Successful improvements........

[Agerbundsen]

Small things help too:

I installed Skoda front mudflaps. They were quite easy, as the screws already hold the liners in place - the screwholes in the plastic flaps fit well and the hook aroun the lip at the top was easy with the help of a screwdrive in the plastic slot. If you intend to do this, a couple of tips: You need a large Torx driver (45 I think!)- but preferably not very long - the wheels get in the way. be careful not to overtighten the screws when you re-attach, they fit into some plastic goo behind the front wing sheetmetal.

The result was very satisfactory. Before the front wheels kicked up a long of snow and muck on to the lower part of both doors. This is now almost non-existent.

A spare wheel was added - including the three plastic boxes and adjustable floor with access to the boxes. The wheel is a Skoda specific steel with a Dunlop tyre inthe appropriate size and rating. It is too small for any long driving, but I feel much safer having a spare than relying on the compressor and goop.

All the bits fit. There are special plastic nuts (Torx agani) that hold the two plastic boxes to the threaded studs already in the boot bottom. The third box - over the recessed toolbox is loose and just sits there. The last two pastic nuts are to fix the front flap of the boot floor to the front edge of the two boxes. You have to supply your own screws. I used #10-24, but the plastic nuts are not pre-threaded, so anything close in diameter will do. You loose 100 liters of bulk boot space, but the under floor boxes are fine for some of the little stuff you tend to always want to have in the car - can of oil, WW fluid, First aid kit, safety vestsand other bits and pieces. The tools like the jack and lugwrench (!) fit in pockets in the already installed toolbox.

The hooks for the shopping bags become a little less useful, as they are now too low to the floor to have the bag´s hanging. It leaves a regular shaped boot, 1000 mm wide, 770 mm deep and 450 mm tall under the hat shelf. That is with the back seats in their rear position. Moving them forward adds 100 mm depth.350 liters minimu and 400 liters maximum without counting the spaces behind the rear wheelwells. OKk for two travelling on weekends. Problematic for a family of 4 on vacation. For bulk transporting of stuff, I have a 1250 x 2500 mm trailer that handles 750 kg gross (behind the Yeti only 700 kg legally) , so trips to the recycling center and lumber yard is absolutely no problem.

The only remainig ir´tems on the wishlist are additional driving lights to fill in at the 250 m distance. That will have to wait till someone finds a smart way to build them into the upper front grille and convince me that xenon spots can handle the inevitable on-off duty of driving on-road at night. Probably next autumn willbe the time, as they are not needed in summer here, and I will be going south for 6 weeks very soon.

There are already many pics of the boot on the forum, so no need to add to the confusion.

[Anthony 1]

Well done a job worth doing. Do you have rear flaps?

I do not think that turning HID bulbs on and off along wit main beam will cause you undue problems with their longevity. Many cars that do not rely on solely Bi Xenon Lights or at all, instead use a separate HID main beam. These have to undergo repeated on off use. As far as I know, their are not waves of people across motoring forums complaining about poor bulb life.

I suspect that Halogen Auxiliary Lamps would be unsatisfactory in a HID combination, partly because of colour but also because of the lower intensity of Halogen in comparison with HID.

Out of curiosity what Auxiliary Lamp might you be considering?

[Agerbundsen]

Well done a job worth doing. Do you have rear flaps?

I do not think that turning HID bulbs on and off along wit main beam will cause you undue problems with their longevity. Many cars that do not rely on solely Bi Xenon Lights or at all, instead use a separate HID main beam. These have to undergo repeated on off use. As far as I know, their are not waves of people across motoring forums complaining about poor bulb life.

I suspect that Halogen Auxiliary Lamps would be unsatisfactory in a HID combination, partly because of colour but also because of the lower intensity of Halogen in comparison with HID.

Out of curiosity what Auxiliary Lamp might you be considering?

I do not have rear flaps. I did not see a need for them. The exit trajectory from the rear wheels does not really hit any part of the car, and I think it kinda cute as the rear wheels kick up a spray of snow - high enough to see in the rear view mirror. It also helps keep the dork sitting on your rear bumper at a bit longer distance.

I suspect your comments on using halogens are spot (sic) on.

I am considering the Hella Comet 200 Xenon for it's reasonable size, light pattern and EU compliance. Also NBB Beta Xenon, mostly as it is small and looks like a reasonable fit in front of the top grille. Both were mentioned here, but you have to read swedish or translate:http://www.automotorsport.se/biltester/2006/0619/061910.pdf The OZ Lightforce is also attractive due to its possible adjustment of beam angle, but the do get rather large.

I do not need to illuminate moose at 500 meters in the Swedish woods, so focus on somethng 200 meters or so out front. Technically, the bi-xenons do very well and better than the halogens, but there is a hook: Because the xenons do so well form 30 to 150 meters out in front, your perception of the light level further out is "blinded" from the excellent view a little closer. The same function as when you use the fogs to "fill in" close to the car - it reduces your natural focus closer to the car - not ideal in my opinion.

This fixation on seeing as far out into the future as possible comes from a demo day at the (Now defunct?) Hendon Police Drivig School - way back in 1962 - where there were some lessons and principle imposed on me that I have never forgotten: You need to recognize what MIGHT happen as far out in the furture as possible, so you have the opportunity to react in time to it. 100 mph in a black Metropolitan Police 3.8 Mark II Jag on the then A1 Dual carriageway North from Hendon, with a P'lice Sargent driving instructor at the wheel giving a running commentary was very instructive.

[Anthony 1]

I absolutely agree with your comments on light. It has always been my belief that having the best lighting for the conditions in hand are essential. The more, relevant, information about the road ahead help us to gather important information that we then have to process and make both cognitive and subconscious decisions, that we then employ and command in our driving.

I also agree about the use of Fog Lamps being more an influence of distraction, and not worthwhile when driving at normal or high speeds. Vehicle Lighting uses illusion in some ways, even the best lights cannot cover the road with sunlight and normal daylight conditions but it appears bright because of the dark surroundings. Our eyes accommodative to the darkened environment and amply the parts that are highlighted with the headlamp beams. If the near ground is bright then our tricks of accommodation are not so successful so not only are we processing useless information close to the vehicle instead of processing only the way ahead but our eyes and brain then do not see quite as well where the headlamps might be pointing because of light saturation in the near ground. So a double wammy against using fog lights for normal driving. This has been well documented on some manufacturing lighting web sites and some specialist lighting web sites also So it is not just down to your and my own personal observations but an absolute fact.

Vehicle lighting manufacturers do an incredible amount of research into lighting together with the human response and as you know their is far more to it than just flooding the way ahead with light. Modern headlamps deliberately do not light up the foreground so that we concentrate more on the far-ground, the faster we drive the more we tend to concentrate towards infinity.

Lighting manufacturers not only prevent unwanted stray light from going where we do not want it to go, depending on what beam we use, dip or main. They also deliberately force some controlled stray light at low candle power away from the main focus. This is to do with spacial awareness in part but also to allow us to pick up road signs when on dipped beam or to have some information about the curb when on main but it is very tightly controlled in modern lighting systems.

I strongly suspect, that the illegal use of fog lights, in non suitable conditions, has far more to do with a need for a psychological feeling of well being and comfort, like a cuddly toy or child's comfort blanket. Than it has to do with any real benefit in providing useful information about the road ahead.

Hella Comet 200 Xenon

yes these are more modern lights to the older comet series. For their size they should prove very good because of the advances in lighting technology.

[Regorip]

Small things help too:

I installed Skoda front mudflaps. They were quite easy, as the screws already hold the liners in place - the screwholes in the plastic flaps fit well and the hook aroun the lip at the top was easy with the help of a screwdrive in the plastic slot. If you intend to do this, a couple of tips: You need a large Torx driver (45 I think!)- but preferably not very long - the wheels get in the way. be careful not to overtighten the screws when you re-attach, they fit into some plastic goo behind the front wing sheetmetal.

The result was very satisfactory. Before the front wheels kicked up a long of snow and muck on to the lower part of both doors. This is now almost non-existent.

A spare wheel was added - including the three plastic boxes and adjustable floor with access to the boxes. The wheel is a Skoda specific steel with a Dunlop tyre inthe appropriate size and rating. It is too small for any long driving, but I feel much safer having a spare than relying on the compressor and goop.

All the bits fit. There are special plastic nuts (Torx agani) that hold the two plastic boxes to the threaded studs already in the boot bottom. The third box - over the recessed toolbox is loose and just sits there. The last two pastic nuts are to fix the front flap of the boot floor to the front edge of the two boxes. You have to supply your own screws. I used #10-24, but the plastic nuts are not pre-threaded, so anything close in diameter will do. You loose 100 liters of bulk boot space, but the under floor boxes are fine for some of the little stuff you tend to always want to have in the car - can of oil, WW fluid, First aid kit, safety vestsand other bits and pieces. The tools like the jack and lugwrench (!) fit in pockets in the already installed toolbox.

The hooks for the shopping bags become a little less useful, as they are now too low to the floor to have the bag´s hanging. It leaves a regular shaped boot, 1000 mm wide, 770 mm deep and 450 mm tall under the hat shelf. That is with the back seats in their rear position. Moving them forward adds 100 mm depth.350 liters minimu and 400 liters maximum without counting the spaces behind the rear wheelwells. OKk for two travelling on weekends. Problematic for a family of 4 on vacation. For bulk transporting of stuff, I have a 1250 x 2500 mm trailer that handles 750 kg gross (behind the Yeti only 700 kg legally) , so trips to the recycling center and lumber yard is absolutely no problem.

The only remainig ir´tems on the wishlist are additional driving lights to fill in at the 250 m distance. That will have to wait till someone finds a smart way to build them into the upper front grille and convince me that xenon spots can handle the inevitable on-off duty of driving on-road at night. Probably next autumn willbe the time, as they are not needed in summer here, and I will be going south for 6 weeks very soon.

There are already many pics of the boot on the forum, so no need to add to the confusion.

May I ask the price of the spare wheel kit? Was it the same as that charged when ordering the vehicle? ( Mine cost 60 Euro but then they did not give me the compressor and goop)

[Agerbundsen]

Rerogrip, I would be embarrassed to tell you what the retrofit cost - much more than the option.

[Sanqhar]

Quote:

"I do not have rear flaps. I did not see a need for them. The exit trajectory from the rear wheels does not really hit any part of the car,"

But it does hit the rear plastic.

tom

[Anthony 1]

Unfortunately it will end up all over the rear end of mine, when i get it and up the sides.

[Helgestahill]

Rerogrip, I would be embarrassed to tell you what the retrofit cost - much more than the option.

The variable loading floor with spare wheel is not available in Sweden as an option (silly) but my dealer manage to order it.

The price was 600 Skr (approx. 51 £) for the spare wheel and 1600 Skr (approx. 135 £)for variable loading floor.

I told the dealer it was necessary for me to close the deal. And I got it.

Ordered my Tyeti Elegance 170 TDI 19 dec 2009 .........waiting.............and waiting

Written in swenglish

/Helgestahill

[The Plumber]

The variable loading floor with spare wheel is not available in Sweden as an option (silly) but my dealer manage to order it.

The price was 600 Skr (approx. 51 £) for the spare wheel and 1600 Skr (approx. 135 £)for variable loading floor.

I told the dealer it was necessary for me to close the deal. And I got it.

Ordered my Tyeti Elegance 170 TDI 19 dec 2009 .........waiting.............and waiting

Written in swenglish

/Helgestahill

Not aware that you could order both at the same time, as they are two different things but occupy the same space :wonder:

Would not have thought the spare would sit under the standard variable floor, as the deck material in much thicker than the spares hard-backed carpet cover.

Regards,

TP

[Helgestahill]

Not aware that you could order both at the same time, as they are two different things but occupy the same space :wonder:

Would not have thought the spare would sit under the standard variable floor, as the deck material in much thicker than the spares hard-backed carpet cover.

Regards,

TP

Hum.......both at the same time?

My car is build with the standard floor.

The "variable loading floor with spare wheel" comes separate and will be mounted by the dealer.

[Regorip]

Rerogrip, I would be embarrassed to tell you what the retrofit cost - much more than the option.

Thanks Agerbundsen - I'll just have to use some other arguement to get a free compressor and goop out of my dealer! (necessary in my opinion for eventual female drivers)

regards

RP

[Agerbundsen]

The standard boot cover and the variable that fits over the spare wheel are different shapes. The spare wheel will not fit ove the standard cover - and the cover over the spare needs a front vertical surface, screwed to the plastic boxes, which supports the front of the cover and provides a raised lip, which stops stuff from sliding under the rear seats. The variable cover has a plywood bottom, supporting the load in the boot on the spare wheel.

Incidentally, the spare wheel and new bottom and plastic boxes also adds some more sound deadening - I can no longer hear the exhaust note from the back, so the overall noise level has dropped a bit from the already quiet ride. The main sound now is the engine intake and a very faint tyre noise. There is virtually no wind noise till over 120 km/hr, except in certain cross wind situations, there is a whistle from the sharp lower edge of the roof rails. This is mainly from apparent winds from the driver's side. If it is from the passenger's side the driver does not hear it.

[Terfyn]

I do have the rear mudflaps installed and - I am pleased to say - it has No effect on the spray of snow from the rear wheels - a satisfying stream at least 3' off the ground. Reminds me of a Yamaha jet ski with its (rather stupid) fountain of spray from the stern. Unfortunately as there was no following traffic, I could not test its covering power!

Unfortunately I presume that rain water will follow the same trajectory so any following cars will get a windscreen full.

[aerofurb]

Mud flaps fitted from new so don't know how much they help - but they look nice, I reckon!

PS My old Kawasaki 550 JetSki didn't have the nancy fountain thing like the Yamahas....!

[MacFadyin]

What's the plane in the bckground Aerofurb?

[Yeti_Man]

Wow - if he replies to this old thread, hello from me mate. :-)

[mbrock]

It's a Cessna 182T!