Honda HR-V Sport 2019: price, specification and release date

Honda has announced that the HR-V Sport, which becomes the quickest and most expensive version of the HR-V SUV, will arrive in April with a price tag of £27,595.

The HR-V Sport model is powered by a 180bhp 1.5-litre petrol engine and features a number of mechanical and styling upgrades to help it compete against sporty versions of the Peugeot 2008 and Mazda CX-3. The new model is the latest addition to the revised 2019 HR-V range, which went on sale in October last year.

The HR-V Sport can get from 0-62mph in 7.8 seconds, and has tweaked suspension and steering for improved performance, ride quality and handling. Official fuel economy stands at 49.9mpg with a manual gearbox or 47.1mpg with the optional CVT automatic. CO2 emissions of 135g/km in the manual and 137g/km with the CVT put the HR-V in the 25% Benefit-in-Kind band for company-car drivers.

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The HR-V Sport gets some exterior details that set it apart from the rest of the facelifted range, including a front splitter, side skirts and wheel arch mouldings. There’s also a more aggressive rear bumper, along with black door mirrors, dual-exit exhausts and unique 18-inch alloy wheels. LED headlights are standard. The Sport’s interior gets new front seats with more support, along with unique trim colour combinations.

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The Honda HR-V Sport is set to be a fairly unique proposition in its segment – most small SUVs with as much power on tap are from the class above. Rivals include more powerful versions of the Audi Q2 and MINI Countryman, but the Honda is likely to be a few thousand pounds cheaper than both.

2019 Honda HR-V details

The HR-V Sport is the headline addition to the new Honda HR-V range, which introduces a new take on Honda's family face and improved noise-cancelling technology for better refinement.

Honda's 'Solid Wing Face' now has a high-gloss chrome panel, deeper air intakes and round foglights for a modern look to entice buyers away from recent arrivals like the Hyundai Kona and Skoda Karoq. The headlights come with LED daytime running lights as standard, as well as new projector lenses. There are small changes at the rear, too, with a matching dark chrome piece of trim across the hatchback and more heavily tinted rear lights.

Choose a higher trim and there's a new design for the HR-V's alloy wheels, a chrome tailpipe, full LED headlights and LED rear light clusters. Midnight Blue Beam Metallic has also been added to the list of paint colours on offer, bringing the total to eight.

To make the HR-V more pleasant at higher speeds and on long trips, engineers have added extra sound insulation around the front bulkhead, wheelarches, boot and doors for better interior refinement. On higher trims, this is joined by Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), in a first for Honda. Two microphones in the interior constantly monitor for irritating low-frequency noises and play 'reverse phase' sounds through the speakers in a bid to cancel them out.

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Along with the Sport, an efficient 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel is set to arrive in 2019. Honda hasn't confirmed any details yet, but in the Honda Civic hatchback the petrol produces 180bhp and returns 48mpg, while the diesel has 118bhp and can manage 80mpg; slightly poorer economy is likely in the taller HR-V.

Honda HR-V Sport prices start at £27,595 for the manual and £28,845 for the CVT automatic model.