Team-BHP - 2020 Tata Harrier Automatic : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by vikramv1 (Post 4968299)

I have booked the Harrier XZA DT recently and am looking to take delivery next week. I would like to know, what brand stock tyres comes on it generally and potential options from all you Harrier owners to change into a better tyre. Any insights appreciated. Thanks

Mine are Apollo. I'm not going for an upgraded set of tyres ( even I'm about to recieve delivery next week).

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarguyNish (Post 4968139)

Dear BHPians,

While each and every car have their own pro's and con's, deciding is very tough.

I know it's much improved in BS6 form, but is is better than Hector, Compass, Tucson and Innova Crysta ?

Please elaborate on your requirements. Include specifications like power you are comfortable with, primary usage, petrol or diesel, manual or automatic transmission, features you are looking forward to, safety, driving dynamics, etc. It would be easy to recommend a car to you then.

The Harrier is not a bad car. It depends on what type of car you are looking forward to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by krishnakarthik1 (Post 4968184)

See, as soon as this Crysta name comes into the picture its all together a different game. It would be tough to say any car is better than the Crysta unless its a hexa. If you can afford it my vote goes to the Crysta any day from the list of the cars you mentioned.

With Hexa no longer available, would have definitely considered it if it was available. Don't have any information when Tata will relaunch it, their next big thing is Gravitas. So, it'll definitely be pricier than Harrier. Let me wait for it as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garth (Post 4968188)

Is it the Tata tag that you are apprehensive about? The quality is so much better than previous years. Answer to your question depends on what you are looking for. Is is driving dynamics, comfort, looks, features? How much is too much?

Frankly Speaking, I bought Tiago just because Tata made huge leap forward with that car. It didn't feel like Old Tata's. It was love at first sight for me. Harrier is very good too. Safety and Comfort are main priority, performance and features are next up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Latheesh (Post 4968189)

Price tag is justified comparing to the competition.

Thank you. Harrier is definitely more VFM than Compass & Innova, but Hector is cheaper by almost 1.5 lakhs, hence the query.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Smoke (Post 4968401)

Please elaborate on your requirements. It would be easy to recommend a car to you then.

The Harrier is not a bad car. It depends on what type of car you are looking forward to.

Looking for a Diesel car, automatic is preferred. Safety and Comfort are top priority. Dynamics should also be good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarguyNish (Post 4968916)

Looking for a Diesel car, automatic is preferred. Safety and Comfort are top priority. Dynamics should also be good.

My recommendations would be (in the following order)-

1. Toyota Innova Crysta Diesel Automatic.
2. Harrier Automatic.
3. Jeep Compass Automatic.

The Harrier is recommended over the Compass for the superior automatic gearbox tuning.

The Hector has been left out since it doesn't have an automatic transmission. It also doesn't feature a build quality as good as the above mentioned cars. Only 2 pros of the Hector-
(A) It has a softer suspension than Harrier and Compass.
(B) It has more features too.

P.S. I have stuck only to the cars shortlisted by you in your initial post.

If you are willing to wait for the Gravitas ( in that case even the new XUV5OO), I would strongly recommend you to hold your purchase for at least 6 months post launch ( 1.5 years / updated version in case of XUV5OO). There are bound to be niggles & issues in the initial batch.

Do consider the used car option as well. You might end up with a sweet Endeavour 3.2 for the same price.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarguyNish (Post 4968139)

Dear BHPians,

Lower Segment - Seltos & Creta
Mid Segment - Hector, Harrier, Compass
Premium Segment - Karoq, Tucson, T-Roc

I had a pretty similar set of vehicles in my consideration set, and here is how I decided on the Harrier.
Crysta - I was looking for an AT. Crysta's AT is only available in GX or ZX variants. GX is too bare bones and ZX was too expensive (5L+ as compared to Harrier top end). I was also hoping that with the facelift, maybe the GX variant will become more appealing but there was no clear indication of the launch date. There were mixed reviews about the drivability of the petrol and no TD vehicles were available in petrol. Hence ruled out Crysta

Compass - Too cramped as compared to Harrier and that too at a more expensive price point. Its definitely a well engineered car and the cabin feel the most premium (except the size). Variant distribution of the compass is weird. I didn't need 4x4, but the diesel automatic was only available with 4x4. Didn't make sense to pay extra for something that I didn't want. Moreover a facelift was on the horizon when I was deciding.

XUV - Didn't want to buy an old model, and new model was too far away in the future.

Tucson - The most attractive variant was the 4x4 diesel but was again much more expensive. On road price would have touched 31-32 in Bangalore. Again no petrol vehicle available for TD. Tucson is the only car I considered which had all the necessary features even in the lowest variant but I couldn't take a decision without driving the petrol.

T-Roc - Felt smaller and again no availability of TD vehicle.

Karoq - Best package out there in my opinion. But was way out of my budget. Would have easily touched 31-31 in Bangalore. And no one one bothered to call for a TD despite multiple attempts, and I am an existing Skoda customer!!

Creta/Seltos/Hector - didn't consider.

Here's what worked for me in the Harrier - looks and road presence, cabin size, perceived ruggedness and long lasting nature of Tata cars, all the necessary safety features and no unnecessary bling (except the sunroof maybe :D), superior AT+engine combo. At the price point, all this felt to be more VFM as compared to the options available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsanthosh (Post 4966346)

It has been almost two months since we bought our dual tone XZA Harrier and now covered almost 3500 km. I thought it is time for me to jot down ownership and driving experiences. We owned a 2015 model Ford Ecosport Ecoboost car that had clocked around 55000 km and wanted to replace it with a bigger vehicle as we use it primarily for highway travel and there is not much travel inside Chennai city. In fact, there were not many serious contenders for Harrier as our choice. Though I test drove Seltos, Creta, and Hector, they did not appeal to us. So finally decided to take the plunge in November 2020 as I found myself spending a lot of time on the net reading up reviews and watching videos on Harrier, besides following up every news and thread on Team BHP forum and realized that it's better to buy rather than postpone the decision and waste more time. We had decided on XZA as features such as sunroof etc did not appeal much for the extra amount.

The powered seat switches are not flimsy at all. I didnt face any issues with that and feel it will last. This is one feature we will use bare minimal unless the seat position is being altered by the service center guys.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarguyNish (Post 4968916)

Last two points are contradicting as there is no hector diesel automatic and even if they are to launch one, the price difference between Harrier and Hector may just disappear. If diesel automatic, you are left with very minimal choices under 25 lcs. You might get a stripped down automatic version of Innova for that price but Tucson and full option Compass will be costing you 4-5 lcs upwards.

Mahindra Xuv 500 might be a product worth waiting if you can. At present in that price range, Harrier is a very good option indeed.

I wish if VW group had launched diesel version of TROC and Karoq.

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

So Autocar has interviewed Rajendra Patekar who is CTO of Tata Motors. According to him, the BS6 harrier has received different kinds of welds and sealants which are better than the BS4 harrier and help with NVH and rigidity of the chassis. He also states that these are helpful in making the car safer. So does that translate to better ratings for BS6 harrier than the BS4 one?

Here's the video:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56au...l=AutocarIndia

Had an an opportunity to drive a Harrier automatic over the weekend for 100+ kilometers. I drove mainly on the western ghats in Idukki Kerala.

Firstly, I was mightily impressed with this offering from Tata. We do own Nexon Petrol AMT in the family, but it is nowhere close to Harrier.
The fit and finish, the quality of parts and the features offered are quite decent.
Its the engine and transmission that impressed me the most. It was quite effortless to drive on the mountains with a full load of 5 passengers - The engine has a fair bit of punch even in the eco mode and it is smoothest in that mode. I did not experience any turbo lag from the engine (the torque converter masks this effectively I guess) and it was always responsive.

The overall fuel economy that I could manage during my drive was 11.8kmpl, but the car had merely done 2000kms and I am certain that the figures would improve over time.

If I have anything to complain, its about the brakes. I did not expect the brakes to be this spongy. That was quite a letdown since it did not give the confidence one expects. Dont know if this is made worse by the lack of rear disc brakes and its heft.

The dipped beam, which is LED, is decent. However, the bright beam is halogen and it isnt all that impressive.

The version I drove costs around 20L on the road and I feel that for what it offers, its a very impressive package.

Does anybody have any updates as to whether the 2020 version has solved the safety issues related to the oil sump?. I have a terrano and have been sitting on the fence waiting for the GNCAP scores of either harrier or safari.

Ever since the seltos crash ratings have come, have realized you can't be certain that the more expensive cars are actually safer. Having ruled out seltos /creta in that regard. Vehicles left are Innova, Harrier and Compass. None of these have been tested in their Indian avatars

Quote:

Originally Posted by terra85 (Post 4975464)

Hello terra85.

No the issue is not sorted for the BS6 version because the issue is with the placement of oil filter not the sump whose location doesn't change in upgradation from BS4 to BS6.

You can find more details in this post
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4870464

Also according to my sources Tata is currently working on making the Harrier and the New Safari for that matter score a better rating at GNCAP but even then they both will be 4 star rated. Timeframe for these changes is unknown. This is because the engine comes packed from FCA's plant in Ranjangaon and Tata cannot make any mechanical changes to it. Even the smallest of ECU changes need to go through FCA.

Due to this it's a hell of a task to sort this issue out. Dont know the technical details as to how Tata Motors is trying to get around the issue but their stance as of now is "innocent until proven gulity" in the eyes of the public.

Regarding Compass then like I have mentioned in the attached post above, it too has this same issue. As a matter of fact if you go to Jeep's UK website you will see that they have highlighted the 5 star rating for the Compass which is an LHD model whereas they sell an RHD Compass in the UK. Maybe there is a loophole in the NCAP system where the results for LHD configuration can be blindly applied to RHD one? Who knows.

So among the three "untested" cars that you have mentioned, I would place my bets on the Innova being the safest of them all. Hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by ram87pune (Post 4975568)

Hello terra85

So among the three "untested" cars that you have mentioned, I would place my bets on the Innova being the safest of them all. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the detailed response. That was enlightening. I shall wait and watch how the new XUV does before taking a call. I assume most of the buyers in this bracket of 20-25 lakh cars will be well informed and are awaiting the crash results of all the vehicles.