GET A NEW SHOT OF PETROL

From Faridabad flyovers to a South Delhi shawarma run, my drive experience

- Words By: Sohil Nikam

I drove the new petrol-powered Tata Harrier and Safari on a quiet Delhi NCR morning, starting out at Faridabad before gradually letting traffic, flyovers, and real roads dictate the pace.

There was no test track, no perfectly scripted route; just the kind of conditions these SUVs will actually live in. Later that afternoon, the Safari took on a very different role: a casual drive into South Delhi's New Friends Colony for a shawarma run at Al Bake, with four people on board and no agenda beyond hunger. That contrast, from early morning solitude to city chaos, is where Tata’s new 1.5-litre Hyperion TDGi petrol engine revealed itself best. Not as a headline-grabbing performance motor, but as something more modest. More human.

PETROL PERSONALITY

Tata has made plenty of noise about the Hyperion engine, and normally that would set off alarm bells. But within the first half hour of driving, it became clear that this engine is not about theatrics. It is about how easily these large SUVs now flow. The Hyperion is a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol producing 170 PS and 280 Nm, paired with six-speed manual and automatic gearboxes. Numbers aside, what stood out immediately was how light the cars felt on their feet compared to their diesel counterparts. Tata claims an around 80 kg weight reduction, and you can feel it; not in straight-line speed, but in how willingly the nose responds to inputs. Pulling away from a signal in Faridabad's industrial sectors, the throttle response felt clean and progressive. There was no sudden shove, no awkward hesitation. Just a smooth buildup that made it easy to place the car exactly where I wanted in traffic.

WHY THIS ENGINE WORKS BETTER THAN TATA'S OLDER PETROLS