Traditionally, carmakers have shied away from bright colours, especially for larger SUVs and for good reason. A few have tried and failed as the SUVs looked for lack of a better word, hideous. The Harrier though rocks bright colours, especially this Sunlit Yellow paintjob. It goes well with the blacked-out everything else and makes the Harrier look properly sporty.
While I love the yellow on the outside, I feel the shade on the inside could be executed better, especially on the materials front. I love the idea of a colour-matched interior and there’s a lot of potential here, and room for improvement. That said, the Harrier is a pleasant surprise and a good example of the leaps and bounds by which the quality of Tata vehicles has improved, from the first-generation Indica which was a family car, to the myriad Tata vehicles I have tested both during my stint at Tata Motors and automotive publications for the past ten years.
Besides the design and colour scheme, I love the spacious interiors. There is tons of space for both rows of seats and the roominess is accentuated by the glasshouse effect thanks to the large windows and panoramic sunroof. The boot space is ample as well. I recently picked up my geriatric family members from the bus station and they had ten small to medium bags between them. Some clever assembling and the Harrier’s boot swallowed it all. On a lighter note, what’s with this obsession with packing super heavy?
The 2.0-litre diesel engine is refreshing. It’s got loads of low-end performance that allows me to bully through traffic (I am a bit ashamed to admit this but massive street presence FTW) while offering an in-city fuel-efficiency of around 12kmpl. The downside is the lack of a dead pedal in the narrow footwell and the engine’s propensity to stall in second gear at low-speed crawls, something I will be getting looked at.
Despite its size, the Harrier is easy to park as well. The 360-degree camera is quite useful with a sharp resolution though its low-light performance is unsatisfactory with grainy imaging. The Harrier has been performing well in the city, and I have plans for the weekend, somewhere the Harrier can stretch its legs. More on that soon.
