The refreshed Honda Civic RS for PH might look like this

The latest version of the North American Honda Civic Si has been unveiled in California as a follow-up to the refreshed version of the compact sedan which was revealed a few months ago. While we definitely won’t get it here in the Philippines, the reason we’re showing it to you is because it basically gives us a glimpse of what we can expect to see from the local Civic RS variant.

Ever since it was introduced with the FC generation Civic, the top-spec RS variant has always looked similar to the Civic Si of America, and we won’t be surprised if that remains the case with this new one.

As we saw on the refreshed Honda Civic, it gets a new set of bumpers and a hexagonal front grille. The Civic Si takes it further with its own matte black V-spoke 18-inch alloy wheels and an Si badge on the front grille which also gets a slightly different honeycomb pattern. It also gets gloss black trim on the side mirror caps and window surrounds, a front spoiler, and a rear trunk lid spoiler. Urban Gray Pearl has also been added as a new exterior color option.

These exterior changes will likely be seen on the local-spec Civic RS with the exception of the Si badge which will be replaced by an RS badge instead.

On the inside, the Civic Si gets Racy Red accents surrounding the airconditioning vents, and exclusive sport seats. The 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster has been redesigned to include a large tachometer and gear-position display,  turbocharger boost gauge, G force gauge, and a new Shift Light Indicator. These are unlikely to make it to the Civic RS though.

What we can say we’ll see in the local-spec Honda Civic RS are the 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 12-speaker Bose premium audio system, new standard USB-C ports, sport pedals; as well as red contrast stitching for the doors, steering wheel, arm rest, and shift boot.

Sadly, we definitely won’t be getting its powertrain. While the Honda Civic Si for the US-market is also powered by a 1.5-liter L15 Inline 4-cylinder VTEC turbo, it produces a higher 203 horsepower and 260 Nm of torque, exclusively mated to a 6-speed manual transmission.

Once launched here, the refreshed Honda Civic RS will probably soldier on with the same size engine and same outputs of 175 horsepower and 240 Nm, mated to an Earth Dreams CVT.

There’s also the possibility for Honda Cars Philippines to begin offering the Civic RS as with the company’s e:HEV hybrid powertrain just like in Thailand. This would pair a 2.0-liter naturally-aspirated engine with a 135 kW electric motor and lithium-ion battery. This makes a combined output of 203 horsepower like on the turbocharged Si, and torque figure of 315 Nm. 

Now we don’t know when exactly Honda Cars Philippines plans to launch the refreshed Honda Civic. They did however send invites for a new vehicle launch which will happen on September 18, 2024. This would be perfect timing for the refreshed compact sedan as given that the current generation was introduced locally in 2021, it’s the right time for a mid-cycle refresh.