I am now back home from the Spain trip, and the clock has just turned 15,000 km - close enough to 10,000 miles.

Overall, I am very pleased with the car. It is handy, fast and quiet and no vices that I have discovered. It did well on tight mountain roads in Spain, really miserable snow conditions in Germany and further north. On the fast stretches of the Autobahn, it easily keeps up in the left (fast) lane with the other VAG TGI engined vehicles. You get up to speed in 6th and cruise along all day at 140-180 km/hr and never have to change down. The suspension is well balanced and the ride firm, but not harsh like the Octy was. High speed cornering is comfortable without excess leaning.

The view from the cockpit is good due to the higher seating position.

The seats are comfortable, and you do not get the fidgets after several hours in the same position. There is just enough lateral support to let you just sit in the corners, but more would have been better.

The position of the inside rear view mirror stinks. Especially in tight bends in mountains, you cannot see where you need to see in a right hand hairpin without going through contortions - it will have to be moved up 40 mm and glued in the area now covered with black spots.

Overall mileage is around 16 km/liter or around 40 MPG - in very mixed driving, mostly at speed and much in slow driving in slightly difficult conditions. In the first 15,000 km, Snehvide has used only 1 liter of engine oil - ½ liter the first few 1000 miles and very little since. Impressive.

I am very pleased wioth the Goodyear SuperGrip winter tyres in the 16" 215/60 size - both in sloppy stuff, on steep wet hills (30% grade) and on the highway at speed under all conditions, including wet, snow and slop and dry road at temperatures from 0 - 20°C.

Of the two faults discovered, the Xenon light failure when you start too soon after switching the lights on has not really been fixed - but I hear there is a controller fix available. It is easy to get around - switch the engine on first, then the lights. The leaking connection between the turbo and the front exhaust pipe was fixed and has stayed fixed.

There are no squeeks, rattles or other irritants. The car is exceptionally quiet up to a rather high speed. Wind noise only appears over 100 mph or in cross winds. Tyre noise is extremely well insulated and the engine hum and exhaust rumble only manifests itself at significant veiocity - well past legal rate of advance outside of Germany.

The car is very handy and fits in small spaces - narrow streets in Spain, parking in very tight basement lots with lots of pillars, but you need to learn to judge the slab sides, as they cannot be seen from inside. It is quite difficult to judge the distance to the car behind, as you can only see the top of it's windshield through the back window - usually, there is a lot more space than you think. The rounded front corners are really great for getting around in tight spaces.

There are just two items I cannot get my head around:

1. Are the 17" wheel with 225/50 series tyres better for the summer than the 16" 215/60's?

2. Where do you put two long range driving lights to supplement the high beam Xenons? - and are xenon driving lights practical for road use? I do not want them to be sticking out in front of the license plate and I definately eo not want some cow-catcher bar mounted either. The low down light bar below the bumper is also the wrong place for long range lights.

I am satisfied with the White colour - it works well and seems to be the new fad colour on SUV's - and I do not like black.

Edited 17 March, 201016 yr by Agerbundsen

What a great review of your long interesting trip.

Thanks so much for posting it as it helps to keep the anticipation levels high, and the satisfaction that the right puppy has been chosen.

The position of the inside rear view mirror stinks. Especially in tight bends in mountains, you cannot see where you need to see in a right hand hairpin without going through contortions - it will have to be moved up 40 mm and glued in the area now covered with black spots.

2. Where do you put two long range driving lights to supplement the high beam Xenons? - and are xenon driving lights practical for road use? I do not want them to be sticking out in front of the license plate and I definately eo not want some cow-catcher bar mounted either. The low down light bar below the bumper is also the wrong place for long range lights.

What an interesting report - thank you.

I do agree about the height of the mirror - it is too low. Because of the shaded area above it, I dont think it would be easy to reposition without scraping the black spots off. I have lowered my seat as far as I can and can now see under the mirror.

As for additional lighting - shame on you!!!!!! I am assured (by our Forum pundits) that these Xenon lights are the TOTAL answer to car lighting and, if I had them instead of my sad halogens, I would never hit a child running out on the road again - not that I have yet!

I don't think that the front would take a lighting bar without it protruding beyond the bumper line. This would probably cause interest from the authorities as it would reduce pedestrian safety. Would a light bar on the roof rails provide an answer? Many continental lorries have this set up.

Edited 17 March, 201016 yr by Terfyn

What an interesting report - thank you.

I do agree about the height of the mirror - it is too low. Because of the shaded area above it, I dont think it would be easy to reposition without scraping the black spots off. I have lowered my seat as far as I can and can now see under the mirror.

As for additional lighting - shame on you!!!!!! I am assured (by our Forum pundits) that these Xenon lights are the TOTAL answer to car lighting and, if I had them instead of my sad halogens, I would never hit a child running out on the road again - not that I have yet!

I don't think that the front would take a lighting bar without it protruding beyond the bumper line. This would probably cause interest from the authorities as it would reduce pedestrian safety. Would a light bar on the roof rails provide an answer? Many continental lorries have this set up.

The xenons do very well in most situations, but getting used to the excellent close-up lighting does make one want also to see further. My interest is in the 150 - 250 m range. So far the lights are available, but would need cutting into the black upper grill.

Interesting right up. Thanks.

Terfyn,

the question of the legality of those roof lights has been questioned on many of the 4x4 Forums. The consensus seems to be that on-road they are legal ONLY if fitted in front of the front axle, which is how the lorries get away with it.

On the Freelander, and I suspect the Yeti, they would produce too much light scatter and reflection off the bonnet to be of any great use. I reckon that a nice pair of small Hella Drive lights could be fitted in the grille area, but a lot would depend on either how strong the plastic was, how much room there is under the plastic, and whether you can get into the area easily.

Thank you Agerbundsen for the very accurate and tecnical review. These are for all of us Yeti owner really valuable data.

I usually run 10.0000 km per year (less than 6500 mi) but I would propose whoever in this forum, who runs more mileage/km with the snow monster, to post this kind of report providing info concerning consumption, faults and so on.

It'll be like having a forward look on the behaviour of the monster.

Thank you

Ciao

I may be mistaken, but aren't there lights built into the roof rails on the Nissan X-Trail???

Yes there are - I've just seen a picture on Google Images.

I may be mistaken, but aren't there lights built into the roof rails on the Nissan X-Trail???

It was the top of the range model bought out around 2006-7. It had two "driving??" lights built into the front mount of the roof rail.

It did indeed, but I think they were removed from later models.

The lights aren't illegal as such, just that they don't conform to C & U Regs when used on-road, but nothing to stop you using them off-road.

Summerwheel and tyre decision made.

Spectrum 16" wheels with the Conti Premium Contact 2; 215/60 tyres originally delivered with the car.

The cost was very convincing, as the dealer still had the tyres he took off the car in December. The Spectrums look OK, and the 17" wheels, while looking much more cool, were more than double the cost and as I am concerned with the 50 series tyres and errant curbs, I stuck with the 16" 60 series.

It helped a lot with the decision that the car handled very well with the 16" winter tyres on dry road at speed. It should get a little more responsive with summer rubber, so OK.

Just for the sake of completeness, I do not expect any kind of off-road performance with the tyres chosen. Occasional unpaved road OK, but no serious off-road stuff. Wet traction on metalled pavement is king.

Edited 19 March, 201016 yr by Agerbundsen