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| New 2021 Tata Safari |
Tata
Safari 2021, a legendary true SUV first launched in 1998 in India, is again launched
in 2021 with a completely new car and is ready to reclaim your life. But wait,
does this brand-new SUV justifies its Safari name? Let’s find out.
Design
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| Safari rear side |
In the first
instance, the SUV looks quite similar to the Harrier from the same family, but
there are some bits which differentiates the vehicle from the Harrier. Firstly,
the car has a longer length to accommodate 3rd row seats. There is
also a stylish roof rail running across the 3rd row window which
looks good. The SUV is 4661 mm long, 1894 mm wide and 1786 mm tall. Ground
clearance remains at 200 mm and the wheelbase stands at 2741 mm. On the front, it
gets the LED DRLs like the Harrier and below them are the xenon HID lamps with high beam and fog lamps integrated in the same housing. The front grill gets tri-arrow design with chrome inserts. The
back of the car is completely similar to the Harrier. Black plastic cladding
runs throughout the lower body to give it an SUVish feeling. On the top, it
gets a large panoramic sunroof offered on the top variant. Overall, the car
looks bulky and has an upward stance but also on the other hand the design
feels rich and elegant. A special
edition- Adventure Persona, is also on offer which gets a sky-blue exterior
paint and charcoal black alloys.
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| Safari Adventure Persona |
Build
quality
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| The Land Rover derived D8 platform |
The Safari
is built on the Land Rover’s D8 platform, the same platform used for the
Discovery Sport. As it’s a proven platform, there will not be an issue in the
overall build quality as the history of Tata making strong and high-quality car
in the lower segment is known to all of us, and this being their most expensive
and flagship product, there isn’t any compromise on the build quality. The
doors are pretty heavy which for some people is blessing in disguise. Tata
motors have been doing GNCAP testing of almost all cars in their line-up but
the Safari misses on getting those stars as the testing the car hasn’t been
done yet. But as the Safari has got its Land Rover DNA in it, safety will not
be an issue for this one.
Engine &
Transmission
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| Kryotec 2 litre engine |
The new
Safari comes with a 2 litre 4-cylinder Kryotec BS6 diesel engine sourced from
Fiat Motors. The same engine gives power to the vehicles which are in
competition with the Safari. The engine produced a maximum power of 170ps at
3750RPM and a peak torque of 350Nm in the range of 1750-2500 RPM. The engine is
quite vocal but its only audible to the outside world. The diesel clutter is of
course present and the refinement is decent. Coming to the transmission part,
it gets a 6-speed manual as well as a 6-speed torque converter automatic.
Wheels &
Suspension
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| Safari 18" wheels |
The SUV gets
a wheel size of 235/70 R16 for the variants up to XMA and the variants from XT
gets a wheel size of 235/60 R18 with diamond cut alloys. The diamond cut alloys
look stunning and they are the same one which comes on the Harrier. The talking
point here is the Suspension setup which the Safari gets. The front suspension
is an independent lower wishbone, McPherson strut with coil spring & anti
roll bar, and guess what this setup comes straight form the Land Rover
Discovery Sport! The rear suspension is a semi-independent twist blade with
panhard rod and coil spring which have been tuned by Lotus Engineering. Here
the suspension ticks all the boxes since the drive comfort is of top-notch
level in its segment. It absorbs most of the uneven road patches and potholes
and glides through them without letting you know about them.
Interior and
comfort features
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| Safari 6-seats option |
The vehicle
gets a light colour themed interior with premium Benecke Kaliko signature
oyster white leather upholstery (on higher variants only). The dashboard gets
soft touch materials and below it gets brushed grey/silver finish which looks
premium. In the center, it gets piano black treatment. The steering wheel is
leather wrapped as the gear knob is so. It also gets automatic climate control
air conditioning system with air outlets for 2nd and 3rd
row rear seats. For the top end model, it gets an option for captain seats
which makes the configuration of 6 seats. Otherwise, the 7-seats option is the
standard one. For the 6-seats option, it also gets a boss mode with which one
can increase the leg room for the 2nd row left side seat. Other
features include USB charging points for all the rows, ambient lighting, power
windows, push button start, rear arm rest, tilt and telescopic steering wheel,
6-way power adjustable driver seats. The Top model gets a panoramic sunroof which includes anti-pinch feature, rain sensing auto close.
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| Safari panoramic sunroof |
Infotainment
& Multi information display
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| Safari dashboard |
The Safari
gets an 8.8 inches floating island style touchscreen infotainment system. For
those audiophiles, it gets a 9 speaker JBL™ audio system (4 speakers,4 twitters,
1 sub-woofer & external amplifier). It sounds just amazing in its segment.
Steering mounted controls are also available It has Android Auto and Apple
CarPlay™. A 7 inches colour multi-information display adjacent to the
speedometer can show all the necessary information like RPM, mileage, cruise
control info, door open, tire pressure, etc. It also gets the iRA connected car
technology which works fine as advertised.
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| Safari multi-information display |
Safety
features
The Safari
doesn’t get any safety star ratings, but that doesn’t mean it misses out on
some of the premium safety feature. It gets 6 airbags on the upper variants and
dual airbags as standard for the lower variants. ABS & EBD is standard.
Other features as standard are all wheel disk brake, brake disc wiping, corner
stability control, Electronic parking brake, ESP, fog lamps, hill descend control,
hill hold control, roll over mitigation, traction control, perimetric alarm
system, central locking and auto dimming IRVM.
Drive
The Safari
gets a powerful engine which produces ample amount of power for city and
highway drive. The low-end torque is pretty impressive. The clutch is on a
heavier side but the gear shifts are sleek. The driver gets a commanding view
form the driver seat. The cabin is well insulated from the external noise. It
gets multi drive modes-eco, city & sport. Try sport mode for the full power
output which will also consume more fuel. The Eco mode feels sluggish and
overall engine response is pretty low. City mode is a balance between both the
modes the highly recommended for a balanced experience. The suspension is on a
softer side and works absolutely perfect on the Indian roads. To justifies its
Safari badge, it does get terrain response modes like Normal, Rough & Wet.
These are not a gimmicky feature but does works when required. So above average
off roading can be done without any tension.
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| Safari all colour options |
Price &
Conclusion
After almost
a gap of 3 years, the Safari is here again to impress us with its legendary
feel. With no all-wheel drive on offer, a monocoque chassis, a pretty long
wheel base, it is absolutely not a recommended SUV for hard core off-roading.
But, with a feature rich list, new styling, top notch safety systems, Land
Rover DNA and a powerful engine, this car is a one of the best in its segment.
Priced at 14.69 lakhs (XE base variant) to 20.20 lakhs for the Adventure
edition (ex-showroom price), it will compete with MG Hector plus, Mahindra XUV
500, Jeep Compass & the upcoming Hyundai’s 7-seater Creta. So here comes the big question- will it be
able to Reclaim your life? Absolutely yes, but in a different manner than the
older generation Tata Safari.
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