I don't have much new to add, but I too really wish Honda had made the Si as a hatchback as well. I much prefer the hatchback for its practical advantages in terms of cargo capacity/flexibility, and also the shorter body length (vs the sedan). I also am a performance and manual transmission...
Now would be a good time for Honda to come out with that lower trim Type R that looked like it might actually come out at one point (see below link for thread):
Cheaper Entry-Level 2018 Civic Type R variant coming?!
Not to mention, we've already seen spy shots of some Type R variant with a...