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-   -   Tata Harrier : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/209281-tata-harrier-official-review-9.html)

You are welcome to try and drive in the traffic conditions of Bangalore! Average speed in the city is less than 15kmph and for many of us, covering a mere 10-15 km distance may take 1 hour or more in normal conditions. So when you have such a scenario, its unavoidable to have your left hand constantly on the gear lever, shifting between 1st and 2nd. If you are lucky you will get to 3rd. And 4th is something you can forget about. Here is where the right positioning of the arm rest comes in. Extremely useful. And if a car does not get it ergonomically right, its a big pain for sure.

You still could use it when the car is parked. The front passenger also should be able to use it without pushing his/her seat all the way back and compromising rear legroom.

Thanks for the concern. I do agree its not the best of the driving styles to have. However here in Blr, with the kind of start-stop traffic we have, the left hand is always on the gear rod and it became a habit which is hard to get rid of. As someone has said, its rare that we get to use 4th gear with in city traffic. Even though I drive an automatic now, my left hand automatically goes on to the gear.

Coming back to Harrier, would love to see Tata fix the niggles and come up with an AT variant and possibly a petrol AT soon. It would be fun to drive a Petrol AT Harrier may be with a 1.6L/2L turbo.

Oh I missed the ‘happening’ City, where nothing but crawling happensstupid:. But I don’t think all those who mentioned the handrest thing are the ones who drives in Bangalore like traffic. Even highway drives are also mentioned. But yes I agree with your point about bumper to bumper traffic. Had been in Bangalore for around 4 months after my studies, which helped me NOT to choose Bangalore as my work location.lol:

That’s true. But that’s not the only usecase considered while people mention about handrest ergonomics. So other than the bumper to bumper traffic and parked car scenario, a driver should not be using handrest even in case of automatic cars. You might have noticed more number of people mentioning ‘an automatic car should have a good handrest’.

I thought this is a provision for installing an extra pair of speakers. It doesn't make sense as a styling element. I can understand if the projections were aligned and visually merging with the seat headrests (works well with fixed head rests).

Superb review! Sharing some of my personal observations and opinions from my experience with it:
-The car has PRESENCE. Oodles and oodles of it.
-The car is unusually heavy for its size (as is the Compass). Incidentally, both the cars are manufactured at the Ranjangaon plant. Does this have to do with any of the plant manufacturing processes?
-I am worried about the positioning of the headlamp as it can easily get damaged during an accident and will be expensive to replace. On the flip side, I doubt owners will complain about lack of front fog lamps (in the lower variants). stupid:
-The rear quarter glass is clearly an example of form over function. Rearward visibility is poor. The chrome ‘Harrier’ badging on the rear looked acceptable in the silver car but stood out uncomfortably on the orange car. Looks terribly out of place. Overall visibility is poor and this could be a dealbreaker in crowded metros.
Also, I feel Tata should have offered a dual-tone scheme as an option. Would have taken its already killer looks to another level.
-The alloy wheel design has definitely some Hyundai influence: they are very similar to the alloys of the erstwhile SX(O) variant.
-Ingress and egress are very good.
-The plastic on the horn pad is C-H-E-A-P! Get this: even the Tiago’s hornpad felt better! It’s cheaper than what you see in photos.
-The positioning of the lumbar adjust lever is not ergonomic. It will keeping touching and rubbing the arm of a well-built driver, and it does get irritating after a while. Not cool, Tata.
-The ORVMs have massive blind spots. Land Rover influence? The Freelander (the platform of which the Harrier was originally meant to be built) has similar sized ORVMs and incidentally, does suffer from blind spots too (though not as much as the Harrier). After seeing this, I do think that the mirrors were lifted from Land Rover. Just pointing it out.
-The handbrake feels cheap too. The design is very good but it is let down by poor implementation.
-Another Land Rover influence: Despite being a FWD-only SUV, there is a significant floor hump.
-The Compass has an on-paper boot space of 438 liters. Despite the Harrier being short by 13 liters, the space was much more usable than in the Compass.
-Amazing ICE system. Tata is one manufacturer that is consistently pushing for better music systems in its cars (Tiago/Tigor, Hexa, Nexon).
-The Compass’s gearshift did feel smoother (note: observed this as a co-passenger only).
-The cheap bits in the cabin, overdone styling (at some places) and other niggles did not bother me. But the tuning of the steering just sealed the deal. It was nervous at high speeds and was just too light. This is the sole dealbreaker in this entire package.
-On the wish list: Automatic transmission (top of the list), sunroof, all-wheel disc brakes (the stock brakes were not to my liking), height adjustable front seat belts (seriously Tata?), auto-dimming IRVM and gas struts to lift the bonnet.
-I was intrigued by the similarities between the Compass and Harrier (apart from the engine and gearbox): Unusually solid build, lights (it is noteworthy to mention that they are the only 2 cars in the segment equipped with xenon projectors and 2 rear fog lamps. This was the first thought on seeing the Harrier in flesh), niggles..? (Again, does it have something to do with the factory? There were problems with the first few Compasses too. Food for thought, methinks.)

Overall, a solid package, let down by niggles and steering behaviour. Unlike new cars nowadays, there are nearly as many as dealmakers as dealbreakers. I would still say that the Compass is the superior package and worth the premium. That said, Tata has come very close to the Jeep, and the VFM quotient vis-a-vis the Jeep is unquestionable. Kudos to Tata for making such a car!

Small correction :-Its Nexon, not Harrier thats built in FIAT's Ranjangaon plant alongwith Compass.
Harrier is built in Tata Motors CVBU, Pune on the same line where Safari Storme was built.

I see that there is a lot of discussion regarding the steering on the Tata Harrier.

My Harrier is the February make, and my first opinion about the steering is exactly as mentioned by this review, and I had also shared this opinion of mine in the previous thread regarding the Tata Harrier.

However, after the first service, I have noticed that the steering is much more weighted at high speeds. I have double checked the tire pressures just to verify that the extra weight was not attributed because of low pressure on the tires, and the tire pressure was always maintained at 33 psi. I'm not aware if the service center had done anything for this, and it was not even a concern which was noted on the job card. But I can tell for certain that the steering is no longer light at high speeds, and is very well weighed that I feel now that it could have been a tad more lighter.

Thanks for the clarification!

I had experienced (note:not test-driven by myself, but could definitely feel it as a co passenger.) the Harrier but it was of a January make. Good to see that Tata has been working on the Harrier. clap: That said, do try to compare this steering feel and weight with other Harriers, as there are inconsistencies across some cars.

I think this is worth an email to Tata, mods? If they are fixing the issue, it should be made clear (for their own sake, lest someone discount the Harrier due to the review of the steering).

In my humble opinion with basic physics knowledge, its neither a styling element nor a speaker housing. Although both can be secondary purposes to tastefully execute the job.

The parcel tray is really REALLY large. Creases, angles and troughs at regular intervals are a must for its survival. They have given a stylish touch to it rather than just giving 2 or 3 large crevasses (like in case of the Duster's tray).

So I think the purpose is structural strength & rigidity which is done with a designer's mind coupled with that of an engineer rather than just an engineer.

And that's the big difference we have seen in IMPACT as well as IMPACT2.0 compared to the Tata cars predating IMPACT. Tigor, Tiago, Nexon, Harrier. We are seeing cars "designed" rather than "engineered". That's the big shift from someone who used to make SUMO and Indica to someone who makes cars that will be bought for style and not for utility only.

Is anyone aware of whether the lower variants' analogue instrument cluster can be swapped with the top trim's instrument cluster that has the tacho on a screen? Is this an easy job?

It won't be an easy job.

1. Don't do this for a car in warranty ever since tampering of that level with electrical components voids at the least the electrical warranty. Each chassis number draws a list of compatible spares and accessories for the model & trim in the Tata workshop's application (Its based on Siebel for those interested in IT :D). Only those that are compatible will they sell formally to you. And the higher trim display won't appear in the list if the chassis is of a lower trim. I tell this with very recent experience since they were not even ready to sell me 15" wheels of a ZEST and newer steering of a VISTA for my VISTA when both are fully compatible & my car was already well out of warranty.

2. No TATA dealership / workshop will do this since they always have express directives NOT to sell / install even compatible components of a higher trim to a lower trim model. Simply because that takes away the USP of the costlier model & these things spread like anything in the market. So as a practice they never do it at all.

3. For such a new & premium car, it would be tough to source & install it outside of authorized places. And that would surely kill the warranty if done anyway.

Better not to do it. Its more of a gizmo anyway. If you enjoy the actual driving experience itself - then you'll hardly ever need that display. Ask any THAR owner :).

Am extremely happy to hear this :thumbs up. At the end of the day, it is a simple fix. Just wondering how Tata even approved this kind of a risky steering for production, but hey, better late than never (the fix).

Do update us after taking it out on the highway too.

May be too early to conclude if they have fixed this, considering the inconsistencies that exists across the vehicles.