1.2 TSI 'S'

[weaver]

Picked the Yeti up on Tuesday and in fact haven't yet got to the 100 mark, still getting used to it really.

To answer the first big question: no it doesn't feel in any way underpowered!

The engine is very, very nice. It encourages rapid up-changes with un-dramatic use of revs and before I know it I'm at 40 mph in 6th (at around 1500 rpm). On undulating twisty A roads, 6th is where it stays and it pulls fine through the bends.

It can be deceptive though, get to a sharper corner and drop the speed a bit and I really need to shift down two if not three gears - 6th to 3rd is something I'm doing a fair bit of.

It is noticeably happier over around 1500 rpm, though I haven't found much need to use more than 2000 - 2500 and the engine is still very fresh from the factory.

Just to put this in some context: for the past 12 years I've been driving a 4wd super mini with a 1.3 engine producing much less power albeit in a substantially lighter car. The Yeti is a much calmer car to drive, partly down to the engine (which is also very quiet) partly due to the ride and partly due to the gearbox. The gears have much more flexibility than I'm used to though as above, it's the sharper drop off in power that is catching me out on occasions.

One thing I keep remembering is the early write up in, I think, Autocar of the 1.2 DSG which they felt at times changed gear a bit too often and even in the manual version there is the temptation to keep shifting as it seems to work very well driven that way.

Other than my own car, it's only been courtesy cars and on occasion my father's Honda Civic that I have driven, but I can honestly say that this is the first time I have driven a car that is making me re-assess my driving style (in a good way). I tend not to use a lot of revs - when I picked up my previous car they said to keep under 4000 rpm for the first 1000 miles or so, in the following 12 years I rarely used more than that anyway and the 1.2 Yeti seems to like it like that - using the gearbox rather than the accelerator pedal to get things done. But I still feel I haven't quite understood where the best bits of this little engine are; there have already been pleasant surprises of the 'I wonder if it will do this? oh yes it does and a bit more besides' variety.

That said, I can quite see how it could be driven much harder and faster - there is plenty of get up and go to be had, and much more fuel that could be used doing it!

I'm keen to see how fuel economy is going to turn out. For the 90 odd miles I've done, average is between 35 and 40 mpg. Journey to work is only nine miles, and up and down the whole way, but it does look like somewhere in the 40s should be doable and better than that on longer journeys.

Edited 11 December, 2009 by weaver

[Babs]

See, no need for a 1.4 TSI

Glad you like it!

[weaver]

The one potential weakness that may be there is the - fully loaded cabin, stick it in first and grind slowly up a slippery hill bit.

I suspect that pulling against a big load at low revs won't be it's strong point - but that's what tractors/diesels are for.

[Babs]

Exactly

[Anthony 1]

Modern diesels today are more about mid range urge than low end grunt. They also happily rev higher and still produce useful power more than their predecessors. They tend to produce maximum torque at engine speeds more suited to real every day driving conditions. I believe that in the past it might have been correct to label diesels as low revving plodders but that is not the case today and their are many examples to prove that is the case. the contrary can also be true with petrol engines. I have some off road vehicles at home with quite torquey petrol motors that do not rev to excessive heights. Of course some virtues that diesels and petrol motors display are inherent in their type but modern engine designs and computer control can produce amazing results.

The one potential weakness that may be there is the - fully loaded cabin, stick it in first and grind slowly up a slippery hill bit.

I suspect that pulling against a big load at low revs won't be it's strong point - but that's what tractors/diesels are for.

[The Plumber]

Thanks for the excellent review weaver, I am sure like myself you will keep finding new things to muse over.

My 140 TDI CR works very well at low revs, rarely need more than 2000-3000 rpm even when overtaking or climbing steep hills. So much better than the PD.

[shrub]

Thanks for the write up. I am considering this model (or maybe the 'E' model) and so very interested in your reports on performance and economy. Car looks great.

[JonA]

Congratulations with your new car! And thanks for the nice review of an excelent car! I have driven the 1.2 TSI Yeti a few short trips, and found it perfectly suited to just that Not the engine of my choice for long drives with several passengers and lots of luggage, but in no way underpowered for lugging the car and a few happy passengers around.. A very impressive engine if you think of what sort of power/torque a 1.2 petrol engine used to produce a few years ago!

Enjoy!!

[Wardy]

Nice review and it looks well in that colour

What did you have before? 4x4 1.3 supermini? Was it a Justy or something?

[weaver]

Nice review and it looks well in that colour

What did you have before? 4x4 1.3 supermini? Was it a Justy or something?

got it in one!

[Anthony 1]

I like the colour!

[GentleGiant]

Thanks for the review, I hope you will update it as you put a few more miles on the clock.

And yes, I like the colour as well, I cannot decide between the Green and the Red though, the only Yeti I have seen in real life was a red 170 4x4 with a couple of old biddies easing it over the speed bumps outside my local Halfords (thousands of products, nothing you actually want or need).

[weaver]

A bit more varied driving at the weekend so a few more thoughts:

No problem with the Christmas tree, one seat down and through it goes. Likewise shifting a desk this morning: couple of seats out and in goes the desk.

Tried some of the steeper little lanes around here, you know the type: grass down the middle, mirrors touch the hedges both sides and gradients decided long before the motor car was invented, but have to be taken slowly anyway. Perfectly happy up the (20 - 25%) gradients in second but yes, need first for the blind uphill bends.

Also tried something I wouldn't have thought twice about in the Justy: parked in a friend's field - wet grass over soft soil. Had to give it a couple of tries at getting out again, got away fine but as I said, in the 4wd Justy it wouldn't even have been an issue. Traction control is all new to me and I did wonder afterwards whether turning it off might have given better results - anyone have a view on that? (On the 'S' it's just ASR -Anti Slip Regulation)

When deciding whether to go 2 or 4wd with the Yeti the consideration (aside from cost) was how often 4wd was really of use to me. Thinking back, on average there were only one or two situations a year where I drove away from something that other drivers had real problems with and my reasoning was that with a little bit of caution those situations were, in the main, easily avoided. The middle ground though, is situations where 4wd just means you can get on with it without thinking too much about which wheel is going to grip.

Also fair to say, and I think the point has been made here a number of times, that Summer road tyres (even with 4wd) don't give great traction on properly slippy grass/mud. May be looking at something like a snow boot to keep for difficult situations before too long.

[Anthony 1]

You will be very unlikely to get further by switching the traction control off in fact you will most likely get stuck even faster. Experience might help with throttle control etc placement and such. With the same tyres if your stuck depending on the terrain reducing the tyre pressures will increase the surface area of the tyre onto the mud or what ever and give greater traction. Even a few pound less say 5lbs will make a marked difference but reducing them down to say 15 lbs will give a huge increase traction. Tyres can go lower on some rims on a 4x4 ive been down to 10lbs without problems, I go down to 1 ibs -2 lbs on my alpine tractor but you need to be exceptionally careful that they do not come off the rim, then your in trouble. Do not drive with reduced pressures on the road its both illegal and dangerous but not only that you could damage the tyres. The best thing is to replace the tyres with winter or mud and snow but for better offroad traction All Terrain or Mud Terrain tyres are going to give increasing amounts of grip on mud. Tall narrow or skinny tyres give the best traction unless on wet grass or slimy wet clay unless it is very boggy then wide high floatation tyres are better not applicable to the Yeti. Sometimes one need to cut through the upper greasy surface to find traction. In sand you need minimum tread, aggressive tread can brake the surface and get you stuck by digging in.

[Babs]

Turning ASR off if it's slippy will help massively!

ASR senses the slip then custs the power, with ASR off you can control it better yourself.

[weaver]

Turning ASR off if it's slippy will help massively!

ASR senses the slip then custs the power, with ASR off you can control it better yourself.

That was the impression I got.

I'd get moving OK, then get a bit of slip, adjust throttle/clutch, but by then power had gone and the car had stopped.

It wasn't a question of getting bogged down as you would in deep mud, just getting a bit of slip - usually fine if you can keep it moving.

[Anthony 1]

Is their a facility to turn individual programs of on the Yeti then?????? On many cars their is not. The last ting one wants to do is turn traction control off. For most people limiting the power is a good thing because just revving away helplessly and foundering is not good usually slowly feeding the power in, even using a higher gear at times is the way to go. Their are situations off road where brute power and with tyres thrashing away can get you some where, like when trying to cut down through the slag to a harder higher friction surface below but in most situations this is not the case, it is likely to dig in or if one does get going build up speed to such an extent that their is little control. OK on an old heap or trials machine perhaps but does anyone really want to prang their pride and joy. You have to know what your doing off road speed can be a problem stopping can be difficult.

One of the biggest problems with the Yeti and many other vehicles of this type are, the very small diameter of the tyres and the relatively large width exacerbated by low profiles.

[weaver]

On the 'S' variant ASR is all you get traction control-wise, so yes there is a nice big button to turn it off.

You do get ABS as well, but as far as I can see, that can't be turned off.

[Babs]

That was the impression I got.

I'd get moving OK, then get a bit of slip, adjust throttle/clutch, but by then power had gone and the car had stopped.

It wasn't a question of getting bogged down as you would in deep mud, just getting a bit of slip - usually fine if you can keep it moving.

Exactly - it's a complete ball-ache. Turn the ASR off and it'll slip, but you can control it better than the retarded computer!

Is their a facility to turn individual programs of on the Yeti then?????? On many cars their is not. The last ting one wants to do is turn traction control off. For most people limiting the power is a good thing because just revving away helplessly and foundering is not good usually slowly feeding the power in, even using a higher gear at times is the way to go. Their are situations off road where brute power and with tyres thrashing away can get you some where, like when trying to cut down through the slag to a harder higher friction surface below but in most situations this is not the case, it is likely to dig in or if one does get going build up speed to such an extent that their is little control. OK on an old heap or trials machine perhaps but does anyone really want to prang their pride and joy. You have to know what your doing off road speed can be a problem stopping can be difficult.

One of the biggest problems with the Yeti and many other vehicles of this type are, the very small diameter of the tyres and the relatively large width exacerbated by low profiles.

You don't understand how the traction control works. The system senses slip, then CUTS THE POWER. Meaning you go no where. With ASR off you can slip the wheels, feed the power in slowly and then actually move!

[Anthony 1]

Dear Babs,

I endeavor most humbly to beg your pardon, I am sorry to contradict but I feel that I do have a very good basic understanding of how various traction control systems work, that and many other 4 wheel drive systems also ! Indeed, One of the facilities in the Yeti's armory, just like in many other cars today is a program for reducing engine power under certain conditions, a fairly crude control on its own but just a small part of a sweet of facilities represented by acronyms that help maintain way when the going gets difficult. Mainly, if ABS system senses a wheel spinning or slipping, it then applies brakes to that individual wheel. The Yeti employes the sophisticated Haldex 4 system which uses electronic control over the % of power fed to the rear axle at any time and unusually for vehicles of this type, it also has an electronic control over the rear axle differential, in deciding how much % power it feeds to individual rear wheels, an eLSD no less. The Haldex4 is the most sophisticated systems to date for vehicles of this type, it has only been recently developed. Its' reaction times are reportedly far more rapid than previous systems, 3, 2, etc. It has the sensitivity to detect a wheel slipping to within 1/7th of a revolution which is unprecedented at this level. May I recommend before suggesting just turning it off, that you need to know exactly what your turning off. Unless you know for sure, that you can turn of individual programs in the chassis management system that is. If you know that then please let us know.

I also explained I feel that limiting power is good for most people and that just applying too much power is going to bog you down in many circumstances or just end in spinning off, resulting in potential harm. That their are situations where power is useful and that restricting power can be counterproductive but one needs to have experience in when to apply the most useful technique in what ever situation. I have been driving off-road for well over a quarter of a century, I live off road, I have a farm that only has off road access, not a made up trackway a mile from any road, you would never even get your lowered VW here. I am driving in these situation every single day of the week in the mud and slop, on and off wet sodden grass through all sorts of animal dung etc. Some times even the tractor can get stuck. In past years My Landrover 101 FC could not get here at times, I had to purchase a UNIMOG 406 High Speed Tractor for a few years just to grantee getting in and out my wife needed it to go to work quite frequently. That is until I improved access just a little. I have done countless thousands of miles on green lanes, been involved in competitive off-road trials. I presently own 6 vehicles employing different types of 4 wheel drive technology, well one of those is a 6 wheel drive which can lock all 3 axles and could most probably climb over a Yeti with very little trouble. While I am not making any claims to any ability or otherwise here, I think that surely it can be accepted that I have a modicum of experience in driving off road and that I just might have some understanding of some of the systems that are employed, including traction control.

Without putting you on the spot perhaps you can further benefit us with some of your years of experience and knowledge. I am always willing to learn and will quite happily accept when I am wrong or have misunderstood. Does the Yeti have the facility to turn off individual programs in its chassis management system? That is, more explicitly, can it prevent the engine management system from reducing power, while still allowing the traction control system to continue operating?

[Babs]

For a front, two-wheel driven Skoda Yeti 1.2, having the standard (potentially dangerous and very, very simple) ASR on can and does inhibit the driver's ability to make any progress from rest on surfaces of very low traction, such as ice, snow, or mud.

ASR = Anti Slip Regulation. All it does is govern the traction of the driven wheels, while driving forward. It cuts (not reduces) the power to stop the wheels spinning. It is different from ESP (i.e. stability control with in VAG terms brakes an individual wheel to effectively "steer" the car, using the ABS sensors as an input as you've said). ESP and ASR can work together, however they are separate systems. I have no idea whether one or the other can be disabled, or if there's a button that disables it all. Regardless, ESP isn't going to help in this situation. ASR however will sense the wheels slipping as you try to set off, and cut the power resulting in you being sat where you were. With ASR switched off, a decent driver can manage the slip in order to get the car moving. Once moving a driver can turn it back on to stop the wheels spinning if you apply too much throttle while on the move, but AFAIK these systems will turn themselves back on if you go over a certain speed (20-something MPH usually).

My experience? I'm a car geek with a (un)healthy like of all things VAG, so I know what these systems are and what they do. Practical experience would be owning two Skoda's both with the standard ASR (and on front wheel drive, neither had ESP), a Fabia vRS and Mk1 Octavia vRS. Trying to move in snow in the Fabia for the first time resulted in me being sat there, ASR light happily blinking away. Turned ASR off, and began to creep forward, wheels slightly slipping untill I had enough momentum to keep going.

People ask the same question each and every winter - "Why can't I move in my Fabia? The traction control is on but it still won't move?"

Is that satisfactory enough?

EDIT: Having read over the spec of a 1.2 S model, it appears it has only ASR, not ESP. So your comment about "braking individual wheels" is null and void also, as the car doesn't have the facility to do that. As well as not having a Haldex system.

Edited 14 December, 2009 by Babs

[JonA]

Dear Babs,

I endeavor most humbly to beg your pardon, I am sorry to contradict but I feel that I do have a very good basic understanding of how various traction control systems work, that and many other 4 wheel drive systems also ! Indeed, One of the facilities in the Yeti's armory, just like in many other cars today is a program for reducing engine power under certain conditions, a fairly crude control on its own but just a small part of a sweet of facilities represented by acronyms that help maintain way when the going gets difficult. Mainly, if ABS system senses a wheel spinning or slipping, it then applies brakes to that individual wheel. The Yeti employes the sophisticated Haldex 4 system which uses electronic control over the % of power fed to the rear axle at any time and unusually for vehicles of this type, it also has an electronic control over the rear axle differential, in deciding how much % power it feeds to individual rear wheels, an eLSD no less. The Haldex4 is the most sophisticated systems to date for vehicles of this type, it has only been recently developed. Its' reaction times are reportedly far more rapid than previous systems, 3, 2, etc. It has the sensitivity to detect a wheel slipping to within 1/7th of a revolution which is unprecedented at this level. May I recommend before suggesting just turning it off, that you need to know exactly what your turning off. Unless you know for sure, that you can turn of individual programs in the chassis management system that is. If you know that then please let us know.

I also explained I feel that limiting power is good for most people and that just applying too much power is going to bog you down in many circumstances or just end in spinning off, resulting in potential harm. That their are situations where power is useful and that restricting power can be counterproductive but one needs to have experience in when to apply the most useful technique in what ever situation. I have been driving off-road for well over a quarter of a century, I live off road, I have a farm that only has off road access, not a made up trackway a mile from any road, you would never even get your lowered VW here. I am driving in these situation every single day of the week in the mud and slop, on and off wet sodden grass through all sorts of animal dung etc. Some times even the tractor can get stuck. In past years My Landrover 101 FC could not get here at times, I had to purchase a UNIMOG 406 High Speed Tractor for a few years just to grantee getting in and out my wife needed it to go to work quite frequently. That is until I improved access just a little. I have done countless thousands of miles on green lanes, been involved in competitive off-road trials. I presently own 6 vehicles employing different types of 4 wheel drive technology, well one of those is a 6 wheel drive which can lock all 3 axles and could most probably climb over a Yeti with very little trouble. While I am not making any claims to any ability or otherwise here, I think that surely it can be accepted that I have a modicum of experience in driving off road and that I just might have some understanding of some of the systems that are employed, including traction control.

Without putting you on the spot perhaps you can further benefit us with some of your years of experience and knowledge. I am always willing to learn and will quite happily accept when I am wrong or have misunderstood. Does the Yeti have the facility to turn off individual programs in its chassis management system? That is, more explicitly, can it prevent the engine management system from reducing power, while still allowing the traction control system to continue operating?

The Yeti can be ordered with two different brake systems, the Conti-Teves MK70 and the Conti-Teves MK60. The MK70 is used in cars without ESP, and the MK60 is used in cars with ESP.

Features supported by the MK70 system:

- ABS: Anti-lock brakes, not possible to switch off.

-EBV: Electronic brake force distribution between front and rear axle, always on.

-MBA: Mechanical emergency brake assistant, increases the hydraulic pressure if it detects emergency braking. Always on.

-MSR: Motor slip regulation, reduces engine braking if the ECU detects that driven/braked wheels are losing speed/going towards lock due to engine braking. Controlled by engine ECU. Always on.

-ASR: Anti slip regulation, reduces engine power if wheel slip is detected when trying to gain speed. Brake ECU detects wheel slip, engine ECU reduces power without use of brakes. Can be turned off with the "ASR OFF" switch.

-TPM: Tire "pressure" monitor. Detects a defective tire by comparing wheel rpm from ABS sensors. Always on.

The MK60 system has the following features in addition to the ones above:

-ESP: Electronic stability program, uses ABS sensors, pressure sensor in hydraulic unit, steering wheel angle sensor, "yaw"-sensor, acceleration sensor etc to calculate if the vehicle is moving in the direction the driver intended, and uses both engine ECU to reduce power, and brake ECU which applies brakes to individual wheels to help steer the car in the right direction. Always on. It used to be possible to turn ESP off, but not on new (after build week 45 2009) Skoda cars. The switch that looks like the one that used to turn ESP off, now only disengages ASR. Allows the wheels to spin, but no four wheel drifts :'(

-HBA: Hydraulic emergency brake assistant. Does the same as MBA in the MK70 system, but here, everything happens inside the hydraulic unit of the brakes. Always on.

-EDS: Electronic differential lock. The brake ECU applies the brake on a slipping wheel to transfer torque to the other wheel on the same axle. Always on.

-HHC: Hill hold control. Uses hydraulic pressure to activate brakes when starting on a hill. Always on.

-DSR: Dynamic steering response. Uses the electric power steering to help correct a slide by aiding the turning of the steering wheel only the way that it would help canceling the slide. Always on.

-TSA: Trailer stability program. Uses brakes on the car, and can also reduce power to help stabilize a "swinging" trailer. On when using a trailer on cars with factory installed tow hook electrics.

-RBS: Rain brake support. Applies brakes lightly on wet roads from time to time to help dry the friction surfaces. Always on.

On 4x4 Yeti's with the MK60 brake system there is an offroad button as well. This makes the ASR allow more wheel spin before it adjusts the power, the EDS works faster and more violently, the ABS allows the wheels to lock up for longer to help build a vedge in front on the wheels when braking on a loose surface.

The offroad function is active from 0-30km/h (after having pushed the button) when exceeding 30 km/h the offroad mode disengages, and if you get under 30 km/h it is active again. The ABS offroad mode is the only function which is active up to 50 km/h.

My english isn't the best, but I hope this explains a bit of what driver aids the Yeti has got and how/when they are used :yes:

[Anthony 1]

Babs,

I made a lazy error, because of my interest only in the all wheel drive versions I have not looked up the spec for the two wheel drive. Partly I don,t understand why anyone might want such a vehicle without all wheel drive but that my problem and no offense to anyone who might like the 2 wheel drive version. Ill just have to realize that this type of vehicle attracts people with other needs and interests. Mostly you see I have true off road cars or trucks with one or two other things to try out as one might say. So I apologize because I am so focused with 4x4 and all wheel drive systems, I just forget that their is anything else. I guess that I am just too focused in what I want out of them so I forget all about about the 2 wheel drive very easily even though I did read on this post originally I could see it was a 2x4 when I came back to it much later I just forgot and immediately was primed for all wheel drive because that is all I am interested in. So I apologize for that. I am on loads of forums around the World on all sorts of specialist 4x4 sites across the pond and in Europe. I am looking at the Yeti because I have improved my access to an extent that it does not need massive 4x4 vehicles just to access it and also because of the huge increases in fuel prices I am forced more or less to try something more tame and more economical but still with some offroad capability. For me the Yeti lit up a few lights, it ticked boxes. I drove the 140 and most surprisingly to me was very impressed. It had performance and for its type superb handling not in the BMW style of things but still exceptionally good for the Type I can not really afford a new BM, with some of what I consider to be essentials in equipment unfortunately, though the Yeti does have an electronic eLSD which the BMW,s do not have So this is very much the front runner unless someone leaves me a load of dosh and I do not wish ill of any one so that will not happen hopefully. Basically I am on here to extract as much information as I can before buying but I contribute as much as I can because I see that as only fair, one should give as much at least as one takes preferably more that how I operate anyway.

I thank you very much for going to such detail of the operating systems, That is what I need. It is difficult to learn information from the glossy hand outs and the Motoring Magazines make so many elementary errors. Often one magazine says something quite erroneous and the next one just picks up on it and follows suit. I often wonder how many hacks actually really understand the complexities of their cars and how many of them can drive them well. Often I believe that they write complete claptrap so one has to read very much in between the lines.

I absolutely agree with you about the

Quote" ASR = Anti Slip Regulation. All it does is govern the traction of the driven wheels, while driving forward. It cuts (not reduces) the power to stop the wheels

spinning"

I have not knowingly driven a vehicle with this system or at any rate while it is operating. I would rather moderate my own throttle settings too.. I did not realize that it actually cuts power and not mealy reduce it. Thats a no no for me. That is something that I can moderate for my self. Though I still say that with many people these systems are probably designed for the majority who just don't have a clue. I will have to reread the brochure about the specification of the Yeti CR 170 Elegance. I do not want a system dictating to me to reduce power it would be a disaster for me unless I can switch it off preferably permanently. Unless that is I am missing something and still have not fully understood its involvement. I have no problem with electronics operating things individually like braking individual wheels ABS or during traction as I can not do that I only have two feet but I do have a problem with control of things that I can do for myself or chose to override. Hummmm I shall have to read very carefully the spec again and come back if that is OK with you.

I do realize that the Haldex does not apply to the 2x4 vehicles, as stated above I just forgot that we wear discussing a 2x4 an went on auto 4x4 mode. Il will have to be more careful Im just so used to everyone being 4x4 well that is other than with the Jaguar and all wheel drive is so unusual with them that do not tend to muck it up and cross answer.

Any way I am sorry for going up the wrong tree.

[Anthony 1]

JonA,

That is great information you have provided. I think that I have seen it somewhere before! Is it from the Yeti brochure? It just seams more comprehensive here and better explained with asides. Thank to for explaining the Conti-Teves MK70 and the Conti-Teves MK60. That is new to me it s very good to see the differences between the two systems. As said above I shall study the acronyms and become more familiar with them. I know most of the functions but can not always pt an acronym to a function if you know what I mean.

As in the post earlier I dislike loosing power when not electing to do so. I am glad that the ASR can be switched off can this be switched off when the Off Road button is switched on?

DSR I do not like this I instinctively counter steer, often anticipate the need to before the car twitches by reading the road conditions. I see that it can not be switched off. Can one fight it. That is can one over correct or under correct if one wishes to do so?

That is great help Thank you.

JonA , I wonder if this information could be written out again and put as a sticky at the head of the Yeti Forum it would be very useful.

Your English looks most excellent to me!

[weaver]

Many thanks to the three contributors above, despite the fact that things got side-tracked for a bit!

JonA: I have read both the brochure and the manual a number of times and not seen such a comprehensive summary as you have provided.

What still remains a problem (in my view) is working out exactly what applies to which model; the brochure is especially confusing here attributing some things to DSG or 4wd models without specifically saying what also applies (or not) to manual 2wd.

Anthony, I was interested to read what you had to say even though mostly it didn't apply to my specific situation.

In my post 13 up thread I mention some of my thoughts in opting for a 2wd Yeti; for my purposes (use as a family car) I still believe it is the best available car for the money when compared to: Golf, Focus, Astra, Civic etc, ie ignoring the fact that there is a 4wd version at all. If the 1.4 unit does make it to the Yeti, then a 1.4 4wd could be a very interesting option. I don't believe my annual mileage justifies a diesel and the 1.8 petrol just drinks too much for my liking.

As an aside, we are in a rural part of Devon and my local dealer was pretty sure his best selling Yetis would be the diesel 4x4s - however, the majority of his orders so far have in fact been for 2wd petrol!