Toyota Harrier 2.0T Luxury
THE Harrier originally started out as a Japan Domestic Market (JDM) model when production began in 1998 and it shared a similar design with the Lexus RX, which was offered for the international market.
A little over 10 years later in 2009, the RX, now in its third generation was released for the domestic Japanese market and Toyota decided to develop an all-new design for the Harrier due to its popularity.
Malaysians were also equally impressed with the Harrier but had to depend solely on parallel importers to own the vehicle.
That has all changed as UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) is now offering the latest Harrier SUV, imported from Japan and with two variants to choose from: the Harrier 2.0T Premium and 2.0T Luxury, priced (on-the-road without insurance and GST) RM224,573 and RM245,233 respectively. The latest Harrier has a cleaner overall design and, what stands out is the distinctive grille which has sharp, angled features with the eye-catching hawk emblem to produce an aggressive yet elegant front facia.
As the top of the range SUV for Toyota, both variants of the Harrier are packed with safety, comfort and convenience features. The safety system it comes with is off the chart with the Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) Package, which consists of the Pre-Crash System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keeping System and Adaptive High Beam which keeps the driver and passafe. sengers It also comes with seven airbags.
The cabin of the Luxury variant is wrapped in premium Nappa leather and in the review unit, it was black leather with red stitching all around providing for a comfortable and luxurious surrounding.
Meanwhile, the Premium variant comes with Ultrasuede upholstery.
What sets the Luxury variant apart is the inclusion of a panoramic moonroof, a power-operated boot and rain-sensing windscreen wipers.
The Harrier is also equipped with the DVD-AVX infotainment system with six speakers, smartphone connectivity. It also features the 7-inch Capacitive Colour Touchscreen which also serves as the rearview camera.
The driver gets access to vehicle data through its Multi Information Display (MID) in the middle of the instrument cluster.
The meters are Optitron types which were originally developed for Lexus and gives a clearer view in any lighting condition.
There is the dual zone air-conditioning climate control with rear vents to keep the cabin cool but, on top of this, the driver and front passenger seats come with a ventilation system for even more comfort and convenience. And it has an 8-way power adjustment for the former and 4-way for the latter.
Everything from engaging (or disengaging) the lane departure alert which beeps consistently if the radar detects you are edging off the lane without using the indicator, to enjoying the everyday convenience of the brake hold function or dazzled by the Adaptive High Beam system which illuminates the path ahead through its LED headlights, the Harrier is simply a friendly car to operate and a joy to drive.
The 2.0L turbo-charged engine pulls the car along effortlessly with 228hp and 350Nm of torque.
The Harrier is built for comfort and as such, the cabin is very well insulated from external noise and the exhaust note is thrilling but not in-your-face.
That doesn’t mean the car can’t be pushed. It has enough power on tap to pull away quickly, and accelerating hard does excite.