Yeti vs Jag

[Noige]

Picked up my Yeti (Muscovado Elegance TDI 140) today and drove the 40 odd miles home, good mix of motorway plus queue then steep hills and potholes. Traded in my beloved S-type 2.7D. Overall happy with the deal I got from Robert Bamford in Gloucester. So what did I miss and what did I not miss about the Jag?

Missed:

Wonderful smooth ride on good surfaces

Creamy power once up to speed

Slick auto box

Comfy seats

Not missed:

Horrid clunk when you reach 5mph as doors lock

Low profile Jag tyres hitting potholes with sickening lurch; Yeti much more forgiving

Wallowy ride on narrow bendy roads, Yeti much more direct

30 odd mpg - Yeti is well over 40

Terrible turbo lag coming out of roundabouts etc; again Yeti seems to pick up very quickly - its nice to have a manual box again

Horrid low boot with large lip - back breaking with heavy suitcases. Yeti just slide em in

Surprisingly Yeti seems to have more power up hills- not really opened up yet tho'

Back wheel spin coming out of steep drive; Yeti 4WD wins hands down

Surprisingly Yeti radio is much clearer, the proper aerial helps and the Jag system was always a bit bass heavy even with the bass turned down

So overall I'm sorry to see the Jag go, but happy with my Yeti - hope the second list gets even longer as time progresses.

Incidentally this forum has kept me going for the 10 odd weeks I have waited since order. Some really good stuff on towbars, mats, audio etc which I shall be following up - thanks all!

[octy888]

Glad you are happy with you're new ride Noige. Very different vehicles in many ways, just shows though how the Yeti can compete with so many cars because it has such a wide range of talents.

I personally like switching between our two vehicles from time to time (myself and partner share cars), its nice to get in the Yeti after driving our hard riding, but very fast, coupe...and vice versa. Keeps the driving experience fresher longer, its nice to swap, then after a while its nice to get 'your' car back.

Edited 5 June, 2010 by octy888

[Noige]

Thanks, yes we have a similar situation so I am hoping we can do the same from time to time - the Little Chef won't look at mine or contemplate a drive yet, but I'll win her round!

[Macdemon]

Kitten and I had our own cars.

Her's was a Toyota Yaris and mine is a Honda Accord Tourer Type-S.

Both very different cars, the one thing they had in common was that they were both petrol engines and the fuel filler cap was on the left.

When we get our SM the Accord will be left as the 2nd part of the PX deal. The SM will be diesel and with the filler cap on the RIGHT.

I just hope we DON'T accidently fill her up with unleaded :no:

Like norge (congrats BTW ) I will be sad to see the Accord go coz I will miss the power of a 2.5litre engine for overtaking, but will not miss fuel fill-ups or tax renewals

Also I will miss the following:

remote tailgate open/closing

FREE MOTs' from my local Honda dealer :'(

bloody cheap services from the same (the last service was around £260.00 )

...............................and I think thats about it really.

Roll on our new SM

[davecarter]

Traded my Audi TT Mk 2 in for the Yeti I picked up yesterday. Like yours, a very different kind of car to the one you were used to. For me;

I will miss:

The nice smug feeling a posy upmarket sports coupe gave me.

Never getting tired of just looking at the car - such a beautiful sleek and sexy design.

I won't miss:

Never really finding a comfortable position in the seat. I'm convinced this gave me the serious back problems I experienced shortly after getting the car.

Steering was too light and far too much travel on the clutch pedal.

Spending half an hour thawing out the door locking mechanism every time we had a good frost before I could get in the car.

Slipping and sliding all over the place on our estate over the long hard winter.

[redandwhitepauly]

How are you finding the gobi interior ? Is it lighter or darker than you imagined (if you hadnt seen it first except in pics ?)

Glad you enjoying it tho. I too have ordered the 140 and hope I made the right choice in not just going the whole hog 170bhp but the 140 i test drove seemed more than adequate ?

[jst_at_home]

Traded my Audi TT Mk 2 in for the Yeti I picked up yesterday. Like yours, a very different kind of car to the one you were used to. For me;

I will miss:

The nice smug feeling a posy upmarket sports coupe gave me.

Never getting tired of just looking at the car - such a beautiful sleek and sexy design.

I won't miss:

Never really finding a comfortable position in the seat. I'm convinced this gave me the serious back problems I experienced shortly after getting the car.

Steering was too light and far too much travel on the clutch pedal.

Spending half an hour thawing out the door locking mechanism every time we had a good frost before I could get in the car.

Slipping and sliding all over the place on our estate over the long hard winter.

Not dissimilar I traded a M-B 230 SLK. The bit I do miss is the auto gearbox.

My daily drive is a Company Passat with top spec. I look forward to the Yeti at weekends for its higher driving position, quieter engine, better economy and its current rarity value.

It's probably the best all round car I've ever had.

John

[FussyJim]

So how is the cornering ability on this car then after so many people have jumped from lower and or sporty cars, when your driving along twisty a & b roads is it too wallow to press on like you would in a gti or such like?

This is the only reason im considering an Octavia vRS estate, but really like the idea of four wheel drive, big brakes and 170bhp on the yeti, a bit of a cossie in agricultural sheeps clothing!

[octy888]

So how is the cornering ability on this car then after so many people have jumped from lower and or sporty cars, when your driving along twisty a & b roads is it too wallow to press on like you would in a gti or such like?

This is the only reason im considering an Octavia vRS estate, but really like the idea of four wheel drive, big brakes and 170bhp on the yeti, a bit of a cossie in agricultural sheeps clothing!

Tell you what it handles particularly well in my view. Don't get me wrong it couldn't stay with our other car - a 135 but its surprisingly agile through the twisties. Excellent steering, initial turn in is a little soft as you'd expect but as for grip and handling its great, much like a GTi. Very often a softer, more compliant ride when linked to a well sorted chassis is a much better compromise for our un-smooth roads than a harder riding 'sports' car.

Something EVO magazine seem to agree with.

Ours is the 1.8TSi petrol so can't comment on the heavier front end (I assume) of the diesel.

Edited 5 June, 2010 by octy888

[FussyJim]

Tell you what it handles particularly well in my view. Don't get me wrong it couldn't stay with our other car - a 135 but its surprisingly agile through the twisties. Excellent steering, initial turn in is a little soft as you'd expect but as for grip and handling its great, much like a GTi. Very often a softer, more compliant ride when linked to a well sorted chassis is a much better compromise for our un-smooth roads than a harder riding 'sports' car.

Something EVO magazine seem to agree with.

Ours is the 1.8TSi petrol so can't comment on the heavier front end (I assume) of the diesel.

Thanks for that octy, I suppose I cant expect a soft roader to be amazing on the twisty stuff but certainly sounds good, almost like my mkiv golf gti, which does have softish dampers and soft on the turn in as you describe too! hmmm, vRS or what seeems to be Yeti vRS in 170cr guise! will have to test drive one methinks.

[fuzzybunny]

nice choice of colour noige

traded in my 200bhp petrol vw eos for the yeti.

no regrets though, I can get all my sailing gear in the yeti it was a real hassle geting it all into the eos

miss the power but made up by the joy of having all that room and the yeti goes round corners like its on rails

Edited 5 June, 2010 by fuzzybunny

[davecarter]

Tell you what it handles particularly well in my view. Don't get me wrong it couldn't stay with our other car - a 135 but its surprisingly agile through the twisties. Excellent steering, initial turn in is a little soft as you'd expect but as for grip and handling its great, much like a GTi. Very often a softer, more compliant ride when linked to a well sorted chassis is a much better compromise for our un-smooth roads than a harder riding 'sports' car.

Something EVO magazine seem to agree with.

Ours is the 1.8TSi petrol so can't comment on the heavier front end (I assume) of the diesel.

Only been driving mine for a couple of days but I have to fully concur with Octy888. I can't and don't expect it to handle, in the dry, as well as my previous TT but, I'll tell you what, it might give it a run for its money in more adverse conditions. It feels surprisingly nimble and nippy and I haven't even bothered opening her up much yet (still believe in running new cars in for about 1000 miles). You can feel the car's eagerness as you run through the lower gears. I have the 170 hp diesel.

[900000]

Oh I will miss my A2 terribly. Just thinking about selling him fills me with dread. Like a Yeti the idiosyncratic A2 crawls under your skin as it has so much character. So just based on the A2 side (not having my Yeti yet):

I'll miss:

• £35 a year tax.
• Parking in tiny, tiny spaces. The A2 is only 3,826mm long.
• The lovely three cylinder thrum from the engine. Also its eagerness to rev and its perkiness. Most all passengers in the car never believed me when I said it was only a 1,4 with 75 horses! Aluminium body helped there I guess.
• That it has no openable bonnet and just has a service hatch (the bonnet can come off of course, but you never need to, unless you need to change a light bulb as I had to this past week in that picture). So all the things were easy to find in one place and always clean.
• The go kart suspension making fast country lane driving amazing fun with NO body roll.

What I won't miss:

• The go kart suspension making speed bumps a pain.
• The HUGE A pillar blind spot.
• The car being too narrow to have five seats.
• The sloping rear window eating into the boot space.
• The split rear screen without a wiper.
• The single wiper not properly cleaning the whole windscreen.
• The 34 litre fuel tank (later ones got a 42 litre tank).

Other things I love I'll love again (in the Yeti):

• Huge openable glass roof
• Climatronic
• My BOSE stereo (albeit a no name brand version!)
• Trip computer
• Cruise control
• Having a quirky car

And what am I looking forward to in the Yeti? Well we all know the Yeti's many, many attributes. But I will have new toys I've never had before. Bi-Xenon lights, cornering lights, auto lights, parking sensors front and rear, heated leather seats, lots of SPACE and a 4x4 drivetrain.

[davecarter]

And what am I looking forward to in the Yeti? Well we all know the Yeti's many, many attributes. But I will have new toys I've never had before. Bi-Xenon lights, cornering lights, auto lights, parking sensors front and rear, heated leather seats, lots of SPACE and a 4x4 drivetrain.

I've had a few different cars in my time but, with the Yeti, comes a few toys I've never had before in a car;

1.) Panoramic Sunroof (although I've had sunroofs before).

2.) Sat Nav

3.) Cornering Fog Lights

4.) "Intelligent" four-wheel drive (had a Land Rover Defender 10 years back).

5.) Heated Front Seats

6.) Rear Parking Sensors

7.) Cruise Control

8.) Wonderfully flexible rear seating system

9.) Internal Bike Holder

[Macdemon]

And I'll miss my trusty BIG Accord Tourer with her powerful 2.4litre VTEC powerplant under the bonnet :yes:

AND the fact that I've an a ENTIRE greenhouse in the back (with the seat folded down of course) ........................................oh, and before you ask, no it was not all assembled

Edited 6 June, 2010 by Macdemon

[Noige]

How are you finding the gobi interior ? Is it lighter or darker than you imagined (if you hadnt seen it first except in pics ?)

Glad you enjoying it tho. I too have ordered the 140 and hope I made the right choice in not just going the whole hog 170bhp but the 140 i test drove seemed more than adequate ?

Hi redandwhitepauly,

The gobi interior is darker than the cream was in the Jag - I saw it described as 'putty' colour elsewhere in the forum, which about covers it. I think it will last well and not show the dirt, I do prefer light colours inside and I think this fits the bill. I don't think you will be disappointed.

As regards cornering - mine has only had very limited outings so far so can't really comment.

[prodata]

And I'll miss my trusty BIG Accord Tourer with her powerful 2.4litre VTEC powerplant under the bonnet

Yes that's what I'm concerned about. Currently got a 2003 Accord Exec saloon with the same engine and while it isn't quite in latest Golf GTi territory for instance in performance terms, it does go pretty well.

I did try a Yeti 1.8TSi again yesterday (7K+ on the clock and so no longer tight) back to back with the Accord and there's no doubt that the Accord has the clear edge. This 1.8 Yeti goes OK but it's still a slight disappointment (underwhelming was how I've described it previously and my opinion has been reconfirmed) in the performance department - just not much oomph left in higher gears at speed, for instance.

I'm sure others might ask why I'd even consider a Yeti if performance was a priority, but the problem is that you get used to driving a car with a certain level of performance. And so it can really take the edge off the enjoyment of a brand new car that you've just forked out thousands for if it compares too unfavourably with the old one. I know that a Yeti will be a step down in performance from the Accord, but I'm just trying to double-check that it won't be too big a step.

Having said all that, I'll probably still go with a Yeti order - it's too much of a Goldilocks car to discard for me (not too big, not too small - just right etc etc).

But I'm still in a quandry between 1.8TSi and CR170. I definitely prefer the power delivery characteristics and lack of commotion while accelerating of the petrol, but I'm a little wary of the fact that I'll constantly be reminded of the relatively poor fuel consumption whenever I look at the MPG meter, and especially if I use the car's performance potential much. I know that in pure economic terms there's not much to choose between them over 3-4 years (£1Kish extra capital cost on the diesel vs significantly lower running costs). But choosing to buy the diesel is a one-off decision - once taken then fairly soon forgotten about - and I've mentally set aside the capital for the diesel, whereas every time you go to fill up the 1.8TSi or to retax it then there'll be a relatively frequent reminder of its extra running costs.

[Agerbundsen]

Prodata,

There is no commotion during power delivery from the 170 CR and it has much more power characteristics of a Petrol engine than the PD had - PLUS MUCH MORE TORQUE at every point than the 1.8.

That it does not need to go up into the hysterical RPM's to deliver is just a plus IMHO.

One big draw-back though: Quiet low rpm at speed can easily lull you into exceeding the limits by a BUNCH - iffen you don't pay attention or set the alarm.

[prodata]

There is no commotion during power delivery from the 170 CR...

I'm not sure that I really agree with that. Admittedly I've only driven the Yeti diesels (both CR140 and CR170) on a relatively short (eg 1 hour) test drive but all my recollections suggest that the diesel had noticeably/distinctly more NVH under acceleration than the 1.8TSi.

I'm not suggesting for a second that it's a significant problem nor that diesels haven't improved out of all recognition over the past several years (and certainly the Yeti diesel is quieter and smoother than the current Honda CRV 2.2 diesel that I often drive - never driven a PD for comparison I'm afraid). But I'd be surprised if you drove a 1.8TSi and CR170 back-to-back that you didn't think that the CR170 was a little harsher and more vocal under acceleration. Certainly all the dealers that I've spoken to about this seem, if pressed for a view, to agree that the 1.8TSi is slightly less noticeable under acceleration.

But in any event, I think that I'm leaning towards the CR170. The extra NVH of the diesel that I perceive, rightly or wrongly, is just one tick in the con column out of several factors and will I suspect be outweighed in my final totting up by the long-term lower running costs of the diesel.

[Macdemon]

You raise some interesting points there prodata.

Don't forget that the Accord and the SM are two COMPLETLY different sheep

Its a bit like compairing Asda with John Lewis.................both offer GREAT (ok, call me a saddo ) shopping experiences for totally different reasons.

Kitten was growing tired of her 4 year old Yaris as it was the 2nd one she had owned, and I fancied a change from an executive estate. I DID look at the superb but was categorically told I couldn't have it :'(

SoKitten fell on love with the Yeti in the showroon as soon as she saw it, and was overjoyed with the parking assist on the Elegance (yeah, she can't park for toffee, so I always have to do it for her ,

My advice............................................go for a Yeti and don't stop thinking about it

[Agerbundsen]

I'm not sure that I really agree with that. Admittedly I've only driven the Yeti diesels (both CR140 and CR170) on a relatively short (eg 1 hour) test drive but all my recollections suggest that the diesel had noticeably/distinctly more NVH under acceleration than the 1.8TSi.

I'm not suggesting for a second that it's a significant problem nor that diesels haven't improved out of all recognition over the past several years (and certainly the Yeti diesel is quieter and smoother than the current Honda CRV 2.2 diesel that I often drive - never driven a PD for comparison I'm afraid). But I'd be surprised if you drove a 1.8TSi and CR170 back-to-back that you didn't think that the CR170 was a little harsher and more vocal under acceleration. Certainly all the dealers that I've spoken to about this seem, if pressed for a view, to agree that the 1.8TSi is slightly less noticeable under acceleration.

But in any event, I think that I'm leaning towards the CR170. The extra NVH of the diesel that I perceive, rightly or wrongly, is just one tick in the con column out of several factors and will I suspect be outweighed in my final totting up by the long-term lower running costs of the diesel.

I have never been even close to a 1.8TSI, so I have no comparison. I can tell you that after the car was properly broken in, the engine sound is significantly reduced. I presume that might be the same with the petrol version, but recognize that the demo cars are not broken in at all, as they will have few miles on them. The process takes quite a while, 10,000 miles or so........

Mine is at 16,000 miles at present.

Funnily enugh someone elses argument for the petrol was that it sounded more powerful - exhaust note and all that. :|

As someone else also labelled me "Power and stealth" my interst was performance and economy, not so much sound, although the sound of my previous 1986 5 cylinder Mercedes 250TD diesel was really a very cosy clattering, sorta homey, like.

Edited 7 June, 2010 by Agerbundsen

[Noige]

I'm totally converted to diesel now and my 140ps Yeti feels like its going to be as lively as any petrol to drive. People seem to get fixated on 0-60 times and in real life you are looking for the sudden boost of power which diesel can give you. It also gives plenty of grunt up the hills.

My Yeti is very quiet engine wise - you have to listen hard to hear the slight diesel rattle.

Go for a diesel - go on!

[scotchandskoda]

Prodata

I have the 1.8, and I didn't try the diesel, should have done, but really wanted the extra performance from the petrol and am not a fan of diesels in general. I've tried some great performance cars over the past 10 years and rate the Yeti like many - Car Magazine, EVO, The Guardian etc but it's still compromise at this price. I just think it's a very well balanced package overall, and competes well against the usual suspects - Nissans, VWs and Toyotas.

I don't know too much about the Accord, but that's a bigger engine so difficult to do a direct comparison, is it 6 speed? I have only just got used to the 6 speed box, after an auto, you need to really use it, and enjoy it. The turbo kicks in quite late the way I drive, can make it seem sluggish in a way until you push it just a bit. The turbo cutting in makes for a quick little car and very chuckable - still practical & comfortable, not many can do that.

The mpg with the 1.8 is not bad, if you drive in a certain way, I've got use to that too. I'm not sure you can rely on the readout, as I did a journey recently, same return journey should have been the same average - one way it was 32 the other 40, so which is right? I'm getting 35 average now, which is okay and a cruise across North London daytime yesterday was 32, not bad if you'd seen the route you'd be happy with that. If you can change up quickly the mpg is pretty good, keep the revs below 1500 and it's fine. You can still do the occasional mad dash, and it won't hit the mpg too much. If you factor in the savings in insurance I got - over half the Audi's premium - which was about £600 that's quite a lot of mad dash driving. One way to look at it! Mine's done 5000 miles so is well loose and great fun to drive.

The 1.8 is very smooth quite engine, the fan on the lowest setting is noisier when idle, road noise is more than engine noise. Anyway, you're looking at a Yeti forum so you won't get too many bad experiences here.

Edited 9 June, 2010 by scotchandskoda