MG Hector Vs Tata Harrier- How These Cars Fare Against Each Other In The Playground?

The MG Hector has been officially unveiled to everyone’s amazement in India and garnered a lot of positive compliments for a very great novelty of sorts. The India launch has been scheduled for some time in June 2019 and the bookings scheme is all set to be accepted during the same month. The upcoming MG SUV is anticipated to get a heavy localization level to keep the cost in check and holds pretty good sheer sizes, countless features and admirable specifications to take the market by storm from the very word go.

While we’ll only have chance to drive the new Hector in practice until next month, we’re extremely curious about how MG (Morris Garages) Motor’s first product could compete against the Tata Harrier which is, in truth, a big game challenger of the segment in recent times. To figure it out, we’ve worked on details of the MG Hector and Tata Harrier comparison, at least on paper, to know where the MG can slot in the fight.

MG Hector Vs Tata Harrier- Design Comparison                             

You may know that MG Motor is the British subsidiary of the Chinese-owned automotive corporation, SAIC Motor. So it does make good sense when the new MG Hector is basically a rebadged version of the Baojun 530 global sibling. Frankly, the MG Hector looks almost identical to the donor model Baojun 530 except for a suite of cosmetic distinctions to make it in line with other MG products in the range.

However, it does not means that the MG Hector is not a great beauty. Externally, the new Hector easily wins the onlookers’ hearts with the imposing premium silhouette that no other SUVs can imitate. Like virtually all other modern cars in the same segment, the MG SUV gets a neat design with prominent large front grille finished in black, outstanding high-set bonnet, lower-placed split headlamps setup along with a centrally-placed wide air dam at the front. The rear end of the car features a set of sharp LED tail lamps that is apparently one of the most highlighting parts of its overall design packages.

In the meantime, the Tata Harrier is considered one of the most modern looking Tata models ever. Based on the company’s latest IMPACT 2.0 Design Philosophy, the Harrier looks muscular with the high-mounted front grille, eye brows-like LED lighting setup, chunky five-spoke alloy wheels together with a dynamic signature trail created by the 3D LED tail lamps with piano black finishes. Like the MG Hector, the Tata Harrier also gets a set of split headlamps and LED tail lamps but they turn out to be completely different regarding the external look. Having said, the Tata car's front grille sits higher in the front bumper while a pair of sleek LED lighting strips are crafted at the edge of the bonnet making them look like the sharp eyebrows. While the 17-inch alloy wheels shod with 215/60-section tyres setup looks a tad small compared to the big body of the Hector SUV, the Harrier- being a smaller SUV, looks fairly nice with a set of 17-inch alloys shoeing with 235/65-section tyres set-up.

Above all, design is subjective to people’s predilection and likeness and we aren't able to confirm that one design is better than the other or not. Thus, we let you, my dear readers, to choose which vehicle should win this battle round.

MG Hector Vs Tata Harrier- Dimension Comparison

Obviously, the MG Hector totally undercut its biggest rival- Tata Harrier in the dimension stakes. Generally speaking, all these two SUVs here do not vary much in sizes but the MG Hector is the longest model of the lot, regarding both the overall length and wheelbase. The MG Hector measures 4,655 mm long along with 2,750 mm in the wheelbase, which are, in fact, 57 mm and 9 mm longer than that of the Tata Harrier, respectively. The British-branded Hector also has the comparatively larger boot at 587 litres while the home-grown competitor gets merely 427 litres in the boot lid. Yet in terms of ground clearance and width, the Harrier thoroughly towers over the contender in an aggressive way. It gets a decent ground clearance of 205 mm and the largest-in-segment height of 1894 mm as compared to the MG Hector’s figures of 192 mm and 1835 mm, respectively. Both MG and Tata SUVs can accommodate the maximum 5 number of seats, hence we expect their interior spaces to be almost the same.

MG Hector Vs Tata Harrier- Interior and Feature Comparison

If you question it, say,  which model has the futuristic design of the dashboard, it’s absolutely the MG Hector to be named. Standing out ion the inside of the SUV is a largest-in-segment 10.4-inch vertically-placed tablet-like touchscreen infotainment system with TomTom navigation, voice commands and 50-plus internet services, which is by all means much more advanced than the Harrier’s 8.8-inch unit.

Coming as the first-ever Internet car for India, the MG Hector features an embedded SIM connectivity that gives the car stable Internet access controlled through the smartphone on every go. This feature is not available on the Harrier for sure. Furthermore, the Hector seems to be superior with a long list of top-notch fitments such as panoramic sunroof, fully digital instrument cluster, 8-colour ambient interior lighting system, leather seats, advanced Infinity sound system with 4 speakers, 4 tweeters, subwoofer, amplifier, electric hand brake, power adjustable driver seats (6-way) and co-driver seat (4-way) and much more.

On the other hand, the Tata Harrier also garners quite a fanbase with a range of modern features like a floating 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a 7-inch multi-information display, tilt and telescopic adjustable steering, engine start push-button, 9 JBL speakers including 4 speakers, 4 tweeters and a subwoofer, 28 intelligent utility spaces, etc.

Undeniably, the MG Hector’s interior is much more advanced and feature-rich when it comes to comparing with the Tata Harrier counterpart. In all likelihood, driving with the Hector will be more effortless and full of fun with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well as voice recognition. That said, if the Tata Harrier allows you to operate the functions at the touch of the buttons, the MG Hector now comes to level up the game by the convenience of words.

Also Read - Tata Harrier Vs Mahindra XUV500 – Detailed Comparison

MG Hector Vs Tata Harrier- Engine Comparison

The all-new MG Hector will be launched with both petrol and engine options. Interestingly, it will share the same Fiat-sourced 2.0-litre diesel engine (albeit differently tuned) with the Tata Harrier adversary. In the MG model, it could output 170 hp of max power and 350 Nm of peak torque while the Harrier’s 2.0-litre unit makes a lower 140 hp / 350 Nm state of tune. All these cars come coupled with a 6-speed manual transmission. In terms of diesel efficiency, MG Motor has claimed that its brand new SUV can deliver the figure of 17 km/l which makes it sit on top of the pile. Whereas the Harrier returns a slightly less mileage of 16.7 km/l hence the Hector shall be certainly more efficient than the Harrier counterpart.

Petrol wise, the petrol engine-mounted Hector will be powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged unit that can pump out 143 hp of power and 250 Nm of torque. Transmission duties should be taken by a 6-speed MT and a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox as an option. The Tata Harrier currently misses out on the petrol configurations.

In particular, the MG Hector is the first-in-segment SUV to get a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that is said to improve the efficiency by 12 per cent and reduce the CO2 emissions by 11 per cent as against the non-hybrid version. In addition, the mild-hybrid system also contributes 20 Nm of additional torque to the overall output, all the way to counteract the turbo lag as well as improve the acceleration in the stop-and-go traffic.

Also Read - Mahindra XUV500 W3 vs Tata Harrier XE: Which Base Variant Is Better?

MG Hector Vs Tata Harrier- Verdict

So you have it, the Tata Harrier and MG Hector comparison. Price of the MG Hector is yet to be revealed while the test drives are going to commence until June 2019. Therefore, we set the final judgment aside till the day when the price is disclosed and after we could have stayed behind Hector’s wheel. With the carmaker’s confirmation to localize Hector’s components heavily, we get a clue to believe in the up-and-coming future of the Hector SUV in the competition, not only with the Harrier but also the other equivalent models like Mahindra XUV500 and Jeep Compass.

Read more car compare articles from IndiaAuto.com

Also Read - MG Hector Vs Tata Harrier Vs Jeep Compass Vs Mahindra XUV500 - Spec Comparison