Tata Harrier And Safari Red Dark Edition — Pictorial Review

The big changes are on the inside and that is apparent with those Carnelian Red Leatherette seats with diamond style quilting.

It can be said that Tata Motors brought back 'Black' into the limelight with their Dark edition cars while other manufacturers have also followed up with black as a new colour. From once losing appeal to being back with favour-particularly with SUVs, Tata Motors recently have also added a bit of red with the 'Red Dark' edition. It was also an opportunity to inject more equipment into these two SUVs which are now on all 2023 variants. We drove the Red Dark editions of both the Harrier and Safari to find out more.

These two SUVs look great in black while the Red Dark takes things to a few notches above with a completely blacked out with even the Tata emblem being black. There is no chrome anywhere including the piano's black grille and that looks great. It seems Indian car buyers are finally moving beyond chrome while this colour has depth along with a nice paint finish. The 'red' bit comes with subtle highlights like red accents on the grille and red brake callipers along with badging of course. Both SUVs also get 18-inch black alloys which are nicely designed. The Red Dark does not differ hugely in terms of exteriors but it is nice that Tata Motors did not go overboard.

The big changes are on the inside and that is apparent with those Carnelian Red Leatherette seats with diamond-style quilting.

Now, these bright seats might be too much for some, but you need to see how nice they look in terms of the quality while the same red bits are also on the grab handle in the doors and the centre console. There are also dark logos on the seats too. I would like more red accents for the dashboard but the black accents do compliment the red bits elsewhere. The Safari Red Dark has special red mood lighting for the panoramic sunroof as well along with being on the doors.

Let's talk about the main bit which is the new 10.25-inch touchscreen and the new digital instrument cluster. The new touchscreen is a vast improvement over the earlier small one while the graphics, touch response over even the look, and feel is top notch. Tata has not made the menu too complicated you get customisable widgets too.

You can control the sound as well as the climate control which is cool and looks premium. Another important bit is the 360 degree camera display which looks terrific. The display feed is clear and high quality which you can customise it for 2D/3D viewing along with different angles. It is a huge change from the previous display.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a superb audio system make both the Safari and Harrier cabins move up several notches in terms of being premium. The Safari further adds in 4-way powered Co-Driver seats with electric Boss mode (earlier models had a manual one) and seat ventilation for even the second-row captain seats plus cushions with headrests.

More features are now added and that is crucial with such strong competition. There are 200+ Voice commands in 6 languages, 6 Way powered Driver seats with Memory and Welcome functions and 10 ADAS features. The ADAS suite includes front/rear radar/camera with features like autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind spot detection etc. It does not include Adaptive Cruise which could be added to a future update in which you can customise the current features including selecting the sensitivity.

Both SUVs are spacious but special mention goes to the Safari with its rear seating configuration beating some SUVs with features like the electric boss mode while having individual adjustability plus you also sit high. If you would like to drive, both the Harrier and Safari Red Dark editions come with the same 2.0 diesel engine with 170bhp/350Nm. However, they have been updated to meet the latest emission norms too. We drove the versions with the 6-speed automatic and we noticed slightly smoother shifts and importantly better refinement. There are drive modes and what is notable is the toughness plus the suspension. The steering feels slightly heavy at low speeds but feels more direct than some of its competition.

The top-end Safari and the Harrier Red Dark edition are priced at Rs 25 and Rs 24 lakh respectively with the updates clearly making both of them much more attractive choices. The added features, new tech and the touchscreen bring up the experience by several notches while the Safari with its mix of rear seat luxury features plus comfort makes it a tough SUV which is also premium along with being excellent value if you want a diesel SUV at this price.

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