Honda Jazz Type R not planned, but still a possibility

Honda has resisted the urge to turn its Jazz into a Type R model for the past three generations, but while it still has no plans to do so with the new fourth-gen model, it now admits there is a possibility of it happening.

So says Autocar, which spoke to the car’s project manager Takeki Tanaka. According to him, the Jazz’s popularity with 20- to 30-year-olds in Asia means that there is demand for a hot version. “There are no plans to launch a sporty version of the Jazz,” he said. “However, when you consider the customer profile in Asia, they tend to love driving dynamically, so there are always possibilities.”

With plenty of modified Jazzes on the roads today, there certainly is a market for a sportier version. Honda has generally left that to third-party tuners like Mugen, so perhaps this is a change of thinking for the carmaker. It should be noted that this runs counter with what other company officials have said in the past – that the the “R” in Type R stands for “racing”, and the Civic is the only current model fit to bear the moniker.

If a Jazz Type R does come to fruition, expect it to come with a version of the regular Civic‘s 1.5 litre VTEC Turbo engine – which itself is related to the naturally-aspirated mill in the standard Jazz. It already produces up to 201 PS in the new Accord, so there certainly is enough power if Honda decides to go through with it.

GALLERY: 2020 Honda Jazz