A member of car forum CivicX claims to have received an email from Honda saying the upcoming sport compact will have 192 pound-feet of torque. It can be seen in the screenshots of the email posted to the forum, here.
Unsurprisingly, this number puts the Si between the top-tier Type R, and the milder Civic Hatchback Sport. What is a bit surprising is how much closer the Si is to the Sport than the Type R. The Sport makes 177 lb-ft of torque on premium fuel, which means the Si's hotter turbo 1.5-liter only makes 15 lb-ft of torque more, a roughly 8 percent increase over the Sport. In fact, if this information is true, the new Si will only make 19 more lb-ft compared with the last naturally aspirated Civic Si. Current competitors like the VW GTI (258 lb-ft) and Focus ST (270 lb-ft) also out-torque the new Si.
Based on this, it looks like the Si may be leaving the gate with one wheel tied behind its axle. However, it's possible Honda's seminal sport compact could even the playing field in other ways. It may have a more substantial respective horsepower increase. It will likely have more power than the last Si's 205 horsepower, and likely more than the similarly powerful base, GTI, which makes 210 horsepower. There's also the possibility of having a lower base price or more standard features than its torquier competition. The Focus ST starts at just over $25,650, so anywhere below that, or the same price with more standard equipment, could also make it more compelling.
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