Rivalry among three-row mid-size SUVs has heated up with the new Mahindra Scorpio N expected to cause more upheaval in the Indian market in the near future. Tata Motors launched its iteration of a three-row SUV in the form of Safari early last year. While Safari is a desirable option in this segment, it lacks in one major aspect.

The absence of a petrol engine option has somewhat hurt the sales volume of Safari when almost all its rivals are offering a petrol motor. This holds more significance as more and more buyers are willing to shift towards petrol powertrains as we go forward. However, Tata Motors has been working on addressing this issue.

2023 Tata Safari Petrol Spied

The homegrown carmaker has been working on developing its own petrol power plant for some time now. Test mules of the petrol-powered Tata Safari have also been spotted on a few occasions previously. Another testing prototype of Safari with an emission testing kit attached to its exhaust has been spied testing near Pune-Mumbai expressway's Khalapur toll plaza. Images are credited to automotive enthusiast Mandar Patil.

Earlier reports have mentioned that petrol variants of Safari will be powered by a new in-house developed 1.5-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged unit. This powertrain is said to be derived by adding an extra cylinder to the 1.2-litre 3-cylinder Revotron turbo petrol mill that powers Nexon. The 1.5-litre turbo petrol unit will be good enough to produce 150 bhp and 250 Nm of peak torque.

This engine is expected to be paired with a 6-speed manual gearbox and a 6-speed automatic transmission as an option. Safari petrol powertrain is also expected to be offered in the 5-seater Harrier at some stage. Petrol-powered versions of both Safari and Harrier are unlikely to be different from their diesel counterparts.

Safari: Features & Specs

In terms of features, the petrol-powered Safari would offer the same set of creature comforts as the current model. This would include an 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, iRA connected car tech, a panoramic sunroof, a semi-digital instrument console, rain-sensing wipers, LED headlamps and more.

At present, Safari is only offered a 2.0-litre Kryotec diesel engine that has been sourced from Fiat. This engine cranks out 168 bhp and 350 Nm of peak torque. Transmission duties are carried out either by a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed torque converter automatic unit.

Mahindra XUV700 single handedly is currently leading the mid-size SUV sales. Once Scorpio N is launched, Mahindra is expected to boost their market share in the segment even further. Launch of Harrier / Safari petrol will help Tata boost sales.

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