Midlands Honda

The Honda Civic Si is nothing to scoff at. It packs a 197-horsepower (hp) 2.0-liter engine that delivers 139 lb.-ft. of torque. Honda, however, doesn't think that's good enough. So, they're dropping a larger, more powerful 2.4-liter engine in the forthcoming 2012 model.

Available starting spring2011, the 2012 Honda Civic Si offers greater hp, and significantly more torque. Expected ratings are 200 and 170 respectively. For torque, that's a jaw-dropping 22-percent increase over last year's model!

Worried this upgrade will hit your wallet hard in the long run? Well, don't be…

Honda CFO Yoichi Hojo said he does not see vehicle exports from Japan 'falling' anytime soon, despite the rumors, and that the yen is at a 15-year high against the American dollar.

"Our export models are the CR-V and hybrids, but the CR-V is selling well in the US and production of the model is at full capacity (in the US), so we have no choice but to export from Japan," Hojo stated.

He added that as production volume of hybrid vehicles is not very big (around 200,000 hybrids annually) it is more efficient to produce them at a…