Honda’s newly announced 1,4-liter i-VTEC Civic Sport is set to become the entry-level model for this particular grade when it hits showrooms in May.

Priced from £18,360, the 1.4-liter petrol Civic Sport will be available with a manual transmission and will be added to the 1.6-liter 120 PS diesel or the 1.8-liter 142 PS petrol, which are already on sale.

Rated at 100 PS and 127 Nm (93 lb-ft) of torque, the 1.4-liter i-VTEC SOHC engine is able to push the Civic towards 100 km/h (62 mph) in 13 seconds flat before maxing out at 187 km/h (116 mph) – all while limiting CO2 emissions to 131 g/km.

“The addition of the 1.4-litre petrol engine version of the Sport strengthens our Civic family line up and makes the more aggressively styled version of our popular family hatchback more accessible,” said Honda UK exec Philip Crossman. “The smaller engine makes the Civic Sport more economical and more efficient and therefore a much more attractive proposition.”

In terms of looks, it tries to justify its designation in spite of its puny output with a unique color-coded rear spoiler, 17″ alloys, a mesh lower grille and black roof lining.

Honda UK is in the middle of revising their current Civic family line-up in order to match customer demand and better prepare for the next generation model, which is due to hit showrooms in early 2017.

PHOTO GALLERY