Si's wheelbase is 3.1 inches longer than its predecessor's, while overall length is up 9.1 inches and weight is up by 95 pounds.

The Si's 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine makes 197 hp., though it comes at a high 7,800 rpm, a place few drivers go. The engine's redline is 8,000 rpm, with a fuel cutoff at 8,200. The increased power brings the new Si's engine closer than ever to the (basically similar) 201 hp. 2.0-liter engine available in the Acura RSX. (The RSX's predecessor, the Integra, was a favorite of thieves, purportedly because the Integra's engine was a favorite among tuners for installation in Civics.)

I don't remember ever driving a Honda whose stick shift and clutch weren't first-rate, and the new Si's are no exception, with short throws into gears that are easy to locate. In addition to the added performance, the Si has bigger disc brakes than other Civics plus a rear wing and lower-body cladding. It has deeper seats with red stitching.

The driving experience is enhanced by a front end that's able to handle the engine's power without the tugging side to side on the steering wheel, which engineers call torque steer.

Be certain, though, if you'll be using your Si for long trips, that you take a test drive to make sure you can live with the hard ride and the extra dose of engine noise that's present even at cruising speeds because of the transmission gearing.

For now, the Si is available only as a two-door. A sedan version has been shown by Honda and is scheduled to go on sale late this year.

Long a benchmark for small cars, the Civic line was redone for 2006. On sale since September, this is the eighth generation of the little car that was first sold in the United States in 1973. The more sedate 2006 Civic Hybrid Sedan was discussed Feb. 10 in this space.

Prices for Civics start at about $15,000 including freight. That gets you a coupe or sedan with a 140 hp., 1.8-liter conventional four-cylinder engine and a stick shift. All the two-door hatchback models were discontinued for '06.

The 1.8-liter engine replaces last year's 1.7-liter four-cylinder. The hybrid powertrain again consists of a 1.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine paired with an electric motor.

The Si model starts at $20,540 with freight, and it ranges in base price up to $22,490 with high-performance "summer" tires and a navigation system. My tester had the system but not the high-performance tires. I have no complaints about its P215/45 R17 all-season rubber.

The electronic steering is a disappointment, though; it's fine at parking lot speeds but has an artificial feel on the highway. Other Civics have conventional hydraulically powered rack-and-pinion steering.

My Si's driver's seat was another disappointment. Although it has a manual height adjustment, it lacks one for the angle of the bottom cushion, so raising the seat has the simultaneous effect of tilting the bottom cushion, making one feel as if always driving downhill.

On the upside, the two-tiered instrument panel places everything within easy reach or at least easy view of the driver. Above the steering wheel is a digital speed readout, flanked by graphic displays for fuel level and coolant temperature. Below the wheel is an analog tachometer. I wonder whether, in the Si version at least, the tachometer might be better located high, as close as possible to the driver's line of sight, switching places with the speedometer.

Note for those who will commute in their Si that it carries a significant penalty in fuel economy. The basic Civic models with a stick shift are Environmental Protection Agency-rated at 30 mpg in the city and 38 on the highway. In models with an optional five-speed automatic, the city rating is the same, but the highway rating is 2 mpg better, 40 mpg. The hybrid, which comes only with a stepless or "continuously variable" automatic, is rated significantly higher by the EPA, 49 mpg in the city and 51 on the highway.

The Si is EPA-rated at 23 mpg city and 32 highway, not much change from the last Si I sampled, a 2002 model, which was rated at 26 and 30. But, again, the new Si does pack 37 more horsepower than its predecessor.

Note also that the hybrid version costs $2,790 more than a comparably equipped, conventionally powered sedan, according to Honda. The company estimates, though, that new federal tax credits available for hybrid cars will wipe out $2,100 of that. A Honda spokesman says the figure is still an estimate because, although the Internal Revenue Service has issued guidelines for carmakers to calculate the credits and Honda has done so for its cars, the IRS hasn't formally approved Honda's figures. Consumers subject to the alternative minimum tax probably won't be able to take these credits.

Besides having a reputation for good quality and decent resale value, the Civic has been a relatively safe small car. Standard in all '06 models are anti-lock brakes and seat-mounted, side-impact air bags up front, as well as curtain-type air bags that help protect front- and rear-seaters.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the '06 Civic sedan and coupe the agency's highest, five-star, rating for the frontal crash test. In the NHTSA side-impact test, in which crash dummies are placed in the driver's seat and in the rear seat behind the driver, the sedan gets an almost perfect rating - four stars for its protection of the driver and five stars for the passenger. There is no side-impact rating yet for the coupe. The previous generation Civics also scored highly in the NHTSA evaluations, which can be found at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/test ing/ncap.