2021 Tata Harrier Review: What Defines The Badass?

Tata Harrier Overview: Introduction To The Badass SUV

Gone are the days when SUVs are only used by thrill and adventure-seeking off-road enthusiasts. In the new world of premium-seeking urban city consumers, SUVs are catching more attention from the general public. Evidently, automakers are rushing to send more players in this fastest-growing segment. Tata Motors is one such major competitor. Be it one of the biggest domestic-grown carmakers in India, Tata just knows it all how to build badass rugged utility vehicles.

When considering the massive public interest aggregated for the premium SUV by Tata, it is undoubted that the Tata Harrier is among the most sought-after ones. It is even easy to say that, the Harrier is completely a global product since the JLR-based SUV holds enough favourable conditions and values for being the most praiseworthy model among the country's automotive fraternity.
Tata gave the Harrier a massive update in 2020 and the new SUV rapidly become a buzzword into the space of the five-seat sports utility vehicles. So what’s new in the new Tata Harrier? What makes the car appealing to spark a whole bunch of attention among Indian enthusiasts? Let’s find out the answer in our 2021 Tata Harrier review.

Tata Harrier is available with the major trims as follow:

Tata Harrier 360 View: Exterior Review

When the segment is crowded, the modern-day auto fans are increasingly getting bored with the same old design in such many sport utility vehicles. Keeping that in mind, Tata Motors releases a whole fresh air into the segment of SUV by the arrival of the Jaguar Land Rover-sourced Tata Harrier. At the time of its first launch in early 2019, the Tata Harrier surely managed to impress. However, at the second update, it would require quite experienced eyes to spot the visual changes on the new Tata Harrier so not to mistake it with the older one. Nevertheless, by a closer look, the cosmetic changes on the Harrier are quite easy to notice.

The "silver bullet" Tata Harrier has been built with a completely striking exterior

Front View

You may or may not know, it’s been more than a decade since Tata Motor acquired the Jaguar Land Rover. And after more than 10 years, Tata rolled out the Harrier as the first of product of its JV with Jaguar Land Rover, indeed. Not just that, it is also the brand’s first product to utilize the company’s latest Impact 2.0 Design Language that really grabs much excitement from the prospective customers.

The extraordinary design of the Tata SUV makes people turn their heads and the same goes for the 2020 Tata Harrier. The updated SUV manages to keep most of the striking parts of the earlier Harrier car that was based on the H5X concept. The high-mounted grille along with the slim LED lighting strips on the base of the car’s bonnet feeds a very attractive look like the set of eyebrows. The lightning bolt-shaped DRLs, particularly, simultaneously functions as the turn indicators that are different from any cars in Tata’s lineup.

Side View

The side profile of the Harrier comes as the perfect mix between the Tata Nexon, the H5X concept and the Land Rover Discovery Sport. The aerodynamic profile of the Hyundai Creta’s adversary, in specifically is well proportioned with the lines and curves harmonized together while the chunky five-spoke alloy wheels boast the flagship role of the vehicle. It’s worth noting that in its latest avatar, the 2020 Tata Harrier sports a set of redesigned alloy wheels which is now a machined-cut two-tone unit. Thanks to these new alloys, the Tata Harrier gets a much more proportioned stance than before. The other changes are the tweaked ORVMs that are more aerodynamic than the earlier version for better wind noise resistance and less drag at high speeds.

Rear View

The rear end of the Tata Harrier gets a big thumbs-up. We can see the sporty piano black finisher on the 3D LED taillamps for a dynamic signature trail. Tata has displayed the Harrier name with a spread-out central placement instead of the simple generic badge.
All in all, the new Tata Harrier has a lot going for it when it comes to styling design. It looks not only gorgeous like a gentleman but also robust and agile enough like a purpose-built SUV all-ready to handle any situation ahead.

Tata Harrier Dimensions: Length, Width, Height & More

If you are a person who enthuses big sizes, the Harrier is an ideal one. It is truly a proportionate SUV with the overall length, width and height of 4,598 mm, 1,894 mm and 1,706 mm, respectively.

For these above numbers, the Tata Harrier has all capacities to undercut the largest SUVs in India like Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson and Mahindra XUV500 in most cases. With a massive width of 1,894 mm, the Tata Harrier offers enormous room on the inside of the vehicle. The boot space of the Harrier is 810 litres with rear seats folded that’s also a major highlight on the model.

Tata Harrier Design: Interior Review

Inside the cabin, as compared to other modern models in today’s market, the Tata Harrier lacks none of the premium feels. It comes to score high in every aspect you could require inside an SUV, from the spaciousness, comfort, convenience, premium and modernity.

Interior Design

From the interior design, the all-black and Oakwood brown theme combined with faux wood panelling on the dash delivers the sense of elegance and luxuriousness. The generous utilization of leather in the cabin like leatherette upholstery, leather-wrapped steering wheel, leather-wrapped gearshift knob, etc. creates a magnetic impression on people from both outside and inside views. The floating 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system looks very pleasing on the centre of the premium dashboard while the soft-touch Satin chrome garnishes on the door handle, top of the dash are some of the highlighted points for the car’s interior.

The cutting-edge interior design is another pinnacle of the model

Premium Oakwood theme is mostly seen in every corner of the car's cabin

Space and Seating

As mentioned above, the astonishing dimensions of the cars enable an abundant amount of space on the inside with ample headroom and legroom for the rear. The all-new Tata Harrier is good for the seats of five that makes it the flawless vehicle for a weekend getaway.

Comfort Features

A number of best-in-class features have been developed inside the vehicle

Another thing that really strikes us in the Tata Harrier is the comfort equipment list. With a feature-rich cabin, the Tata Harrier deploys a range of features including a massive 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone connectivity, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, 9-speakers JBL sound system, tilt and telescopic steering, a 7.0-inch colour TFT display among others. Particularly, the most noticeable change to the new Harrier’s cabin is the addition of a panoramic sunroof that offers a large glass area that sends an airier and roomier feel. The inclusion of the 6-way power-adjustable driver’s seat is another update that was given a miss in the previous model. 

The new Tata Harrier offers a massive panoramic sunroof that enhances the feel of airiness and spaciousness for the passengers.

Onto what could be improved on the Harrier’s cabin, the infotainment system of the SUV does offer smartphone connectivity apps but there aren’t any connected technology features seen in the new Nexon EV. That’s something we hope the Tata Harrier should get in times to come.

Safety Features & Strong Body Structure

Forgetting about some minor discomforts, the Harrier, on the other hand, is still a strong athlete regarding its quality of safety and stability. Attaining the monocoque construction from the Land Rover’s Legendary D8 Architecture, the latest Tata SUV is underpinned from the modern OMEGA Arc platform (Optimal Modular Efficient Global Advanced Architecture). The body structure facilitates a lighter curb weight as well as the high tensile materials like high strength steel, then helps reduce substantially the noises and vibrations on the drives. The safety feature highlights should be included with

• 6 airbags

• Reverse parking camera

• Front fog lamps with cornering function

• Electronic stability programme (ESP) comprising 14 extra functionalities

• Hill-hold and hill descent control

• Front fog lamps with cornering function

The all-new Harrier also strongly impresses us regarding the safety fitments

* To compare Tata Harrier with more cars in the segment, check out our website.

Tata Harrier Engines: Exhilarating Performance

Engine Specifications

The Tata Harrier has proved itself as a robust SUV, not only in terms of design but also on the mechanical package.

The engine specifications of the newest Tata offering satisfy the high expectations of the Indian auto enthusiasts. When it was first launched in 2019, the Tata Harrier deploys the Kryotec 2.0L Turbo Diesel Engine that churned out 140 PS of power and 350 Nm of torque. For 2020, however, the carmaker has upgraded the Harrier’s engine to 170 PS of max power and 350 Nm of peak torque. Transmission choices include a 6-speed MT along with a 6-speed AT option. The newly-added automatic gearbox is sourced from Hyundai and can be found doing duty in the Hyundai Tucson counterpart.

Performance

In its latest form, the Tata Harrier is a lot more powerful yet a little more refined than the earlier model. Once it crosses the 3,500 – 4,000 rpm market, the diesel clatter is slightly audible but that’s not enough to dampen our driving experience.

The Tata Harriers cruises through the city traffic or on the highway quite effortlessly, especially at three-digit speeds. As per our acceleration run, the Harrier AT can sprint from 0 to 100 kmph in 10.15 seconds and 0 – 120 kmph in 13.87 seconds. In the meanwhile, the manual version of the Tata Harrier does offer more control over its power. It gets 350 Nm of torque with an open-diff FWD system that would be a perfect formula for the good old-fashioned steer action. Still, once getting into the automatic Harrier, we’ll find the power output more manageable. It is very intuitive and seamless to drive, even if you operate the box manually. So if you ask us about which option to go for, manual or automatic, it’s the latter that should be our cup of tea.

Tata Harrier Mileage: Is It Fuel-efficient?

Tata Motors claimed that its huge five-seater SUV would be even more fuel-efficient than its Mahindra XUV500 rival in the segment. In fact, the ARAI tested fuel mileage figure of the Tata Harrier is rated at 17.0 kmpl for both manual and automatic transmission

Tata Harrier Price: Is It Affordable?

The Tata Harrier is currently priced from Rs 13.99 Lakh to Rs 20.45 Lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

At this price range, the Tata Harrier rivals the models like Hyundai Creta at the lower end as well as the Mahindra XUV500 and Jeep Compass at the upper end of the segment. With the price starting from Rs 13.99 Lakh, the Tata Harrier price undercuts the Jeep Compass by a huge margin, the latte is now priced from Rs 16.99 – 28.29 Lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Besides, based on the premium features list, a roomy cabin and these competitive price stickers, the Tata Harrier is really a serious competitor in its segment.

Tata Harrier Verdict: Is The Harrier Worth Buying?

Being one of the most premium SUVs in company’s products lineup, the Tata Harrier really hits big in the Indian auto market this year. The arrival of the Harrier has boosted up the total sale figures of the country’s SUV segment to a new margin. The Harrier is undeniably a bitter rival of the top-selling Hyundai Creta, Jeep Compass, MG Hector and the Mahindra XUV500 in the competition.