Jump Jet Luxury: 2014 Toyota Harrier
Toyota's luxury arm has no official presence in the country, and Bangladesh being a right hand drive market, receives reconditioned Toyota badged Lexus models. A badge hardly changes anything though.
What do you look for in an SUV? Luxury, elegance, a touch of sportiness, and a boatload of presence?
The Harrier is the baby crossover, filling in the role of a competitor to the BMW X3 and Audi Q3 as the small-ish luxury SUV. Costing more than 1crore but less than its German rivals, the Harrier has a definite price advantage when you take into account the options you get to play with. More on that later. For now, the looks.
It's a study in modern car design, one kicked off by BMW's Chris Bangle back in the early 2000s.
Flame surfacing and hyper-modern car design suffered in those early days, but Bangle effectively paved the way for brave designers willing to break out of the restrictive principles of vehicle design. What Lexus has done in the past couple of years has completely turned the table on its rivals, though. The LFA, new IS, LS, and the sharp edged beauty you see in today's issue harks a design revolution for a manufacturer often lauded as the most boring of the prestige marques.
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The taut, handsome face of the Harrier bares its teeth in a jeering smile, flanked by oblong headlights housing DRLs and HID projectors. The Modellista bodykit you see fitted to our test car makes it even more aggressive, with a jutting front splitter, flowing side skirts and a rear splitter, all with slight touches of carbon fiber. It looks like a leather and metal and fiberglass monster, getting ready to chew your mother up in complete comfort and silence.
The cabin is the nicest place you can be in, in this price range, with leather wrapped steering, dash, doors, leather seats, all impeccably stitched to perfection, lit in an elegant muted blue. The center console is a slab of touch sensitive screen with which you control the audio and air-con. We couldn't find any buttons at all, other than the steering wheel controls, Stop-Start and traction control options.
Lexus has always prided itself in the details. On a hunch, I opened the center console cubbyhole and the glovebox simultaneously, and watched our photographer Tasdid's face form a silent O as both came to a stop at the same precise instant. Do it as many times as you want, on any Lexus. Every single compartment you open will come to a perfectly weighted stop at the same time, every time.
You have TV. DVD. Bluetooth. USB and ipod connectivity. Surround sound. Air-conditioning for rear passengers. Full panoramic roof. Cameras pointing in every direction connected to a live feed, telling you what's around the car, a feature that will be infinitely useful on Dhaka's crowded, pothole littered streets. The list of features goes on quite a bit more.
The engine is a 2.0 liter four cylinder unit. Power figures don't really matter for a car such as this (check the Specs box), its all about the smoothness and the power delivery. The Harrier is butter smooth, despite the massive 22 inch aftermarket wheels fitted to the test car. No urgency till you want it, or need it. The driving position is typical of new cars, though, which means you have no idea where your car's front end ends. A flaw we can all overlook, I'm sure.
Costing somewhere around 1.7 crore for the Advance Premium Pack (our test car), the highest grade of the Harrier is the one to go for if you don't mind the fact that the Elegance Pack Harrier costs 98 lakh taka.
Special thanks to RPM Motors for lending us the car.
SPECS
2014 Toyota Harrier
Engine: 1986cc Valvetronic 4 cylinder (151 HP @6100 RPM, 142 lb-ft @3800 RPM)
Transmission: CVT
Options: TV, DVD, Bluetooth, ipod, USB, JBL surround sound, panoramic roof, HID projector headlights with Daytime Running Lights, dual zone air-conditioning with climate control and rear vents, power seats, power boot, security alarm (Advance Premium Pack).
VERDICT
It's the Mike Ross to the Harvey Specter that is the Range Rover (see right). Lexus is trying to pull in the fresh, young CEOs and their narrow ties and sport-jacket suits instead of the pinstriped suits and broad ties. And they're doing it in indubitable style.
Special thanks to RPM Motors for lending us the car.
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