Yonkers, New York – The sporty Honda Civic Si has earned a “Recommended” rating from Consumer Reports, even though its basic Civic sibling scored too low to be included.
The Civic Si received the rating because it scored high enough in the magazine’s tests and has a reliability rating that is “likely to be above average.”
Consumer Reports said that while the Si performed better than more basic versions of the Civic, it still suffers from many of the Civic’s drawbacks, including vague steering, cheap plastics, jittery ride and lots of noise. The Civic currently ranks ninth out of 11 tested cars in the magazine’s sporty car category. “The Civic Si has a great powertrain, but it needs a better car wrapped around it,” said David Champion, senior director of the Automotive Test Center.
The magazine also tested the Volkswagen Jetta GLI and found that while it contains several important upgrades over the basic Jetta SE, it and the SE scored too low to be recommended. Although it scored higher than the Civic Si in Consumer Reports’ tests, it is too new to have enough reliability data for a recommendation.
The Jetta GLI currently ranks sixth out of 11 sport cars, in a category that is led by the Volkswagen GTI, Subaru Impreza WRX and Mazdaspeed3.
