Tata Harrier

Chasing a track day car across three states followed by a trip to the snows. The Harrier has had a busy month!

THE MORE TIME I SPEND IN IT, THE more I like the Harrier. And we have been spending some serious time with this Tata — this month to Delhi from our home base in Pune for the SpeedFest track day. We’ve repeatedly praised the Harrier for being so well thought out for cruising down Indian highways but this road trip highlighted another strength, the space.

The Harrier has a large boot and we piled it to the roof with our photo and video equipment plus woollies for a drive to the mountains after the track day. Few of the Harrier’s rivals have such a large boot and none can take such a heavy load without squatting on the rear suspension. The Harrier’s suspension retained enough travel to hammer over and flatten bad patches; no bottoming out, no wallow over undulations. The steering didn’t go very light. And it remained an excellent mile-muncher.

We had a smooth run all the way to Udaipur, but the next day on the way to Jaipur we got a call telling us our car for SpeedFest was stuck at the border due to the protests. Rather than rely on the truckie, we detoured to Agra, worked the phones trying to locate the car, and eventually rendezvoused with it at Mathura late at night. The Harrier was a willing companion chasing the GT R across three states, over dual carriageways, over the despicable roads in interior UP, and on the final stretch over the phenomenally bumpy Yamuna Expressway where I was gritting my teeth in the GT R while Aatish wafted away in the Tata.

It is brilliant over all kinds of roads, in all conditions. Unlike its rivals, this is a proper SUV — not a car with raised ground clearance — and it feels properly robust. When potholes or speed breakers jump at you unannounced the Harrier flattens them without worry about damaging anything. The engine-transmission package is well-suited to quick and easy mile-munching, though it isn’t the most fuel efficient delivering just about 11kmpl. And it has been utterly reliable, not even a squeak or rattle despite the hammering.L

The Harrier has a fairly large boot and we piled it to the roof with our photo and video equipment