Tata Harrier vs Tata Safari Storme: Siblings’ road presence compared

The Tata Harrier has been launched and the SUV is getting tremendous response from all corners. The big SUV has a sticker price of Rs. 12.69 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the base variant. This places it in the mid belt of the compact SUV segment which consists of the Hyundai Creta and Nissan Kicks. Tata other rugged SUV, the Safari Storme starts at Rs. 11.08 lakhs and has been going strong since 1998. The Safari is one big SUV but how does it compare to the newly launched Harrier in terms of dimensions and street presence. For the same, here is a picture which shows both of them alongside each other.

Image courtesy Prasanna Dhanapragasam from Trichy

As seen in the picture, The Harrier looks more curvy and stylish compared to the Safari Storme. However, the Safari clearly tops it out when it comes to height. The Harrier’s roof-line has been intentionally given a sloping angle in order to make it more sporty. However, the headroom is not compromised to the extent it may look. The Harrier certainly is an eye candy and makes the Safari Storme feel old school. The Safari is otherwise considered a decently styled SUV but in front of the new Harriers, it certainly feels dated.

Talking of dimensions, the Harrier gets 4,598 mm of length, 1,894 mm of width and 1,714 mm of height. The Harrier’s wheelbase stands at mighty 2,741 mm while the ground clearance of the SUV is a good 205 mm. In comparison, the Tata Safari Storme measures 4,655 mm in length, 1855 mm in width and 1922 mm in height. The Safari Storme has a wheelbase of 2,650 mm while its ground clearance is 200 mm. This translates into the Safari Storme being longer and taller than the Harrier. However, the Harrier bests the Safari in terms of width along with a huge difference in the wheelbase. Also, the Harrier has a marginally high ground clearance than the Safari.

However, the Safari comes with optional 4X4 option which is not available on the Harrier. Where the Harrier impresses is its cabin size, comfortable seats, long feature list and a bewitching exterior design. Though it comes with only a front wheel drive options, the Harrier has a lot of tricks up its sleeves when it comes to tackling the roads. It has a multi function ESP along with hill descent mode. Also, it is based on a rugged platform taken from Land Rover’s D8 platform and dubbed as the OMEGA platform by the company.

The Tata Harrier is powered by a 2.0 KRYOTEC engine that develops of 140 Bhp of power and 350 Nm of peak torque. It is essentially a Fiat sourced 2.0 litre Multijet engine that is also found under the Jeep Compass. However, it has been tuned for fuel efficiency by Tata and has a different torque curve from the Fiat unit. The engine is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and the power goes to the front wheels. For now, Tata has decided to not offer an automatic transmission but it is expected to be launched with an automatic version at a later time.

As you might have seen in the pictures, the Harrier has a better road presence than the Safari Storme. The latter’s squarish front fascia might appeal to some, but there is no doubt in the fact that the Harrier is among the best looking SUVs out there currently, The lack of AWD/4X4 won’t affect most of the buyers as only a few enthusiasts really take their SUVs off the roads. Therefore, the Harrier has got more street cred and has all the factors playing for it.