Well still not been too far with the Snow-monster, took her on the first shopping trip into town, then down to Beverly and back. Fuel computer is currently giving figures of between 37 and 44.5 with just over a100 miles on the clock. Noticed you have to hold a lower gear for longer than the Golf V only starts to feel comfortable in 4th at 30mph, 5th over 40 and 6th seems OK at 60.

No problem boot wise, coped with the weekly shop plus the trip to the pet shop for hay/straw and very large bag of rabbit/guinea pig food.

Personally find the cloth seats better than the leather, feel very comfy and supportive despite the lack of meaningful side bolsters or lumber support. Good range of movement for the seat, would have liked an extra inch or so reach on the steering but that’s more nitpicking.

Controls all very to hand and straight forward to use; things like the headlight and interior lighting adjuster, are hidden behind the wheel but once set up should not need them anyway.

Optional Auto lights work well only quibble you appear not to be able to select fogs in the Auto position. Also have the corner fog option fitted. Jury is out on that one but I think they will be of benefit. Standard halogen lights are OK but from first impressions but if you’re doing a lot of night driving the xenon’s may be a good option.

Wheels and tyres; fitted with Goodyear Excellence tyres on Dolomite rims, look very good and appear to work well in heavy rain, tyre noise only starts to become intrusive on heavily stone chipped surfaces. Has locking wheel nuts fitted as standard although not listed in the brochure. Selected the spare option, has a Continental Premium Contact 2 195/60/16 H (speed limited to 50mph) in the boot with a complete set of tools required and a tow eye. Also found in the boot a litre of Castrol engine oil and a cargo net. Not so impressed with the small amount of metal filings on the boot floor; always associate that with accident repair but all looks OK, put it down to factory swarf. Think mud flaps are a must, those big wheels pick up a lot of dirt.

Have the hill hold option, only come on once so far; strange taking your foot off the brake on a reasonable slope and the car not moving. Did appear a bit reluctant to let go when I tried to pull away but a great option.

Driving wise appears to be very refined holds the road brilliantly very little roll in bends, no crashing or thumping from the suspension and the TDI 140 CR is a gem. You still know it’s a diesel but it’s much quieter than the PD and you get a very fluid power delivery instead of the PD’s all or nothing approach. Gear throw seems somehow shorter than again the Golf and more positive (this could be due to being new).

Wing mirrors are taking some getting used to more van like; short and tall as opposed to long and thin but they are ideal for reversing. Personally I find the rear view pretty good although I am pleased to have rear parking sensors, with the Yeti being tall you can lose things low down like small bollards. Front view is excellent first car in years where you can see the entire bonnet.

To finish off, if you’re in the market for Golf, Focus, Astra sized family hatch, get a Yeti it’s so much more rewarding to drive and the increased height gives a great view out.

Only issue so far see Yeti technical Guide; Loose valve.

Thanks! Great review, and it makes me even more eager to get my own car. I'm very happy to read about you being pleased with the engine, as I was a bit sceptical about the 140 diesel, I was most keen on the 1.8 tsi, but changed my mind about it after driving it a good bit. I found it way to thirsty..

Enjoy your new very pretty red snow monster!!

Edited 7 November, 200916 yr by JonA

I would echo JonA's comments about a great review. I drove my YETI for over 100 miles today (a combination of motorway and B roads). The road holding is very, very impressive. The YETI felt fantastic on windy B roads....almost MINI like. Cruise control on the motorway was excellent, with a smooth acceleration when resuming cruise.

One final comment......the quality of the Bolero is very good. I used a combination of radio, cd and sd card (mp3) listening and the sound was of a high order.

Similar comments from here - the suspension is very well judged, very supple and a good ride but without losing any responsiveness, quite happy to be driven enthusiastically on twisty roads with minimal roll. We also had a bit of road noise on our Dunlop SP Sport 01s, but that particular road (A338) is appalling in just about any car.

The engine seems to pull well from about 1500rpm upwards - it's a bit loud under load but most of the time you can keep it in the 1500-2500rpm band and it feels quite relaxed. Fuel consumption is now sitting at about 43mpg and I would expect that to improve on my wife's mostly motorway commute.

Finish generally is excellent - a couple of slight creaks manifested themselves on some of the worst of today's roads, but overall quality is probably better than anything I've had before - which includes VWs, BMWs and Jaguars (the latter being the best until the Yeti). Obviously it is early days yet but it's an excellent start.

Visibility is mostly good - the thick A-pillar which most modern cars have is at least fairly upright, and the wide B-pillar is only a real problem if you approach a junction at a strange angle. Parking is much easier than the Beetle, let alone the XF even with it's rear camera.

Finally, coming back on a single-track road over the downs, you almost always meet something and end up reversing back to a passing place. So today I was looking forward to confidently steering onto the wet grass verge - but not another car in sight!