Tata Motors recently acquired the rights to develop and modify Stellantis’ FAM B 2.0L Diesel engine that currently powers Harrier and Safari. This allows Tata to independently alter and tune performance characteristics to suit its applications, which eliminates severe bottlenecks and costs associated with approvals from Stellantis.
Now, a Tata Safari test mule has been spied testing in Delhi NCR bearing full camouflage. This suggests two things. Tata Motors might be testing the new and more powerful 180 bhp tune (speculated) for its Diesel engine or it might be testing their new 1.5L Turbo GDI engine ahead of launch. Let’s take a closer look.
New Tata Safari Test Mule
Currently, the FAM B 2.0L Diesel engine in Harrier and Safari is tuned to generate 170 bhp of peak power and 350 Nm of peak torque. This very engine can be seen under the bonnet of Jeep Compass, Jeep Meridian, MG Hector and MG Hector Plus too. Depending on the brand, this engine gets manual and automatic gearbox options along with AWD and FWD configs.
As per speculations, Tata is working on a 180 bhp tune (not confirmed) to carve out more performance from this engine. Torque figure is also likely to go up, probably to 380 Nm (not confirmed). The new Safari test mule spied in Delhi NCR region could be testing this updated powertrain setup.
Looking at it, we can see that it bears camouflage and it is rolling on smaller 17-inch alloy wheels, suggesting a lower trim. Colour of these wheels are not matching too, which is normal for a test mule. It continues to bear similar fascia along with lighting signatures and still exude a lot of road presence.
Is it the Petrol?
Another long standing possibility of this particular test mule is that it could be testing Tata’s new 1.5L Turbo GDI Petrol engine that is also spied testing with Harrier multiple times. This engine is slated to make its debut in soon and it will pack around 170 bhp of peak power and 280 Nm of peak torque, mated to either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed DCA.
With a Petrol engine, both Harrier and Safari can achieve much better base prices and boost sales considerably. Petrol engine is a positive thing in UTs like Delhi where Diesel vehicles are often not preferred owing to their shorter life cycle, imposed by Delhi Government. When launched, updated Tata Safari will rival Mahindra XUV700 and MG Hector Plus.
