While most of us are familiar with the Toyota Harrier, the Japanese luxury mid-sized SUV was never intended to leave its home country until official distributors of Toyota vehicles in Singapore – Borneo Motors started selling the third-generation facelifted Harrier earlier this year.
Now, UMW Toyota, official distributor of Toyota vehicles in Malaysia is following the footsteps of our friends across the causeway with this official teaser of the Harrier on its Facebook page. The company will be unveiling the Harrier at the 2017 Malaysia Auto Show happening tomorrow, 9th November 2017.
Brochures circulating the net hints that the Malaysian market will receive the 2.0-litre turbocharged variant in its latest facelift guise. The facelift exercise brought to the table a pair of smoked LED headlamps, a new front grille, carbon fibre interior trims, Suede and leather combination upholstery and a new leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel.
Motivation comes from a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder direct injection engine spewing out 228 hp and 350 Nm of torque from 1,650 to 4,000 rpm. In comparison, the Honda CR-V 1.5-litre turbo makes 190 hp and 243 Nm of torque. In Japan, the turbocharged Harrier is available in two or four-wheel drive layouts but it’s safe to assume that ours will be front-wheel driven. Transmission of choice is a conventional six-speed automatic with sequential shift.
Thanks to the increased grunt, Toyota has beefed up the turbocharged Harrier with performance dampers that reduced body roll and improved straight line and cornering stability. It also gets a dedicated Sports Mode button that sharpens the throttle and steering response.
As standard, the facelifted Harrier range comes equipped with the Toyota Safety Sense P (TSS-P) advanced driver assistance system as standard – Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection (PCS w/PD), Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC), Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist (LDA w/SA) and Automatic High Beams (AHB) are among the features bundled in TSS-P.
Prices for the Toyota Harrier turbo starts from ¥3.38 million (RM127k) in Japan. When the Harrier turbo arrives on our shores, it will most likely be a fully imported unit and will be subjected to our import taxes and duties, bringing prices to a ballpark figure of RM200k.
But then again, a Harrier officially brought in by UMWT with a 5-Years unlimited mileage warranty for circa RM200k? Sounds like a better deal than those in the grey market to me.
IMAGE GALLERY
Toyota Harrier Facelift in Japan
