Tata Harrier Petrol First Drive Review – A Pleasant Surprise!

Harrier and Safari have been Tata Motors’ flagship SUVs for a long time and they always had a sole Stellantis-sourced Diesel engine on offer. The company has developed a new 1.5L Hyperion Turbo Petrol engine which we first experienced in Sierra. An up-tuned version of this engine has now been plonked under the bonnet of Harrier and Safari for the first time.

We drove the Harrier Petrol in Delhi NCR in peak fog and smog season with AQI hovering over 500. Going into the testing initial impressions were that a 1.5L Turbo Petrol engine for a Sierra size vehicle would fall short for a Harrier’s size and segment. This is where Harrier Petrol surprised us with its performance. Here’s everything you need to know.

Tata Harrier Petrol First Drive Review

Big SUVs and Diesel engines go hand in hand and that’s how it was for Tata Motors’ flagship Harrier and Safari. However, a new breed of SUV buyers have emerged craving for a Petrol motor with their mid-size SUVs for refinement, thrill of driving and even affordability. We drove Harrier Petrol without knowing the prices, which made it difficult for us to position it in the segment.

With this new Petrol engine, Tata could better position Harrier and Safari against rivals like Mahindra XUV700 and MG Hector, both of which come with a Petrol engine option. The company expects a boost in sales with the launch of Harrier Petrol and Safari Petrol and expand its market share.

There are no exterior design changes with Harrier Petrol and it continues to look just as striking as they did before. Tata has added a new Nitro Crimson colour to Harrier’s palette which glitters and shines under lighting. The interiors get a new Oyster White and Titan Brown theme bundled with a new top-spec Persona called Fearless Ultra that bundles even more features than what Harrier used to come with before.

New Features

These features include the new Digital IRVM with a camera integrated into the shark-fin antenna, washers for front and rear cameras, Memory ORVM with auto dip in reverse gear, 10-speaker JBL music system with Dolby Atmos and the slick 14.5-inch Samsung QLED touchscreen infotainment system with deep contrast and inky Blacks. Similar to the one seen with Harrier EV.

Tata Motors will even offer a Red Dark Edition based on this new Accomplished Ultra Persona with Carbon Black exteriors, 19-inch Dark alloy wheels and Carnelian Red interiors. Standard Harrier Petrol Accomplished Ultra comes with 18-inch alloy wheels. Washers for cameras are particularly handy and the new Digital IRVM allows to load the boot till the roof and doubles up as a dual-channel dashcam with loop recording.

While we thought this would just be an engine swap, seeing extra features with Harrier Petrol was a pleasant surprise. Other than these, Harrier remains the same as before and even lacks any badges on the outside to identify it as a Petrol variant. Harrier Petrol continues to offer a similar level of space and comfort, practicality and functionality as before.

New Beating Heart

The new 1.5L Hyperion engine promises exhilarating performance and segment-best refinement and NVH performance. This 1.5L 4-cylinder Turbo Petrol engine is capable of generating 170 PS of peak power and 280 Nm of peak torque, mated to a 6-speed Manual or a 6-speed AISIN-sourced torque converter automatic. This engine runs on Miller Cycle with segment’s highest compression of 11.5.

Tata Motors mentioned that Safari Petrol has segment’s best NVH at just 37.8 db, while the closest rival is at 40.7 db. In practice, we felt like the cabin was well isolated and insulated from the outside world. Tyre noises could have been better contained. The actual engine sounds quite nice and grunty when you give it the beans.

Speaking of, the combination of 1.5L Hyperion engine and the AISIN 6-speed torque converter works remarkably well, offering buyers an exhilarating driving experience. This is a strong engine and does not feel underpowered for a vehicle like Harrier. Acceleration is on point too with 0-100 km/h coming up in well under 10 seconds. The way this engine delivers this performance is quite impressive, which left us grinning all along.

The company also promise best-in-segment fuel efficiency with Harrier and Safari Petrol, but official ARAI figures weren’t revealed during media drives. Fuel-efficiency figure on instrument cluster seems to have been locked at 8 km/l and that’s what it showed us all along. The new AISIN-sourced 6-speed torque converter offers great drivability and the shifts were almost DCT-like.

What hasn’t changed with Harrier Petrol is the robust ride quality from its Land Rover D8 derived OMEGA Arc platform. Suspension tuning is done just right to lend it an indestructible feel. Bump absorption is commendable and Harrier continue to tower over bad patches with absolute authority. Body roll is still there, but is very well controlled for its size. We just wished for a little more bite from the brakes, now that performance ceiling is pushed higher.

Should You Buy One?

If this was just an engine swapping exercise, we would not have expressed any reservations, but Harrier and Safari Petrol also bring a bump in equipment. This makes us wonder why Tata did not go all the way and make this a 2.5 update to Harrier and Safari?

1. Curvv and Sierra get painted body claddings, but body claddings on flagship Harrier and Safari are left unpainted. Like there’s no continuity between models.

2. The adjustable under-thigh support seen in Sierra would have made a lot of sense in Harrier and Safari and even complement the winged headrests. That is not the case.

3. We faced a few niggles with the gear selector which we also saw with other Tata cars with shift-by-wire tech. More polishing is needed here.

4. The dashboard rattled quite a bit and that’s because it was not aligned in any way. There was a height difference between door and dashboard trims on the left side, but panel gap was okay. On right side, though, there was no height difference, but had a major panel gap where I could stick my finger all the way across.

5. Rear left seatbelt refused to buckle up and would pop out on its own. This particular unit should not have passed quality control checks at the assembly line, but it did.

Harrier and Safari are probably the best-looking mid-size SUVs on sale in India. With the launch of 1.5L Hyperion Petrol engine options, the appeal of Harrier and Safari have broadened. They have more magnetism now than ever before attracting buyers craving for more performance than what was associated with Harrier before. In our books, Harrier and Safari Petrol are a major step ahead and deserve your attention.