I’ll wait for pricing to be announced, but so far this thing is hitting the right notes.  Manual tranny standard, hatchback, tuned suspension, and sufficient goodies to make the thing comfortable.  If the sticker is well below the GTI it might be worth a shot.

Moon is right that the HP is a little shy of some of the hyper-tuned brethren, but 200 horse is sufficient for all but the most enthusiastic.  Not sure about the Civic, but the R an the high end Focus are more than I want to pay for a boy racer anyhow.   And it’s still fun to drive a slow car fast anyhow, provided the handling makes for happy fun mode in the twisties.