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-   -   2023 Tata Harrier Facelift Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/271931-2023-tata-harrier-facelift-review-7.html)

I just found out a review on youtube with a Grey color Fearless variant. Apparently, even the grey color has that Neon Green/Yellow color in its interior. If Neon Green/Yellow is truly present in all the interior of the Fearless variant, then I am very much Feared with my booking. :eek:
I love the earlier Harrier's brown interior and the new Adventure variant's interior brown alongside the Seaweed Green exterior. But the Adventure variant does not have all the loaded features. Such a miss !
Can anyone confirm the interior color themes for the Fearless variant as per the exterior color ?!

I want the Fearless+ variant but not with the black and yellow interior. The Safari on the other hand has tasteful interior colors in its top-end variant.

Harrier Dark more images
I didn't like the launch images but in flesh it looks fantastic

Credit : Facebook respective owners

The Red color will have red inserts according to my local dealer

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A side-by-side comparison with the pre-facelift model.













Source : MotorBeam

Older one looks better or is it just me ?

Was wondering if we could get the EPS retrofitted in the pre facelift version with the default tuning/calibration, considering we have pretty much the same car. Any thoughts ?

Pre face lift owners would find the older one better than the new one for sure. lol:

I dont think this would be possible as the cars electronics are not built to be scalable. In any case I find the HPS far more better than the EPS because of precise road feedback. Feels more controlled on the road.

Any ideas if the real life pre facelift issues have been addressed in the facelift versions:
• Driver Arm rest of no use except for storage, 12V USB connections inside Driver arm rest
• Thick A pillars, No dead pedal
• No place for driver right arm rest on the door
• Window buttons not easily accessible (as per me)
• Driver seats have to be adjusted to avoid touching the dashboard, ergonomically not sound.
• Buggy Infotainment system
• Rear Camera video quality is bad when reversing. The pic on HU is very grainy.
• Rear wiper blade cannot be completely lifted up. Some Harrier owners reported they can, others cant.
• Puny stop lamps at the rear, hardly visible from a distance.
• Dim lighted boot with only one lamp which is insufficient.
• Drum brakes at rear, should have been disc for a 20L+ car.
• Stock OEM headlamps not bright enough
• Drive modes memory not available

Checked the new Harrier and Safari today. No test drive as only display vehicles were available. Both AT.

Some observations based on your queries:
1) Driver armrest remains same. Narrow, not long enough and doesn't slide.
2) A pillars are ok. Dead pedal is present but very narrow and also the driver's foot well area seemed very narrow and congested.
3) Window buttons - couldn't find any change from Feb versions.
4) Issue on knees touching dashboard remains.

As against XUV700, I felt that head room for front row is more in both Harrier and Safari.

Vehicle key was not available (battery disconnected!), so couldn't check anything that uses electricity! Exterior looks - I liked these two more than earlier releases.

Regarding the HPS, I don't really feel any problem with the heaviness but it's the steering oscillation on undulations is what bothers me most. I have not seen that on my earlier HPS experiences. Is that always the case? I don't see that kind of steering wheel movement on my non power steering Alto as well. I understand size difference here but even a simple mechanical steering doesn't give that much feedback on undulations. Why on these twins then?

Same here. My Punto steering was awesome but the tuning of my Harrier was a mess. Harrier lacks finesse for a 25 lakhs car ( 2020 bought). Any way I shifted to Verna and am enjoying the dynamics of the sedan along with the amazing fit and finish

Harrier has always been a smashingly good looking car. Looks were never problem. There has been a minimal change in rear and those new vertical slits fog lamps look a bit out of place to me. The older ones were more proportionate and gave a neat look.

On the front though, the new one looks sharper and tighter. Having said that, the older one was more butch in its look and new one a bit more modern.

I am a Safari owner and I feel same. There is a lack of precision engineering overall that doesn't go well for the 25-30lac tag. And I am sure, these bits are still present in the facelift too.

Tata is some how looking more focused to win customers through features and not looking at the fundamentals. And to a good extent they are successful.

It’s something you can’t explain. Only a current owner can understand this. Bit like an iPhone vs android thing.

I cannot believe that Tata did not fix this issue. This was one of the biggest irritants, when I first test drove the Harrier at launch in 2019. My left knee and the area of the calf just below the knee kept fouling with the wide arc like shape contour in the lower dashboard. It was quite painful even during the 10 -minute test drive. This is especially an issue for tailor drivers and I eliminated the Harrier from my consideration list at that time, mainly because of this reason.

The issue has been pointed out repeatedly by auto journalists in many reviews and also by many owners and prospective owners in this very forum. Tata is normally responsive to user complaints and tries to address these, even during incremental model upgrades as part of the normal life-cycle. The facelift version a big opportunity to make more radical changes, and I fail to understand why Tata did not address this important ergonomic and comfort issue in the Harrier and safari facelifts.

Finally, the car is here in my city and I went for a test drive along with my old friend. A little background, my friend is currently driving a Ford Freestyle 2019 and he is car shopping, so most of our views are compared to Freestyle and Rapid DSG. Before driving the Harrier, we also took a test drive of XUV700 AX L MT and Scorpio N MT Z8.

Harrier Fearless A/T:
Pros:

• Easily one of the most beautiful SUVs out there, no questions about it
• Well appointed interiors
• The quality of plastic in the interior doesn't feel tacky like the XUV700.
• Rear seat comfort
• Winged headrest ala Range Rover
• EPS has changed the driving experience
• Feels like a well-built product and abuse friendly
• Having worked with JLR, Harrier does feels like a Discovery Sport at a bargain
• Did I say looks??

Cons:

• Doesn't feel like a polished product and lacks finesse.
• Stiff ride quality on the 18 inch wheels, especially the low-speed ride makes you aware of the road surface.
• Usual Tata fit and finish legacy, I could see a misaligned door window strip
• I have OCD and just cannot withstand that indicator desynchronized chime
• For a 28L rupee car, the engine was loud at higher revs and vibrations could be felt at the steering wheel and pedals
• I didn't like the gearbox calibration, it was too slow

Comparision to XUV700:

• I found the dynamics of the XUV to be superior
• XUV feels like a one car designed from the ground up wherein there's something not organic about Harrier, I don't know how do I put it in words
• Midspec variants are similarly priced for both the cars
• Screen integration in Mahindra feels better
• Mahindra loses out in terms of plastic quality, it feels cheap
• Driving the XUV700 right after driving a low-slung sedan was not a big day & night difference because it drives like a car, whereas the same can't be said for Harrier and Scorpio N.

After the test drive, I appreciated my Rapid even more, what a beautiful piece of engineering it is, the 1.5TDI even after doing 85k felt smoother than the new cars, there were too many vibrations and noise during acceleration in Harrier. And seriously, the DSG has spoilt me, I believe I expect way too much from gearboxes. Car buying in today's age is an exciting exercise especially when our homegrown manufacturers are churning out such worldclass products. My friend is inclining more towards the XUV now and if I want to add any other car in my garage, it's either going to be a Slavia/Virtus. I just cannot let go of the driving pleasure and finesse of ze Germans.

P.S. Scorpio N is out of contention, we both despised the ride quality of the Scorpio, it's all over the place and way too softly sprung. Can't handle that much body roll, not a cup of our tea since we both are used to good-handling cars.

The desynchronized chime is not normal and has happened once in my 8 months of ownership. It was very quickly resolved by disconnecting and connecting back the battery terminals.

I do not think the XUV midspec variant offers as many features as the midspec variant Harrier offers. I assume you are referring to the AX5 variant.

Good luck finding a large size SUV that has a dual clutch automatic giving you a similar experience of your rapid. There are none.

MY thoughts: The XUV7OO has the better powertrain of the two vehicles in discussion. But the Harrier isn't far behind.

Ideally it should not have happened in the first place and that too on test drive vehicle, it kinda gave the vibes that QC might still be an issue with Tata. My sister owns a 2020 Altroz and I have a thread on that car here, things have not changed much I guess.

I was comparing the AX5 variant of the XUV700 with the Harrier Pure Plus S in terms of price and regarding features, I didn’t compare per se, I will have to look deeper into it.

Haha, very true. It indeed is a task to find a good replacement as my car is nearing 5 years now. Maybe, I will have to go for a lateral upgrade as GTO suggests.

Both the vehicles are good honestly, to each his own, every car suits differently to different needs.