Lightning Lap 2017: Honda Civic Si

Lap Time: 3:14.6
Class: LL1
Base Price: $24,975
As-Tested Price: $24,975
Power and Weight: 205 hp • 2884 lb • 14.1 lb/hp
Tires: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2, 235/40R-18 95Y

There’s a lot of tire under the Civic Si’s alien-colored skin. Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2s sized 235/40R-18 sit at every corner and provide more grip than a 2884-pound car with 205 horsepower probably needs. But that grip, along with a firm chassis with unflappable stability, had us crooning like Waylon Jennings while straightening the curves and flattening the hills.

Right after a shift into fifth, the Si arrived at the mouth of the uphill esses at 106.9 mph. Unlike most cars, the Si accelerates up the hill. Keep the right pedal pinned and aim. The left-right-left-right combo that’s usually a sphincter-cincher is something you could probably do with one hand on the wheel. At the top, the Si hit 110.4 mph, which is 12.5 mph faster than an equally powerful BRZ and only 4.0 mph off the 580-hp 911 Turbo S.

Once hot, the Goodyears get greasy enough to trigger the stability control, which can be relaxed but not fully disarmed. The computer attempts to revector the understeering front end by clamping the inside brake calipers, slowing the car. On cooler rubber, there’s no obvious interference.

Our heads swollen with grip, we tried slinging the Si into the downhill right of Hog Pen at Camaro ZL1 1LE speed—actually the Si’s entry at 89.2 mph was higher than the 1LE’s. The Si couldn’t handle all that speed, though, and exited the corner at a low 84.7 mph. The fact that we felt like it might have been able to, and that it came out the other side on the track and not on the grass, goes to show that the Si makes a treacherous track seem easy.