[TusharK]

Tata Motors recently launched the updated Harrier and Safari. Both SUVs are currently available with a 2.0-litre diesel engine. However, the carmaker plans to introduce a turbo-petrol engine option in about a year's time.



Tata Motors had showcased its new 1.5-litre TGDi 4-cylinder turbo-petrol engine at Auto Expo 2023. This unit puts out 168 BHP and 280 Nm and could be paired with a 6-speed manual and a dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

Adding a petrol engine to the mix would allow Tata Motors to offer the Harrier and Safari at a slightly lower price point. At present, the Harrier range starts at Rs 15.49 lakh, while the Safari is priced from Rs 16.19 lakh (ex-showroom).

Rival brands like Mahindra, MG and Hyundai already offer petrol versions of their mid-size SUVs. The Scorpio-N and XUV700 are available with a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, while the MG Hector is powered by a 1.5-litre unit. The Hyundai Alcazar also gets a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine option.

Link to Team-BHP news

[The Rationalist]

That's a welcome news. 1 year is a bit long time. They maybe able to bring the sticker price to below ₹14 lakh. Hope the dual clutch don't end like the one in Altroz, the latter is a pain to drive. It's kind of CVT response, no where near the DSG/DCT one is used to. A petrol version may help to increase sales by 15-20%.

[yadavsid21]

Originally Posted by TusharK

. The Hyundai Alcazar also gets a 2.0-litre petrol engine option.

Link to Team-BHP news

Hyundai Alcazar no longer gets the 2.0L petrol mill. It now comes with 1.5TGDi engine option.

[Reinhard]

Petrol engines have never been Tata's forte. Be it the original indigenous petrol in the Indica, or the borrowed engines from Peugeot etc, in the Safari, the FIAT engines (1.2FIRE and 1.4FIRE badged SAFIRE) in the Vista/Manza or the 1.2Revotron4Pot in Zest/Bolt. They were neither high on performance, nor great on mileage.

Its the 3 cylinder IDI NA and TURBO 1.2 Revotron that has finally established itself somewhat on these aspects. Still in obviously small mainstream cars on budget.

Now a modern 1.5TGDI. Right in the segment of engines that is crowded with all key global players as well as Mahindra, who have become somewhat of maestros with all kind of engines off late! Will be really interesting to see how this fares. Tata's cars - especially the big ones are always heavy. A TGDI engine tends to be quite sensitive to drive pattern, vehicle weight and traffic conditions. I'd be braced for low single digit mileage figures for this engine in the Harrier/Safari in city & maximum 15 kmpl on highways in the best of conditions. Anything above that, would be some masterful engineering work.

Regardless - a wise step in a market that (for no sensible reason) is moving blindly towards Petrol engines. Respite for car buyers in NCR also. And a big benefit for TaMo for CAFE2, net emissions figures. Shareholders will be happy with this news too.
If I ever was buying one of these (or any SUV for that matter, even the Seltos which I like), I know I'd still buy the diesel ones for sure . Somehow extremely hot running, high RPM petrol engines are never my favourite. A low RPM torque mill always for me.

[volkman10]

Electric Tata Harrier to launch before petrol version.

The under-development 1.5-litre TGDi petrol motor will likely arrive with Curvv SUV before it makes its way to the Harrier and Safari.

the development of the petrol motor is proving to be a challenge but one the company knows it must address

it’s slightly far away – one year and beyond

Link

[Gaur]

1.5 might be a bit small for a Safari/Harrier like 2tonne SUV, 1.8l might have been better.

OR is it that the 1.5l will come in a Hybrid setup, is TML planning to pull a rabbit out of the hat ?

[Old_Salt]

Well, I think the petrol engine should have been ready by now. You need to capitalise on the good work. Best to date safety ratings but no petrol engine?
When the diesel ban was initially announced for cars with engine over 2.0l, Mahindra was so quick to launch the 1.99l engine.
I have a XUV700 petrol booking and was so looking forward to the Safari petrol variant, however one year is overkill. Seems like TaMo themselves were not prepared for such overwhelming response. They need to show the trust in their product, and take the competition head on. This was a good time to get some initial petrol customers who would have moved their bookings. With Mahindra increasing prices every day and ridiculous waiting periods, I see this as opportunity lost by TaMo.
Diesel, unfortunately is not the flavour of Delhi NCR.

[kronos596]

Originally Posted by Gaur

1.5 might be a bit small for a Safari/Harrier like 2tonne SUV, 1.8l might have been better.

OR is it that the 1.5l will come in a Hybrid setup, is TML planning to pull a rabbit out of the hat ?

Tata's 1.5L Petrol engine will run on Miller Cycle, similar to 1.5 TSI from VW/Skoda and Skyactiv engines from Mazda. I've heard that 1.5 TSI with ACT gives better mileage than the 1.0 TSI on highways. I'm looking forward to see if this engine can somehow give better mileage than it's peers like XUV700, MG Hector/Hector Plus, Alcazar etc.

[man_and_machine]

Is there really a market for this? Big T has started to push the hybrids, and they will push that in a very big way. They are also doing it globally. They already have a playbook that hinges on riding the thin balance between hybrid and fully electric and depending how the future unfolds pivot. This is important since Maruti will also follow suit, and that moves the narrative and the market.
TATA seems to be be plugging the gap until the time the future will unfold itself. A fully electrics Safari or Harrier will be prohibitively expensive for those models. Imaging paying 50L on road for a Safari.
While customer are moving to petrol, that is not because they either fear regulation or are more climate conscious, there are just lack of options. A 2 tonne petrol will not sell, Safari or not. It's will tick boxes on the catalogue. Today's supply side constraints are driving most purchase decisions. The safari is cashing on it, for the most part, apart from a small fan base. If the Innova Hycorss would be available in say 2 weeks time, does this change the dynamic for people making 30L+ buying decision when you want a petrol 7 seater?
Everything being said, TATA should bring in the 1.5 TGDI, let's see if that choice makes sense to buyer and to the TATA sales sheet.

[steadfast]

Originally Posted by man_and_machine

TATA seems to be be plugging the gap until the time the future will unfold itself. A fully electrics Safari or Harrier will be prohibitively expensive for those models. Imaging paying 50L on road for a Safari.

I remember reading somewhere that as per Tata, electric Harrier/Safari will only be marginally expensive than ICE counterparts.

[kosjam]

Considering the dismal mileage figures that all petrol SUVs return, TATA should ideally bypass a pure petrol SUV and go directly for a strong petrol hybride SUV, which, might be the same cost as a diesel, but higher in terms of mileage, lower on maintenance and much, much better on the NVH.

[shaheenazk]

Originally Posted by Gaur

1.5 might be a bit small for a Safari/Harrier like 2tonne SUV, 1.8l might have been better.

OR is it that the 1.5l will come in a Hybrid setup, is TML planning to pull a rabbit out of the hat ?

I absolutely agree. A 1500cc engine with 168 bhp is too puny for a heavy SUV like Safari or Harrier. Tata is making the same mistake as they did by incorporating a 1200cc engine with Altroz. 2000cc should be the absolute minimum and power to weight ratio must be atleast 100bhp/ton. Else, it will lack the grunt for quick acceleration whenever required, thereby marring the fun to drive experience.

[Jordygt500]

Hello Bhpians, this is my first reply on the forum after closely following for more than 5 years and i thank the mods for accepting my membership.
The harrier safari twins come with 168 Bhp diesel engine which has enough muscle to please even enthusiastic drivers according to the teambhp review, So 168 Bhp petrol with lower weight than the heavy diesel engine minus the complicated diesel exhaust will be even better than the diesel.
Please pardon me if i have something wrong in the post.
Thanks.

[GTO]

Couple of thoughts:

- I used to scoff at small-displacement turbo-petrols until I drove the VW-Skoda 1.0L, Hyundai's 1.4L & now 1.5L, Maruti's 1.0L in the Fronx etc. Let's wait until we actually drive it.

- Surprised that it's taken Tata so long though. The market has moved to petrols in a big way since donkey's years. Not just Delhi-NCR (due to the ban on 10-year diesel cars), but many others are also buying SUVs / 4x4s in petrol (including yours truly). Almost all the competition has been selling good turbo-petrols since a long time.

- Despite being diesel-only, the Harrier + Safari siblings sell ~4000 units a month. It is darn impressive. A turbo-petrol will nicely bump up these sales numbers.

- Am more excited about the EV versions than the petrol though. But ICE is ICE for highway runs.

Originally Posted by TusharK

Adding a petrol engine to the mix would allow Tata Motors to offer the Harrier and Safari at a slightly lower price point.

Yes. No BS6 nonsense and no licence fee payments to Jeep for the engine. The cost of the BS6 II exhaust system is atrociously high!! Some OEMs were joking that the diesel exhaust system will soon cost as much as the diesel engine itself.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Electric Tata Harrier to launch before petrol version....The under-development 1.5-litre TGDi petrol motor will likely arrive with Curvv SUV before it makes its way to the Harrier and Safari.

Guess they want to showcase the engine's brand newness and would want to showcase it in an all new model like the Curvv. Also, with the Harrier/Harrier+ kerb weights, the 1.5l TGDI (how much boosted it maybe) will be compared to the Mahindra 2.0 mStallion and may not receive that much of a glowing praise. Not a problem in the Curvv, where it may actually be a segment topper for on paper specs.

The Harrier/Harrier+ petrols would just be an option for NCR guys and people with low running, and TATA themselves are not taking it too seriously. (the engine in the Harrier twins I meant, not the engine itself)

Originally Posted by Reinhard

or the borrowed engines from Peugeot etc, in the Safari,

Have heard of the 1.9l/2.0l diesels being either licensed from Peugeot or copied from Peugeot or coincidentally looking like the Peugeot engine spec while being an indegenious one or a smaller version of the 4SP from the 407 which itself is based on some Merc design(?). Diesel Peugeots is a given as they were the diesel standard in the 90s and 2000s, but petrol?

Haven't heard of anything related to the 2.1l MPFI, except that maybe it was from MG Rover in some sort of exchange for the MG Cityrover (UK export Indica).