Dealer

Bought through Marlborough Skoda in Isleworth. 99% of communication was done via email, which suited me. In general the dealer was excellent, although I got the impression that one person was dealing with a lot of customers, so the personal touch was lacking. However, I’m more than happy to forgive that bearing in mind the financial improvement over my local dealer.

Collection

Almost flawless. Given coffee and biscuit on arrival, and there was a short wait while everything was bought together. Then it was just a case of pay the balance on my Switch card and drive off. Then they realised that they hadn’t put any fuel in! Rather than muck around they gave me a credit slip to a local garage and I stopped there and fuelled up.

Out of London

It always takes me a few minutes to get my bearings in London, and this time was no exception. Having fuelled up I immediately took the A4 in the wrong direction! Fortunately I noticed quickly and reversed course. Initial thoughts: the Yeti is very quiet inside, you only hear the engine when you give it some gas. There is very little road noise, and external noise seems well controlled.

The car handles very well – the brakes are easy to modulate and the gearbox is smooth. The steering feels “rightâ€. Finding reverse is tricky the first few times, and it seems a long way away from my side of car. Once found, the park distance control is great, and I really like the visual confirmation on the big screen. An easy car to manoeuvre around town.

As the 40 limits open up to proper motorway I get to stretch the Yeti’s legs for the first time. In 6th at 40, there is no need to change gears to pull away (unless you need to do it quickly). An indicated 80 comes up easily and swiftly, with just a gentle whoosh and growl from the engine which quickly subsides. At 80 interior noise is still excellent, the engine is pulling 2300rpm (or so) and is very relaxed. This is good cruiser. By this time the mpg has crept to around 40.

Into the country

An hour on the motorway and it’s time to get off. The mpg is now showing 48, which seems excellent. Twisty single carriageway roads are dealt with similarly easily. The Yeti is great around fast, tight bends, and the slightly elevated driving position makes visibility excellent.

These are roads I drive every day, so I can now truly compare the Yeti with my previous car (a Mercedes). Pleasingly, and slightly astonishingly, the ride quality is probably as good! You hear the engine more under acceleration, and ride is perhaps a little less composed, but it handles the bumps, cracks and chasms (really!) far better than the Mercedes did.

The engine is very willing, considering it now has a grand total of 100 miles on the clock, and a couple of overtakes show that this car can shift if you need it to. By the end of the journey, I’ve achieved 47mpg, which I’m delighted by.

Some “unnamed†roads

The next morning I decide to just spend an hour mooching around and getting to know the car. I spend a few minutes setting up the Bluetooth connection to my phone, making a few adjustments on the vehicle settings (alarm chirp OFF!), I then stick an SD card into the Bolero and get going.

Today it’s going to be mostly little country lanes, in places barely worthy of description of road. They are single track and have very poor surfaces in place. The Yeti glides serenely over these, no doubt helped by the fact that anything over 40mph means you can’t “stop in the distance you can seeâ€.

I’m continually impressed by how quiet the car is, and how easy it is to drive it fluidly and smoothly. No squeaks or creaks anywhere in the car, which is nice

Comfort, refinement and quality

I find the seats very comfortable. They don’t have quite a much side support as I’m used to, but so far this hasn’t been detrimental to my enjoyment. My first journey lasted nearly three hours, and I felt as fresh as a daisy at the end. Everything inside feels good quality. To be fair, the switchgear doesn’t feel as solid as that in the Merc, but it certainly good enough. Dash layout is generally good – I’m not sure why the passenger airbag indicator has such pride of place, but other than that I’m happy.

The Gobi leather is very nice, and I think the lighter colour was definitely the right choice. I wasn’t interested in having the sunroof, and without that I suspect the black leather would make the interior a bit gloomy. As it is, the interior is light, airy and a thoroughly pleasant place to be. The sunset glass is darker than I remembered.

Overall, the car feels as good and as well built as any VW, and the interior quality merits comparison with the Audi A4 I was in recently. Remarkable, especially at this price point.

Performance

My test drives were of the 1.2TSI and the 140PS diesel. I drove the little petrol out of curiosity really, since I wasn’t going to buy anything other than a 4x4 variant. It was nice enough, but wouldn’t have suited me at all. The 140PS was an entirely different prospect, and having driven it I nearly went for this engine to save £700 or so.

I’m now so glad I didn’t do this, and went for the 170PS!

This engine in this car is a cracking combination. If you obey the gear change indicators you get great economy. Ignore them and let the engine pull hard and you’ve basically got a GTi. I’m used to having a goodly amount of power and torque on tap, and although the Yeti is down on torque/tonne it’s the same on bhp/tonne, and this means it flies if you let it.

This would be useless, of course, if you couldn’t both go around bends and stop well. And the Yeti does both of these very very well. I’m not sure if the Haldex clutch is helping on roundabouts and very tight bends – if it is then it’s imperceptible. If it’s not, then this is one well set up car. Either way, it’s great fun, and far more “chuckable†than I expected.

The salesman assured me when I collected the car that the engine improves considerably around the 4,000 mile mark. Having spent a few hours with it now, this makes me want that point to come sooner rather than later. I actually found myself smiling as the car flew around bends, and for me, that says it all.

Oh, and I didn’t consider the 1.8 petrol as I don’t enjoy the ambience of petrol stations that much!

Equipment

The Elegance model doesn’t lack for much as standard equipment, in my opinion. I considered the sunroof, but decided I’d rather spend the money on getting the 170PS engine. I’d never spend £1,400 on SatNav – or even half of that, to be honest. I was tempted by the parking assist, but I’d only have got it because it was cool – I almost never parallel park anyway. I ended up adding the tyre pressure monitor, and not a lot else.

Worthy of note, my Blackberry isn’t supposed to work with the Bolero Bluetooth; but it does – and so far very well indeed. Whether there’s been an update to the Bolero since the compatibility list was created I don’t know, but the phone book and all other functionally seems to work, so I’m pleased.

On the subject of the Bolero, having read up on the use of the SD card, I’ve stuck about 80 albums on using playlists and the “nested†layout described on this forum. Works very well like this, and is simple to use. Shame it doesn’t work properly without this fix, but it’s not a showstopper. Also, the Bolero seems like a clever bit of kit, with lots of complex features that I’ll take ages to get to grip with.

The one thing I think I should have ordered is the sound system upgrade. While there’s nothing wrong with the standard setup, I’m used to having a very good stereo in the Merc, and I’m finding the Yeti “lacking†in something – probably the lower range. I wonder how easy this is to fix?

I’m looking forward to my first night drive. Cornering bi-xenons should be excellent for 3am fast country road driving, which I do quite a lot of.

So, early conclusion: this is fabulous car; I just wish the stereo had a bit more punch. And no, this isn’t going to become a “life changing†snow-chain issue!

Excellent review NGee and many thanks! You have, more or less, confirmed all my expectations for the Elegance CR170 4x4 I am (fingers crossed!!!) shortly to take delivery of. After reading this, I simply can't wait.

Edited 11 May, 201016 yr by davecarter

Glad to hear you're so impressed.

I've only got the 1.2, but my S-Max has 175hp, so I can imagine the Yeti flies !

My BlackBerry works well with the Bolero too, as does the wife's Samsung.

If you find that the stereo needs a bit of a boost, have you considered an active subwoofer ? I had one on my old vehicle, so transferred it to the Yeti - makes quite a bit of difference. Goes under the passenger seat (as BT module under Driver's I thnk ?).

A well thought out road test and opinion of your Yeti, well done NGee.

I enjoyed reading it, and makes the 2 to 3 weeks waiting time for my SE version seem more unbearable !

Edited 11 May, 201016 yr by BigHusky

170 TDi is the right choice

Great photos, and what a good colour. I wish I had the extra cash for the 170! Bet its a flyer ! Happy with my 110 but would love an extra 60HP.

Glad to hear you're so impressed.

I've only got the 1.2, but my S-Max has 175hp, so I can imagine the Yeti flies !

My BlackBerry works well with the Bolero too, as does the wife's Samsung.

If you find that the stereo needs a bit of a boost, have you considered an active subwoofer ? I had one on my old vehicle, so transferred it to the Yeti - makes quite a bit of difference. Goes under the passenger seat (as BT module under Driver's I thnk ?).

That sounds like just the ticket.

How easy, or otherwise, was it to install, and what model?

Talk about waxing poetic! - but I can't find anything wrong with your conclusions.

Another great review. Thanks. Enjoyed reading that.

Excellent review.

I too was surprised at how well you can chuck the yeti round corners.

Its one amazing versatile vehicle

I’m not sure if the Haldex clutch is helping on roundabouts and very tight bends – if it is then it’s imperceptible. If it’s not, then this is one well set up car. Either way, it’s great fun, and far more “chuckable” than I expected.

I'm sure you find that the 4x4 does help if my experience of the PD(CR)170 engine in my Octavia vRS is anything to go by.

The one failing feature of this car is the lack of traction when driving in earnest. Having drive the 4x4 Yeti (only a CR140 though) there was an immediate difference in the ability to make a quick getaway and to accelerate out of a sharp corner/roundabout - solely due to the 4x4.

Enjoy!

I'm sure you find that the 4x4 does help if my experience of the PD(CR)170 engine in my Octavia vRS is anything to go by.

The one failing feature of this car is the lack of traction when driving in earnest. Having drive the 4x4 Yeti (only a CR140 though) there was an immediate difference in the ability to make a quick getaway and to accelerate out of a sharp corner/roundabout - solely due to the 4x4.

Enjoy!

Absolutely

My Octy was only a 140PD, but in hard acceleration, activated the antispen in both 1st and 2nd on a dry road - never mind wet roundabouts. The Yeti doesn't miss a trick. Kinda amusing at traffic lights on a wet day with a souped up something-or- other blipping the throttle, waiting for green, and then doing a wild wheelspin while the SM just takes off - no drama at all, just motion.

Haldex 4 rules on the road.

Well written review and I totally agree with your enthusiasm for the mighty CR170 YETI!

whilst i too have waxed lyrical about the CR170.....oi shurrup about it will ya? too many folks is getting wind that there's more to the cr170 than meets the eye

(great review though!)