Focus ST vs Civic Si

"Carbon Fiber Sasquatch" (turbopumpkin)
08/16/2017 at 23:43 • Filed to: None

The Focus may be on its way out and the Civic Si is brand new but I’m not sure which one I would buy if I had to choose. There are other hot compacts on the market but they have their little niches.

The GTI has a great Automatic and is almost sophisticated in its appearance compared to the others and the WRX is AWD with a CVT available, it is extremely unique in this class.

So this is the battle between the manual only sport compacts. If it were your money between the two, which one would you take home?

DISCUSSION (32)

HammerheadFistpunch > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/16/2017 at 23:53

Focus because it doesn’t look like a Jaeger dump

Si because of Ford Bong

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/16/2017 at 23:54

Is the Civic SI available in hatch form? I’d get that. Nothing against the FoST. I just have a morbid curiosity about the new Civic hatch, which is both hideous and charming.

AM3R, lost another burner > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
08/17/2017 at 00:03

The civic hatch looks bad in pictures, but looks good in person. That’s my take, at least. There’s one in this nice gray color, with black wheels on my street. Looks very sharp.

wafflesnfalafel > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 00:03

WRX...

That Honda is just kinda weird looking to me.. good car but I couldn’t ever love it.. The Ford is beautiful, I really love it especially in that pearl yellow, but the interior ergo doesn’t work very well for me and it’s still having some build issues...

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > AM3R, lost another burner
08/17/2017 at 00:04

My coworker has a white one that’s totally blacked out from the dealer (except the lights!). It looks.... [groans] Kind of good!

sony1492 > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 00:08

Civic, I have an irrational hatred for anything Ford

AestheticsInMotion > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 00:22

Focus, although honestly these are my two least favorite cars in the segment

Carbon Fiber Sasquatch > AM3R, lost another burner
08/17/2017 at 00:24

That flat gray is fantastic. Only the new Subaru Crosstrek offers anything like it

Textured Soy Protein > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
08/17/2017 at 00:36

The Si is not available in hatch form. All Civic hatches sold worldwide are built in England. The Civic Si is exclusive to North America and built in the US. So the Si is only available as a sedan or coupe.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Textured Soy Protein
08/17/2017 at 00:37

Boooooooooo

OmerCarrothers333 > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 00:38

Civic Si

AM3R, lost another burner > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 00:40

Kinja'd!!!

I’ve seen a similar color on some dodge challengers and chargers. Looks a lot like audi’s nardo gray

PS9 > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 00:47

Si is a little underpowered compared to the ST. Why not ST versus R? Oh, right. Honda decided to treat it like a fuckin’ ferrari and it’s a $50k car now. Don’t worry, though. You’ll be able to buy it for $100k once the F&F tax kicks in and the already limited examples start dwindling even more!

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 01:03

Focus over Civic, but DCT GTI over all of them, especially if you add Golf R to the list; because I believe it’ll trump them all, even the WRX.

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 01:13

GTI because of its great interior.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 02:10

FoST. But given that that is what I just bought, my opinion is clearly biased. Long and short of it came down to value. Ford discounts their cars a LOT more than honda or VW. Without my trade in, my FoST was around 21.5k OTD. The civic Si is too new to get a price that good and the VW dealerships in my area hate my money for some reason and play games and do price jacking BS and more.....The subaru WRX wasn’t bad, but the dealer near me sold them as fast as he got them so no discounts there.

At the end of the day, the FoST is probably always a runner up in any category, but it is a solid jack of all trades and has its price as the ace up its sleeve. Other cars might be better, but they’re far from the better value. And given how high of an emphasis on value and cost I had? It was a no brainer.

Also - you can get it with bright yellow paint.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
08/17/2017 at 02:17

2018 GTI interior is looking niiiiiiiice.

Of course, GTIs are the only hot hatch I would ever advise someone to lease instead of buy due to reliability issues.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > wafflesnfalafel
08/17/2017 at 02:20

Do you mean the interior of the FoST has issues with the recaros? Or either seat? The recaros NEED to break in before they can be properly judged. Seems tough, but when I owned my FiST and had them, the difference was very apparent over the course of the first month.

The shifter is very odd in the FoST when compared to the FiST but apparently the FiST is some oddball when it came to shifter placement so idk what’s right or wrong but that took an adjustment period. The clutch is really grabby too in the FoST. Interior is pretty well screwed together IMO. At least, better than it usually is. Not on par with toyota or honda, but a world away from the FiST.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > wafflesnfalafel
08/17/2017 at 02:48

Oh yeah, and I bought mine in the triple yellow color scheme and it is glorious!

gettingoldercarguy > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 04:44

This is a helluva nice problem to have. Amirite?

for Michigan > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 06:08

Civic because coupe.

Old Red Wagon > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 08:41

The new Si is very underwhelming in regards to performance. I cross shopped all of these when I purchased a car two years ago, granted I was looking at a 2016 Si. Was between the Si, WRX, GTi, and ST. Went with the VW. Between the two of the new Si and the ST, ST all day.

Jason Spears > HammerheadFistpunch
08/17/2017 at 09:10

Wow, that chime would be a deal breaker for me. It’s probably easy to disable, but why, Ford?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 09:14

New? FOST all day every day. It’s a different debate if I can look at older stuff. As long as its a coupe and not one of the stupid sedans, the 8th/9th gen is pretty damn nice too. Or even older (6th/7th gen) if you can find a unicorn of an unmodified one (or even just a tastefully modified one). For the price, I’d much rather have a lowish mileage Si. But at that point they are really rather different classes of car and you are talking NA vs Turbo.

I’m considering an SI as a daily driver. Maybe I should expand my budget to look at FOSTs as well, especially since MS3 and WRX are top contenders as well. I could certainly daily my Miata more and save up for the FOST.

HammerheadFistpunch > Jason Spears
08/17/2017 at 09:31

Can’t disable

Jason Spears > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 09:31

Having driven neither, I would lean toward Civic Si. I would drive it as-is, but if you’re concerned about power output you can get the Hondata tune for a little more cash.

Carbon Fiber Sasquatch > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
08/17/2017 at 09:37

A new FoST can be had well under $25k all day around me, under $20k for a base model. Hard to argue with that personally lol.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/17/2017 at 10:31

100% agreed, thats why i said if I were looking new the FOST would get my vote every time versus the new Civic Si. But if I could spend $10k on the Civic, well then that is an even better deal. Im curious how the used 1st-2nd model year FOSTs are holding up, havent heard any real horror stories. If those are going used for ~$15k yet, that would be a damn good deal.

Carbon Fiber Sasquatch > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
08/17/2017 at 10:48

Yeah, definitely looking at used ones as well. I worry about them being beat on a little harder than the average used car but it’s hard to argue against a $10k Si lol

wafflesnfalafel > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
08/17/2017 at 21:01

I’m fairly tall and all the controls in the FoST, (including the shifter,) seemed much farther away than both the WRX and my current ‘09 Mazda 3. I had the have the seat fairly far back. It’s probably great for folks of a more average height.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > wafflesnfalafel
08/18/2017 at 01:52

I’m a leggy 6'2" and found no major issues with either. FWIW

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
11/13/2017 at 16:19

The Civic has a nicer interior, a roomier back seat and unless Honda really screwed up, probably a more reliable powertrain too.