The Honda CRX Si Is The Hot Hatch You Really Don’t Want to Miss

8 March 2023 Redazione Budget Cars, News

Words Marco Mancino / Photos Honda Motor Co.

When it comes to hot hatches with a few years on their back, you always end up on the usual brands. Which is also understandable, given that in part it means that we turn to a model that we have learned to know – even indirectly – and from which you expect precise things. In the same way, however, it would be a capital sin to neglect a car that still today after 35 years is able to offer tons of fun and do it with the safety offered by a first-rate mechanical compartment. Let’s go to Japan then, for a Honda, let’s talk about the second generation CRX, also known as Civic CRX, in this case the pepper version aptly baptized Si.

We are at the end of the 80s and while Honda is engaged on two fronts at the antipodes, that is, in the production of small economic city cars and in the development of engine for F1, the CRX takes the Civic platform and creates one of the most exciting hatchback you can possibly drive. The CRX immediately makes clear that it is a sports car full of character, thanks to a squared design and immediately recognizable thanks to the truncated tail that with that large glass at the rear gives it more a coupe look than a simple hatchback. The CRX can then maintain a reduced weight (1,010 kg), an excellent reliability and a very competitive price, all aspects that combined with a naturally aspirated engine brought to 150 horsepower, make it a reference for those who want to get excited both for the home to work commute, both on weekends.

The 1.6 VTEC is a 4 -cylinder that delivers its power peak at 7,600 rpm, with a maximum torque of 144 Nm at 7,100 rpm, which translates into a progressive and constant thrust, which combined with a 5 -speed manual gearbox emphasizes the experience behind the wheel, result of a precise dynamic that enjoys a short wheelbase and a practically impeccable weight balance. The passenger compartment, although it may seem bare, was perfectly in line with the canons of the time, but excelled to give huge space to the occupants and a remarkable brightness, increased precisely by the rear glass. The CRX proves to be agile between the bends and rich in character when it has to put into play all the power available, numbers that thanks to a mass that slightly exceeds a ton, offer a 0-100 kph of just 7.2 seconds and a maximum speed of about 220 per hour.

To make the CRX interesting, it’s not just about performance, but you’d really have to love the reliability factor. In fact, it is possible to find a mechanically sane specimen at about € 11,000 and rise up to € 16/18,000 for a model in excellent condition. Unfortunately, given the great success at the time and the culture of customization, however, it will not be very simple to find stock ones, given that many previous owners may have put their hands under their CRX Si, perhaps modding parts of the bodywork, perhaps intervening in the engine bay, when the 150 horses of the 1.6 are still more than enough to taste the true essence of fun at the helm of a hot hatch you really don’t want to miss.