2021 Honda Civic Prototypes Spied Behind Previous-Gen Civic Si

There's a new Honda Civic on the horizon. It may be in a prototype form yet but the Japanese manufacturer is actively working on the development of the production model. In fact, Honda may be already preparing the hotter Civic Si if new spy photos are what we believe they are.

Brought to our attention by our friends at the Civic XI forum, the shots show two camouflaged prototypes of the new Civic trailing a 2020 Civic Si in the Hocking Hills area of Ohio. The photos were taken earlier this week and seem to show near-production new Civics in action.

These may or may not be spy photos of the new Civic Si though. There's a lot of camouflage covering the exterior and not letting us see the little details that could be the give-away. Also, there are no photos of the back where the exhaust arrangement could have helped us identify the exact Civic version.

Nevertheless, as you can see in the video at the top of this page, the two prototypes were following a 2020 Civic Si, probably for benchmarking purposes. The three cars passed through the filming vehicle (also a Civic) at a decent speed which makes us believe the test pilots were probably evaluating the new cars' behavior in corners at load. One thing we know for sure is that Honda is not testing an AWD Civic.

The 2022 Civic debuted in prototype form earlier this month to preview what to expect from the production model expected to hit the brand's dealers in the second quarter of next year. The final production model should arrive in just a few months when we'll know all the technical details about the car that'll sit on the showroom floor. What's under the hood, what's the starting price, and when we'll see a hot Civic Type R - these are all questions we hope to have answers for in the first months of 2021.