Tata Motors’ recently spotted Safari petrol development mule looks production ready
The Tata Safari with a petrol heart has been spotted undisguised in India as development of the model continues to take place untroubled.
Seen by MotorBeamer Jerry, the petrol-powered Safari is being readied by the carmaker to address a glaring omission in its model line-up. The Harrier petrol is also being worked upon during the same time.
Naturally, the recently spotted Tata Safari petrol had no design changes when compared to the diesel model. It would be the same case with the Harrier as well.
Power comes from a turbocharged 4-cylinder, 1.5-litre unit that is speculated to make around 150 PS and 250 Nm of torque. While the numbers do seem conservative, only a proper road test will prove if the motor has enough grunt to propel the Safari.
Both manual and automatic gearboxes will be on offer. Judging by the size of the vehicle and the engine, it might be advisable to expect only an acceptable fuel economy figure.
Both the diesel and petrol models are expected to be offered in a similar number of grades, but the advantage of a petrol model would be that it will be lighter and will cost less to purchase than the equivalent diesel variant.
Expect an official announcement about the introduction of the petrol-powered Safari and Harrier to arrive in the coming months. Sales of both cars could rise as a result of the availability of petrol models.