Honda Vezel (Honda HR-V) Sport with 1.5L turbo engine arriving in December

The company will celebrate its fifth anniversary with the launch of a Sport variant, as per a new report from Best Car.

The Honda Vezel Sport may wear a more aggressive look than the standard variant's RS grade that features a dedicated front grille, model-specific fog light garnish, exclusive lower body garnish, crystal black ORVMs, 18-inch alloy wheels, chrome exhaust finisher and stainless steel sports pedals. It will have a stiffer suspension setup for better handling. That's not all; a more powerful engine is planned for what would become the best-performing first-generation model.

According to the report, a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine will power the Honda Vezel Sport. The report is referring to one of the Honda Civic's L15-series units that Japanese customers get. The sedan uses the L15B unit good for 173 PS and 220 Nm, while the hatchback version sports the L15C unit that delivers 182 PS and 240 Nm of torque. The engines are coupled to a CVT, and one can expect the same in the sub-compact SUV's celebratory performance variant.

The Sport variant will likely arrive as the final derivative of the first generation Vezel. The Japanese publication said in a report last month that Honda has fast-tracked the second generation model because of fierce competition from Toyota C-HR. The full model change will take place in the second half of 2019.