2019 Tata Harrier review, road test

Thanks to a cabin that sits at just the right height, you walk into rather than climb aboard into the Harrier. And the large doors open to welcome you into Tata’s best interior to date. Top-spec XZ trim Harriers, like our test car, make generous use of leather (including on the door pads), the faux wood on the neatly styled dash looks convincing, the free-standing 8.8-inch touchscreen is sleek and even the metal-like element that splits the dash horizontally (à la the Nexon) appears premium. An all-digital instrument cluster would have taken things to the next level but even the informative part-digital (the speedo is analogue) display does its bit to up the ambience. Yes, there are some average plastics in the cabin but you have to hand it to Tata for the strides it has made in the department of perceived quality.

Drivers sit at a nice height in the Harrier, and the commanding seating position gives that feeling
of being in something substantial – something that SUV buyers tend to appreciate. However, all’s not perfect. Over long stints, some of us found the large, lumbar-adjustable front seats excessively bolstered in the region of the lower back. And though there is a dead pedal, folding your left leg will result in your knee brushing uncomfortably against the centre console. A bigger issue is the sheer size of the external mirrors. They are large and create a blind spot large enough to cover SUVs, let alone two-wheelers. If there’s a model that needs the Audi e-Tron’s camera-based Virtual Mirrors, this is it. Even within the cabin, you’ll have a tough time locating the USB slots that are positioned out of view under the centre console. We also weren’t sold on the thrust control-like lever for the handbrake. You do learn to live with these things but they are irritants nonetheless.

425-litre boot can hold big suitcases with ease. Loading lip high though.