davecarter

OK! As we have a slight digression from idiot drivers to the benefits of dating Asian women here, I'll add my thoughts... I simply have to agree that Asian women, on the whole, are far better looking and have much more attractive qualities than the general state of players over here. Call it sexist or whatever but the very culture in these countries breeds women who have an almost subservient attitude and outlook toward their "superior" male counterparts, eager to please and carry out their duties in the most feminine way. Far removed from the western way of women, this characteristic alone makes them an extremely desirable proposition. With beautiful dark hair, petite figures and lovely tanned skin, they simply are a massive cut above your average overweight, mousy haired, foul-mouthed trollop you experience walking around Tescos these days. Any normal middle-aged bloke who doesn't like the idea of having a fit and attractive asian woman, 20 years younger than himself, happy to stay at home and look after her man and cater for his every desire needs his brain examined. Go for it!

Opinion seems quite divisive on this subject. My experience after two months with the Yeti are as follows; 1.) Road Noise - actual noise is not intrusive at all but surprised to find that the suspension seems to be as firm as it was on my Audi TT and that had the sports suspension option fitted. You do feel it when going over bumps and I've had a couple of passengers mention this. This doesn't mean to say the ride is uncomfortable, however, it's not and the offshoot, of course, of a harder suspension is the fantastic handling of the beast - it goes round corners like it's on rails. Another big factor is tyres. I have the Dunlop SP1 50 series on 17" alloys. Those on the 16" 60 series will almost certainly get a smoother, quieter ride. 2.) Wind Noise - Yes, this is noticeable, a little intrusive but fairly easy to live with. Having said this, I have the roof bars and luggage basket fixed to mine. I have not experienced driving it without these on yet. Surprisingly, when I took the luggage basket off, wind noise appeared to increase slightly. I think this is because the aerodynamic design of the luggage basket helps channel the flow of air more efficiently. 3.) Internal Noise - Fortunately, the car seems to be mostly devoid of any internal rattles or squeaks. It creaks when the body flexes but my other cars did that and it's certainly not to a level that bothers me. 4.) Engine Noise - This diesel is supremely smooth and quiet. Cruising at average speed, you simply can't hear it above the wind and road noise. At times, you could possibly convince others it was a petrol engine. Top marks! Some people are more sensitive to noise than others. Personally, I've never got that phased out by a few rattles and squeaks on the odd occasion. I don't get in the car purposefully listening for the slightest creak in the dash or knock from behind. Stick any stuff in the back, glove compartment or wherever and you're instantly opening yourself up to more noise, you'll never escape it entirely unless you buy yourself a £300,000 soundproofed Rolls Royce. In summary then, there aren't any noises from the car which would put me off buying another one.

Out with the rear seats; in with... 1 x Zodiac 11ft Inflatable Boat 1 x Mercury 8 hp Outboard Motor 2 x 80 litre Duffal Bags 1 x 60 litre Rucksack 2 x Fuel Tanks (12 litre and 5 Litre) 1 x Acoustic Guitar in Hard Case 1 x Camping Chair 1 x Large Food Container (easily 100 litres) The two fuel tanks, camping chair, food container and one 80 litre Duffal bag is behind the visible stuff. And, as you can see, there's certainly room for a bit more.

Well! There's about 26,000 of them worldwide so far. How many of those are in the UK I wouldn't like to guess but when I picked mine up in June, it was one of eight that were being delivered to their owners. I only see one other on a regular basis which must be a local owner but now see others a little more frequently than I used to. Still a rare ocurrence though.

Sadly, you are not the only one who has the privilege of experiencing one of the multitude of Britain's brainless and ignorant drivers. Had a similar incident happen to me not too long back (and this time, the Yeti was the victim). Waiting at traffic lights ON the M5 Junction 1 roundabout, me in the middle lane and a VW Passat in the oustide. When the lights turned green, the Passat just immediately shot across my path over to the left-hand side causing me to break hard and swerve to take evasive action. It's a miracle I didn't hit anything in the left-hand lane. Unfortunately, as much as you'd like to get out and take a crowbar to the ****'s head, there are many more like him/her that you will encounter on a daily basis and you'd soon rack up a lifetime in prison on gbh charges. As difficult as it may be, exercising anger management by taking a few deep breaths and concentrating on some pleasant thoughts is the best way to tackle these idiots.

ENJOY!!!

I think the grin on your face will probably extend from North Yorkshire to Derbyshire too!

Skoda have blasted past their previous half-yearly sales record again. http://new.skoda-auto.com/COM/about/info/news/News/Pages/2010_37_RecordSalesFirstHalf2010.aspx Just under 26,000 Yetis have been sold worldwide, quite a significant number more than Roomsters sold. Octavia is still way ahead at 147,000.

Cilla Black? Nah! You need Val Doonican. I've still got his "Greatest Hits" on 12" vinyl. Wonder if Skoda have got a plug-in turntable as an optional accessory for the Yeti? Wouldn't be surprised, they seem to have everything else! BTW my first weekly wage was £11.

Don't worry! I'm no spring chicken (at 49). A few years to go though before I hang the working boots up altogether although I could be classed as "semi-retired" with working part-time (a planned rather than forced setup).

... or even the "Old Yetonians".

Speaking as a previous Audi owner, I think it's fair to say that the overall level of trim quality will be better in the Q5. I think it's the perceived quality that doesn't seem much different. To be perfectly honest though, I fail to see what you're actually getting more of for the extra £10K, in terms of bells and whistles, than the Yeti. The badge and fancy LED DRLs perhaps?! As for space, well, I've removed the rear seats in mine because I'm off to the coast this weekend camping and I'm taking the Zodiac Inflatable and Mercury Outboard for a spot of fun on the water. So, the back is going to have all my camping kit, an Acoustic Guitar, Boat, Outboard Engine, plus all the other sundry items that go with it (fuel tanks, chandlery, etc.), food, beer, etc. etc. I wonder if I could get all that stuff in a Q5 being as the rear seats don't come out. What's more I wonder, if I'd be happy cramming all that stuff in a £35 - £40K car and I wonder whether I would feel any more confident driving it around the campsite/beach. Probably not!

Glad to hear you are enjoying your new monster Tenzing. You've got a great way with words and I enjoy reading your posts. I fully expect a 1000 mile/km report off you in a couple of months time so, start making notes.

Well, for what it's worth I happen to really like the Steel Grey colour. It suits a 4x4 SUV, especially the Yeti. I'm getting an average fuel consumption of around 45 mpg in my CR170 so, I'm a bit surprised at the low figures for the 110. Are you sure your fuel consumption reading is the correct one for the average? There are two readings on the MFD - one which generally shows a stupidly high figure (can't remember what this is for, I think it's an instant reading for consumption). The other, with a crossed out circle (the symbol for average) gives you your actual average fuel consumption for the trip. It might be a good idea to reset these.

OK. Here's another go (which is more down to logical guessing!) Woooo, the Snow Monster is almost here. Only 5 days to go before I pick the baby up.

Well! This is what Bing translated this to... woooo new snow man is almost here. but 5 spánci and I accumulate has a baby

Best of luck for the Big Day! Picking up a brand new car has always been quite special. Let's face it, it is the next most expensive item the large majority of people ever buy (after their house).

Congrats on your choice of motor "Fluffy Destoyer of Worlds" (where did that come from???!!! ). The last few cars I've had have been rather sporty affairs (Mr2 Roadster, VW Golf GTI Mk V, Audi TT Mk II) but have always been a keen fan of the 4x4 SUV which is, perhaps, better suited to my lifestyle. Like yourself, I love the look of the Yeti and it ticks all the boxes. Believe me, this thing is the tallest go-kart on the road. It flies along and holds the road so well. I haven't missed the TT half as much as I thought I would. Enjoyed reading your post. All you now have to do is wait... and wait... and wait.

They have been part of the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG) for around 8 years now and share many components from the VAG parts bin including the very good engines.

Yes, I almost got caught out with that one. Fortunately, the dealer rang me up to say the two options weren't compatible and which would I rather have. The Bike Holder won.

Now, this IS a car that's trying to pretend to be something it's not. The more I read about this, the more it convinces me this variant on the Mini just doesn't work.

I think it looks slightly better than the old X3 which really didn't do anything for me at all. However, it's edging towards X1 styling and I think that looks positively ugly. Whether it will grow on me remains to be seen. Where BMW shine is their engines which are a very efficient blend of power and economy. The 182 bhp diesel sounds the best bet. ... and, of course, I wonder whether it retains the complete lack of any off-road ability as demonstrated by the Top Gear team in their infamous test when it got stuck on the very first trial.

Yes, this is a common problem. When picking mine up, I was talking to the dealer principal who noticed the protective film by the rear doors/wheel arches as I had opted for the Rough Road Pack. He mentioned he'd just had to deal with an "unhappy customer" who'd been a victim of the stone chips in that particular area. I can't really figure out why that area of the vehicle should be more susceptible to chipping but it definitely is from all the reports there have been on this.

To be honest, I've just not had a problem at all in this respect. The steps don't protrude enough to really get in the way of entering or exiting the vehicle and my trousers never brush against them. They've never got terribly dirty yet either as I wash the car every week. I did have this problem when I had the Defender but the side steps were much higher and I always used them for stepping in and out of the vehicle.

Strange! I've not noticed that on mine. You don't have the "Off Road" button on do you? You do have "hill descent" control but that only kicks in with the Off Road button on and placing it in free rolling neutral. Maybe it's this that has gone a bit wonky. Other than that, I really don't know. Regards running in, take it easy for the first 1000 miles. I've done about 1500 in mine and I can sense the engine loosening up a bit. I'm beginning to take the revs a bit higher now at times (between 3K -4K rpm) before changing gear.