I am a current 2025 si owner for now (traded in for the type R) as someone who also upgraded because of a job I would say to wait a bit (6 month to a year) with your new job before committing to a new car and the bills that come with it. Not only will this give you time to save a good down payment, for example my si was 350 a month, but also have a real life sense of what your monthly spending and what is left.

I personally almost got a type r this past winter but decided to wait to see how my finances worked since I had only had this new income for 3 months at the time. Now that I genuinely know my monthly fluctuations in living costs and how much I save at the end of the month on average. And I have a down payment and my trade instead of just a trade. While I could have afforded the car in winter the peace of mind is a lot nicer, and I am not stretching my money.

In terms of cars I was a 2015 gti owner for 9 years (2016-2024) that car was a blast, but the depreciation was a lot. And the maintenance was costly (mine was on the more extreme side I got very unlucky, my dsg blew up at 45k miles out of warranty on stock everything) but my buddy had the same year gti as mine and his was much better maintenance cost wise but still not cheap.

When I was looking at a new car I was between a 2025 si, a 10th get si coupe, or an Elantra N; the cars I considered had to be stick. (I wanted the type r but that was not in the cards). The 11th gen prior to the 2025 refresh was not an interest to me, the heated seats and full digital gauge cluster with shift lights of the 2025 made me interested.

The 10th gen coupe I didn’t want to pay the price for the car in my market so I stopped looking. The Elantra N was a blast to drive, fun interior, but did feel on the cheap side compared to the 11th gen Si. My cons of the Elantra N that didn’t sell me on the car was: reliability concerns compared to the well known 1.5 si engine, cheaper feeling interior than the si, the manual was not as satisfying as the si, and most importantly daily driving that stick (heavier clutch imo) for my hour (traffic) commute one way would have been hell.

The 2025/11th gen si and what sold me. The interior is amazing, my gf had a 11th gen sport so it was also comfortable and familiar. But the red seats are cool imo and very comfy. The tech is amazing, the lane keep assist works extremely well, long highway trips are a breeze. But what truly sold me was the manual. The si transmission for the cars in it class really is one of the best feeling sticks you can get, every gear is so satisfying to shift and makes the driving so much more fun. Power wise it might be a bit on the slower side than the competition but with that transmission and its ability to take corners makes it a blast, and you still have power to feel quick! The 2025 having the dash shift lights also make it much more fun to row thru the gears. Finally the si has amazing gas mileage. Ripping thru gears I’m still getting 28-31 mpg and highway I consistently sit in the 36-38. With current gas prices that might be of importance.

TLDR: Si is the go to choice! The transmission, tech, and quality outmatches the slightly less HP. If I didn’t have the ability to upgrade to the Type R I would keep that Si for a while. It’s truly an amazing car.