Should India Get A Sporty 2018 Jazz Variant?

Honda already has everything here – the Jazz and the 1.5-litre i-VTEC. They just have to plug a few gaps! Anybody listening?   

Go-fast premium hatchbacks are finally picking up the pace in India and there are several options to go for nowadays. It is high time that Honda joined this space, which has vehicles like the Maruti Baleno RS, VW Polo GT TSI and the Fiat Abarth Punto, with the upcoming 2018 Jazz facelift. 

The third-gen Honda Jazz facelift made its world debut a couple of months ago in Japan. Subsequently, it then made its Asian market debut and was recently revealed in the USA. In the USA, even though it’s only an entry-level model, Honda has introduced a ‘Sport’ trim, which comes with, as the name indicates, a relatively sportier appearance. Besides this, Honda also offers the ‘RS’ trim of the updated Jazz in neighbouring markets, which has a very aggressive styling as always. 

With the updated model expected to enter the Indian market next year, we hope Honda introduces the much-awaited sportier version of the Jazz as well. Should the RS version prove to be relatively expensive compared to its peers here, Honda could always go with this ‘Sport’ variant from the North American market. 

(In Picture: Honda Jazz RS)  

They have the 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine here and all they have to do is plonk it into the India-spec Jazz with a slightly tweaked suspension setup and the go-fast version is ready to rock our streets. In fact, Honda exports the Jazz with a 1.5-litre engine from the country, but hasn’t offered it in the local market yet. Globally, the Jazz only comes with this petrol motor along with a hybrid version. 

The US-spec Sport trim gets all-around body extensions along with bright orange highlighted front splitter and rear diffuser. Also offered are glossy black wheels and a chrome finished exhaust tip (check out the picture above).

It also receives Honda’s new 7-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Jazz RS, on the other hand, gets all-new sportier bumpers, large spoiler (carried over and is interestingly offered in the range-topping India-spec model) and full-LED headlights among other.    

The updated Jazz is likely to make its India debut at the 2018 Auto Expo and if Honda plans to offer a go-fast version, considering the booming segment, it could also be revealed alongside.   

Check out what all is new in the third-gen Honda Jazz facelift here: Meet The Honda Jazz Facelift

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