Tata Harrier vs Toyota Harrier | We Clear The Confusion

Naming cars in the automobile industry is a tough business. You need names that can in one hearing be associated with the car or the company so much that just hearing another similar name will make you paint a picture of the car. The first thing you remember when you hear the number 800 is to think about the ye old Maruti 800 just like you probably did right now. So when it comes to naming, Tata seems to have slacked in that department naming their new SUV with the exact same name as Toyota’s SUV; the Harrier.  

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Here are a few points to help you differentiate between the two and see which one is superior, the Harrier or the Harrier. We will use a point-based system where the car with the better standing in that category will get 1 point while the other gets a 0. Some of these categories are our personal preference like the looks of a car and some are hard numbers like the performance. If both features are similar each car gets 1 point.

1. Exterior
   

   

   The biggest difference between the two Harriers is that the Tata’s is a bit more sharper from the rear which the Toyota’s is curvier which adds to a premium look.  Both the cars have a sloping roof to give that little sporting look but the Toyota Harrier seems to look more visible while the Tata Harriers one is not really visible unless you focus on it pretty hard. The front of the Toyota Harrier has sharp LED headlamps integrated with front chrome grille. On the other hand, the front of Tata Harrier is similar but with even sharper DRL’s and headlamps and are separated, unlike Toyota which is in the same spot.

   The looks of a car are personal preference and in this one, we are giving Toyota Harrier the win because of the premium look of the car. This by no means makes Tata Harrier look bad or ugly because it has its own advantages in looks over the Toyota but we prefer more curvy cars instead of sharper-looking ones.

   Tata Harrier: 0
   Toyota Harrier:1

2. Interior

   

   Just at the first look, Toyota Harrier has a more premium look again as compared to Tata Harrier which looks a bit bland with the same colours draped all around. The blue interior Toyota Harrier’s interior has a really good looking colour combination of black and blue which makes it look really neat. Toyota Harrier gets a 7-inch infotainment system in the latest model on the streets which is smaller than the 8.8 inch Tata Harrier’s one. Tata’s infotainment system is also more pronounced. Ac vents in the cars are both similar in number and in position.

   Another marking which is on personal preference we give Toyota another point for this one. It looks more eye-catching than Tata and some of the colour combinations are really good looking too.

   Tata Harrier: 0
   Toyota Harrier:2

3. Engine

   

   The engine compassion will be done of the top variant of both cars. The Tata Harrier is powered by a Kryotec 2.0 L Diesel engine with a max power of 167.67bhp and 350Nm. Toyota Harrier, on the other hand, has a 2.5L petrol hybrid engine supported by two electrical motors. It outputs 194hp and a maximum of 213Nm torque.

   This might be a little bit confusing if you not a motorhead. Tata has more torque but less hp while Toyota has more hp and less torque. Let’s do a brief explanation of what it means. The more torque an engine has the more ‘ work’ it can perform while horsepower is how fast that same ‘work’ can be performed. More horsepower means more speed while more torque means more strength. Lightweight racing cars have more horsepower less torque while trucks have more torque and less horsepower.

   Now that this is clear it’s obvious which car should get the point again. In a vehicle for private use more horsepower is superior to more torque so Toyota Harrier gets a point yet again.

   Tata Harrier: 0
   Toyota Harrier:3

4. Features 

   

   Tata Harrier gets an 8.8-inch floating island infotainment system along with 9 premium JBL speakers. The infotainment system supports Android auto and apple car play which is now a norm. Toyota’s infotainment system feels lacking in current times. Only a few of its cars get apple car play and Android auto support and Harrier is not one of those cars. This is a huge minus point and certainly allows Tata Harrier to take victory over Toyota. The infotainment system might get an update later next year when a new facelifted version is expected to launch. Till then it’s inferior to Tata Harrier.

   Tata Harrier: 1
   Toyota Harrier:3

5. Space

   

   Toyota Harrier’s base boot space with all seats upright is around 456 litres while Tata Harrier has a capacity of 425 litres. Both cars feature a 60:40 split allowing for more space. With already more space in the boot without removing the seats and with a similar split ratio Toyota Harrier again takes the cake on this one.

   Tata Harrier: 1
   Toyota Harrier:4
   

6. Fuel economy

   

   Here is where they are similar. Both cars offer a similar mileage of 15-16 km/l in normal driving conditions. As they both are similar in this aspect both cars will get 1 point each as it would be biased to give one car the point and leave the other nothing.

   Tata Harrier: 2
   Toyota Harrier:5

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7. Safety

   

   The only difference biggest difference in both cars is the absence of the Toyota Safety Sense Package in Tata Harrier.  The Safety Sense P Package features, Adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert, adaptive high beam system. These features are not available on the Tata Harrier. The other safety features like ABS with EBD, airbags, hill climbing assist, traction control system, electronic stability program are all present in both the Harriers.
   Due to the absence of highly sought after feature like ACC, Tata Harrier yet again looses in front of Toyota Harrier.

   Tata Harrier: 2
   Toyota Harrier:6

8. Price range

   

   The top variant of Tata Harrier 24.08 Lakhs while it starts from around 16 lakhs. Toyota Harrier is yet to launch or even showcased in India but with the features and specifications, the car is expected to be around 20-22 lakhs. We will give this win to the Tata Harrier as they are known for aggressive pricing and might undercut Toyota if the Harrier launches in India with a price tag of earlier mention amount.

   Tata Harrier: 3
   Toyota Harrier:6

9. Verdict

   It’s pretty obvious as to which car wins. There are two points on Toyota which can be taken by Tata depending on your personal preference. It will then leave Toyotas with only one extra point in the safety features only because of the adaptive cruise control system. Tata can launch it with their Harrier but it will make the price a bit too high. All in all, both are really solid cars and it will be fun to see them duke it out when the Toyota Harrier launches in India.

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