A Hexa owner checks out the Safari AT & Harrier MT: His frank opinion

I have only used third row of my Hexa only 3 times in its lifetime of 6 years. I carry lot of luggage during my long road trips, so I need a big boot.

BHPian kgt.v8 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I am looking for 5 or 7 seater to replace my existing 7 seater BOF (body on frame) Tata car.

I walked into the showroom after glancing at Cosmic Gold Safari which stands outside the showroom. A senior sales advisor comes proactively and looks enthusiastic to sell the car. He was friendly, but as usual he was not aware of all the features available on the car.

Test drive of the Safari automatic

This was Accomplished Plus automatic in signature Cosmic Gold color.

The SA turns up the volume to make me experience JBL speaker modes. About 30 seconds into the drive, I turn down the volume to 5 so that I can hear the engine and the car.

The Safari picked up speed slowly and gradually. Initially I felt the engine to be lethargic, although the throttle response was still better than "Comfort" mode of my Hexa. The car did not accelerate much even if I pressed accelerator hard which is okay if I am driving in city traffic. It was only when I asked about the modes, that the SA said the car starts in City mode. I drove in the city mode for about 1.5 kms.

I asked SA on how to change drive mode. He pointed me towards bejeweled crown. I turned the crown and car changed to wet mode and one turn clockwise again and the car went into rough road mode. These were not the modes

I wanted to test drive on tarmac.

The SA might have pointed me towards the sports mode button which in on the driver side of the bejeweled crown. Now the SA might have realized I am not aware of where the mode button is and presses the sports mode button and the engine response changed.

The car was much more tractable and picked up speed nicely, when I went heavy with my right foot. Overtakes did not require lot of planning as I had to press my right foot hard, and gearbox would downshift to help me complete the overtake timely. This made me remember the "Race car" mode that was available on Tata Hexa automatic which I test drove couple of years back.

The con of sports mode is that the engine noise could be heard inside when music volume is toned down. I didn't mind the engine noise during the short drive, but if music is played at a decent volume, then the engine noise would not be much of a hindrance on highways during overtakes.

I went back to driving in City mode with in-cabin announcement confirming I selected right mode this time.

All this while I completely forgot about the paddle shifters. Just 1 minute after going to city mode, I used left paddle shifter and the car shifted to sports mode automatically. I don't remember seeing the instrument cluster if the display color changes to match drive mode as most cars show red background for sports mode.

I drive sedately most of the time, so I keep my Hexa in Comfort/Auto mode mostly. I liked this automatic switch to sports mode with paddle shifters, as I don't have to change drive mode if I need a quick overtake.

The gear shifter

I am used to long gear stick on the Hexa, so E-Shifter felt bit weird and small to me first. I have take test drive of some automatics, but all of them have gear shift lever which has to be moved to put into P-R-N-D. I had to look down to change from "D" to "N" or to switch to "R" (reverse) to make sure I am in the right gear as I did not take a look at instrument cluster to see the current gear position.

The dedicated "P" button makes it easy to put the car in parking mode from any gear position (D or N or R).

The ADAS making its presence felt

I didn't confirm which ADAS features were turned or not as this was my first test drive on the new Safari. The car warned me once of forward collision because I was driving on 2 lane road with no dividers. The car from front came half way into my lane to overtake a motorcyclist.

Overall Safari experience

The Safari felt nice to drive, engine and gearbox felt nicely tuned, didn't feel too long, steering had right stiffness at high speeds (as compared to 2019 Harrier), steering felt slightly lighter than my Hexa to drive at slow speeds.

Overall, I liked drive of the new Safari and have shortlisted it

The search for manual gearbox

My current car is a manual and clutch is not too hard, so I can live with it in day-to-day traffic. So, I wanted to test drive manual variant to help me decide, whether I should go for manual or automatic. I am still inclined towards automatic gearbox.

The reasons to look for manual are

The gearbox is from Hyundai which is used in Tucson which sells in even less numbers as compared to Tata twins. This does not give me much confidence as Tata depends on Hyundai to continue and provide the gearbox and parts if there is any issue with the gearbox.

Harrier manual which I test drove in 2019 had hard clutch and long clutch pedal travel. Being short I could not use the fixed armrest back then.

I enquired the same dealership where I took test drive of Safari automatic. The salesperson was again very responsive even when I called him about 30 days later. They did not have any Safari manual for test drive but had Harrier manual. I asked them to bring Harrier manual for test drive as it would take couple of days for them to get it from their other location within the city.

Meanwhile, I enquired with 2 more dealerships for manual Safari test drive. One of the dealerships said they have a manual Harrier, but the car has gone for servicing. They said car would be available in 3 days and salesperson would call me back. Got call from salesperson under 5 minutes of initial enquiry, got price details on WhatsApp and got the same thing that the car has gone for servicing. After this neither the salesperson nor their reception called me back. I called them 7 days later at 2 different times and nobody cared to respond back.

So in comes a Harrier manual, as it is the same engine and gearbox. It still is not the same, at least to me as Safari is slightly longer and couple of kgs heavier than Harrier, so driving characteristic would be somewhat different.
With no choice left, I went to test drive Harrier manual.

The Harrier manual

This was Fearless Plus #Dark top end variant. The controls and cabin controls felt to be in the same place as Safari automatic. The only change was gear lever. The gear lever is short and throws felt shorter (as compared to my Hexa manual which has long and slightly notchy throws) when the car was stationary.

I felt that Tata could have given gear lever knob with smoother and shiny finish as the one found in Hexa. The gear lever did not feel that bad to hold and operate, but still does not look premium.

I engaged EPB (electronic parking brake), pressed the clutch and switched on the engine. Engine came to life with slight vibration. I put gear in first, release the clutch and the Harrier started to move without any accelerator input. The Harrier started in City mode just like Safari. The gear throws were not too long, went into the slots smoothly. I could only test up to 4th gear as I could not go any higher on the road due to traffic. The Harrier did not feel as lethargic to drive in City mode as Safari automatic. Could be due to weight or the car being manual I was revving upto 1800-2000 rpm before upshifting.

Drive mode announcements

Halfway through the test drive road, I engage sports mode. The in-cabin announcement confirms I selected the right mode. The announcement are louder than I expect and the sales person did not know of a way to disable drive mode change announcements. I feel this loud announcement could wake up my family if they fell asleep during long drive.

Sports mode in manual

In sports mode, the engine is much more lively and makes its noise felt inside the cabin in sports mode. I revved car hard up to 4000 rpm before upshifting. Engine noise is there and does not feel that bad.
Sports mode is truly addictive and brings out full potential of 170ps 2.0 Jeep diesel engine aka the Kryotec. Overtaking was spot on, speed stability up to 60 kmph felt good. I could not go higher than 65 kmph due to the road being 2 lane undivided road with some traffic.

Suspension setup

Both Safari and Harrier were test driven on the same road.

Both the cars were stable at speeds up to 65 kmph

The suspension absorbed smaller undulations on the road with ease. I did not hear any thud sounds as in XUV700 test drive.There is a patch of about 30 meters on the test drive track I use, where there is no road. This section feels like an offroad stretch. Both Safari and Harrier were in first gear in this section and under 10 kmph.The ground clearance was adequate to clear the lumps and crater level bumps. The suspension absorbed some of the craters.

There was some head movement side to side but not a lot that would make rear passenger uncomfortable. I still need to test this patch sitting on rear bench to experience in real life.

Overall experience

Overall both Safari and Harrier felt great.

I have only used third row of my Hexa only 3 times in its lifetime of 6 years. I carry lot of luggage during my long road trips, so I need a big boot. As of now, both Safari and Harrier have made it to the shortlist. Tata sales is saying the discounts are only till end of July and deliveries before 10th August. This could be a fact or a tactic to get me to book the car.

I also want to wait for Curvv to see if I get good boot space to fit my needs, but the discounts could pretty much be gone by the time Tata announces Curvv price and gets a car available for test drive.

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