What made you go with a 10th gen Si as opposed to competitors?

A friend of mine let me borrow his EX and I liked it, save for the fact it was an automatic. I was in the market for a reliable new car, and he told me to go drive an Si.

I knew I was taking one home as soon as that shifter went "snick" into first gear.

Everything else like the level of standard equipment for the price and looks were just the icing on the cake.

interiour quality, dash, coupe looks amaze

I took a loooooong time to make a final decision (literally years), agonizing over several different cars: the Si, GLI, GTI, Elantra, Veloster N, among others. In the end, though, it boiled down to this: I'm a sucker for a good deal. And apparently I'm not alone in that:

ycehcky said:

I test drove numerous wrx's and was set to get one, but kept researching and reading about the Si. Test drove one, and decided it was a far better deal. Handled better, felt lighter, and acceleration was not far behind the wrx. From a stop sure, but not for normal driving or even on a track.

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Civic17siYAY said:

The SI just seemed like the best bang for the buck.

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I truly believe there's no better compact performance bargain than the 2020 Si. Previous models were great deals too, and then the 2020 added LEDs and sensing. All told - power, performance features (LSD, adaptive dampers), safety features, tech, efficiency, reliability - there's simply nothing else out there that balances all of these components as well as the Si. For example, I really liked the GLI, and it measures up to (or exceeds) the Si in power and features - but reliability and efficiency aren't its strong suits.

Drake said:

For sedan buyers, I think the closest competitors are the Jetta GLI and the Elantra Sport. I would worry about reliability with the VW and I don't think the Hyundai came with a LSD.

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This was my logic as well.

Started having a early midlife crisis and wanted a fun, but efficient car. My buddy surprised me for my birthday and let me drive his new Si Sedan and was hooked! Gave my parents my '15 Elantra Sport and got the '18 Si. Also missed having a stick as well

And last there is a strong aftermarket support for the Si

It was the same price as my 16’ maxima except brand new so I traded it in and now my insurance is cheaper, payments are the same, mpg are much better and there’s so much aftermarket support for Honda’s in general that it was a no brainer for me. Was thinking of maybe a type r but everything would cost me double so the Si won and I’m very happy with it.

For me I kinda rushed into getting a car and didn't do as much research as I wanted. I needed a car and my parents love Honda. I've always wanted to learn a manual so I thought I'll get an SI or the Veloster N performance package. I test drove both and ended up going with the SI because it's more affordable and comfortable. After buying the car I regretted it right away, the "205" *cough* 185 ponies are not enough for me. Well duh just tune it, I would but I don't want to ruin my warranty. I've thought about trading in my car in for a used WRX, but I've read that their their transmission is either hit or miss. I looked at VW GTI and but hit or miss with reliability. I took a step back and realized that I have a super reliable car that is fun when you throw it into a corner. In 5 years when my warranty runs up I'll either trade it in for a R or N. But for 21k, this car is unbeatable with reliability and fun.
Just my two cents from someone who always wonder if they've bought the correct car

I was looking for a manual sporty car. I drove the WRX, BRZ, Miata RF, FiST, FoST, GTI, and even a used Genesis Coupe 3.8.

None of those cars were the right fit for me, comfort, ergonomic, and driveability wise.

The Si was an excellent fit as soon as I sat in it. That was the deciding factor.

I came from a GTI... I test drove a WRX and the Si... I loved the GTI but wanted a change- so the GLI didn't really fit the bill. So... reasons (for me) to get the Si over the WRX:

-Options/ Price... to get keyless entry and LEDs you have to go up to the Limited trim WRX... Then to get the Harmon Kardon you have to add another package... I liked that keyless and LEDs were standard on the Honda. As for audio in the Si that's another post... I'll say here that it is better than I feared from reading various posts...
-Performance/ fun- The WRX feels much faster- but I had more fun test driving the Si.... The Si feels much less heavy- more composed and is tossable.. you can more easily test limits in normal driving conditions with the Si... It feels much more precise, the shifter feels far better.... so for me it's about the experience of driving vs. raw performance...
-Interior- Kind of a draw to me- though a slight edge to the Si... I find the Si seats to be more comfortable...
-Nostalgia... kinda sorta reminds me of my old 2001 Prelude...

EkSean said:

It was the same price as my 16’ maxima except brand new so I traded it in and now my insurance is cheaper, payments are the same, mpg are much better and there’s so much aftermarket support for Honda’s in general that it was a no brainer for me. Was thinking of maybe a type r but everything would cost me double so the Si won and I’m very happy with it.

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I drove a 2017 Maxima rental when I was out in our Texas office, and although it was really nice and smooth and had a ton of power, it was really, really heavy

Annexed said:

For me I kinda rushed into getting a car and didn't do as much research as I wanted. I needed a car and my parents love Honda. I've always wanted to learn a manual so I thought I'll get an SI or the Veloster N performance package. I test drove both and ended up going with the SI because it's more affordable and comfortable. After buying the car I regretted it right away, the "205" *cough* 185 ponies are not enough for me. Well duh just tune it, I would but I don't want to ruin my warranty. I've thought about trading in my car in for a used WRX, but I've read that their their transmission is either hit or miss. I looked at VW GTI and but hit or miss with reliability. I took a step back and realized that I have a super reliable car that is fun when you throw it into a corner. In 5 years when my warranty runs up I'll either trade it in for a R or N. But for 21k, this car is unbeatable with reliability and fun.
Just my two cents from someone who always wonder if they've bought the correct car

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You can safely tune it by buying a Ktuner from Two Step Performance with their TSP Stage 1 tune, which I drove on for a year and 15K miles. And I did a lot of hard driving between Northern Cal and Southern Cal (360 miles each way) in all kinds of conditions, high speeds in 115 degree summer to below 30 degrees in the winter thru mountain passes, steep inclines, etc. Two different oil analysis from my oil changes showed completely 100 percent normal wear. You can also check out @gtman 's reliability survey that he kindly put together showing cars with mild tunes like TSP Stage 1 are pretty reliable

I just picked up a 2020 SI Coupe in Aegean Blue today. Previous car was 2000 Prelude.

I crossed shopped with Veloster/N, Golf R, WRX, and CTR.

Veloster: No longer offers a manual in ultimate trim. The R Spec is missing the roof, HD radio, and sensing. Too analog.
Veloster N: Too low rent. No HD radio? wtf! And no sensing. Too analog.
WRX: Too raw, bad MPG, too analog. And no sensing. And Fugly.
CTR: Come on. Like I went to the track like NEVER. Seriously who needs this car? Eats tires like no tomorrow and what 240 miles range? And no roof. So pass. Put in 19" wheels and give me a roof, then we'll talk.
Golf R: I like everything about this car. To me there is no other alternative out there if you want manual and near luxury. Came close to buying one yesterday, but pull out last minute because I didn't want to deal with the plastic water pump issue that's common to this gen. Most certainly fails around 30K miles and I know the warranty covers it, but I didn't feel like dealing with the toxic anti-freeze smell. Plus, the engine bay is plastic galore and you have to take out lots of parts just to get to the water pump. I can see it being a major headache as the car ages.

So the SI it is. Greate MPG, enough performance for my DD. And very comfortable fits me like a glove.

amirza786 said:

You can safely tune it by buying a Ktuner from Two Step Performance with their TSP Stage 1 tune, which I drove on for a year and 15K miles. And I did a lot of hard driving between Northern Cal and Southern Cal (360 miles each way) in all kinds of conditions, high speeds in 115 degree summer to below 30 degrees in the winter thru mountain passes, steep inclines, etc. Two different oil analysis from my oil changes showed completely 100 percent normal wear. You can also check out @gtman 's reliability survey that he kindly put together showing cars with mild tunes like TSP Stage 1 are pretty reliable

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I have read Gmans poll about tuning and I would love to tune my car. I've also seen it's safe to run those tunes. The only reason I'm not tuning is to avoid from ruining my warranty. Trust me if I didn't buy my warranty I would've TSP stage 1 map 1&2. Sorry for the confusion

Annexed said:

I have read Gmans poll about tuning and I would love to tune my car. I've also seen it's safe to run those tunes. The only reason I'm not tuning is to avoid from ruining my warranty. Trust me if I didn't buy my warranty I would've TSP stage 1 map 1&2. Sorry for the confusion

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Gotcha. It's a good reason IMHO

Mazda literally gave up trying to find me a brand new, manual 3. The local dealer had two Si's on the lot.

If the had found me a 3 I would have that instead, it was my first preference.

aaaaah said:

Mazda literally gave up trying to find me a brand new, manual 3. The local dealer had two Si's on the lot.

If the had found me a 3 I would have that instead, it was my first preference.

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hmm. really? you don't mind the 3's solid rear axle? That was the only thing that held me back from the Mazda 3.