Had to re register my account, so not really my first on Briskoda - owner a Favia VRS 4 or 5 years ago

Need to buy my wife a new car and might put this through the company. Therefore my purchasing decision potentially is driven by CO2.

First question - my wife currently drives an Freelander 2, which she loves - although I think its too big for her!. During the lovely winter we have just had it was great (apart from when I filled it with Petrol). Has anyone compared the Yeti with the FL2 for performance in the snow/crap roads. Not really worried about real off road, just getting around in a winter like we have just endured. I know its Haldex, which hasnt been stunning in the snow in my old TTS, not had chance to try it out in the Golf R, but they are not really the same cars as the Yeti.

Second One - bought an Octavia VRS for one of my employees earlier this year. It seems to have the same stereo as the Yeti. My Golf has the similar RCD510. In both cars we have fitted Fiscon to work with an Iphone. I get the impression it might work however on the Yeti? if so, how good is the integration?

Third One - Any recomendations on dealers that give good customer service and a compeitive deal gratefully accepted

Last One - The only version that really has an appeal is the 170bhp Elegance, as we need 4wd and want the toys of the Elegance. I do have a little issue buying the most expensive car in the range (did that with the Golf!) and for not a lot more she could have another FL2, with less toys. Why should we go for the Yeti - it does have the advantage of going under 160gm, which helps with depreciating it on the company books for tax purposes.

Cheers

Jonathan

Edited 6 July, 201016 yr by Chins

Hi Jonathan

Can't help with the first 3 but the latest brochure (and indeed the V5 that dropped through my door yesterday ) have the CR170 as 155g/km.

Cheers

Mike

Mike is correct, the CO levels of the latest 170 have gone down.

I haven't driven a FL2 in snow, but have driven one around the LRE course at Eastnor, and was most impressed. I suspect in those sorts of situations it will be better than the Yeti, BUT, how often is an "normal" owner going to go that extreme? For general use I doubt there would be much to choose between them, and certainly from my experience of leading the group on the Welsh Adventure, the Yeti is just as good as my FL1.

My only "question" about the Yeti has been the 17" wheels as I do go off-road often, and there isn't the choice in tyres there is in 16", however I feel that the Haldex etc will be more than capable. In snow/ice I doubt there will be any difference between the 2 vehicles.

Sizewise the Yeti is the same size as the FL1, but appears to have a bigger boot, and it is easier to load than the lift up required with the FL2 boot..

Hi and welcome,

the Yeti uses the Haldex Gen IV which is much more responsive than with previous versions and works extremely well in the snow, particularly in off-road mode. Only proviso as Graham mentioned I found 16" wheels with winter tyres were much better than the standard 17" summer sports tyres.

Also as mentioned the 170 has just been switched to the second generation CR engine which is slightly more efficient and has a lower CO2.

Regards a dealer try James at Allams; recently got a quote from them which appeared very competitive, only distance kept my business local.

Regards,

TP

Hi Jonathan,

I have not directly compared a Freelander 2 to the Yeti by virtue of driving one but, like yourself, seriously considered buying one against the Yeti. Here are my reasons for deciding on the Yeti which may (or may not) help with your questions.

The Yeti replaced an Audi TT Mk II Coupe (I note you had a TTS... very nice!). A lovely car but it was positively hopeless over the long hard winter we've just had for various reasons. I had already decided that my next car was going to be a small 4x4 SUV but the winter brought the replacement forward a year.

Again, like yourself, I thought the Freelander 2 just seemed too big and, try as I might, I just couldn't warm to its overall look and style. I love the Discovery and wished Land Rover had produced a smaller version of this (Freelander 1 sized). My dilemna was that none of the other small SUV offerings were ticking all of the necessary boxes either.

When the Yeti came out, Skoda had answered my prayers. Here, we had a 4x4 SUV that was the right size, right proportions, a quality looking interior, the motoring press were going wild about it and I could get a fully loaded flagship model for £10K less than a specced up Freelander HSE. By all accounts, it was as capable off road as I would ever need it to be and would eat snow and ice for breakfast. Add to this a 170 bhp 2.0 litre diesel engine that gives a 0 - 60 time in 8.5 seconds and 46 mpg and it appeared to be a no brainer.

It is £500 a year cheaper to insure the car than the TT and I've estimated that I'll save about another £500 in fuel costs over the year. I've purchased the 2 year fixed price service scheme at £299. No offence intended to the female species but your wife will probably love features like the Parking Assist as I do all the other bells and whistles the car is pleasantly surprising me with such as the hill-hold control, cruise control and so forth.

Last thing I'll mention is that the thing seems to drive almost as well as the Golf GTI Mk V I had previous to my TT. It handles brilliantly for the type of car it is.

So, to date, I am pretty convinced I made the right choice.

Edited 7 July, 201016 yr by davecarter

My ten bob's worth...in no particular order

I've driven both and there's no doubt that the Yeti handles better than the FL2 on-road. The Yeti steering is more direct & it isn't as vague in the straight ahead position as the FL (though a slighly quicker steering rack would have made the SM even better).

Off road, I have no doubt that the FL2 is less likely to get stuck in extreme conditions as it has greater axle articulation and ground clearance. The FL2 will keep all wheels in contact with the ground well after the Yeti is lifting a rear wheel - but it sounds as though you are unlikely ever to need that capability. A good set of winter tyres will give 4x4 capabilities to virtually any car in most normal UK snow conditions whatever car you drive, 2 or 4 wheel drive, until ground clearance comes into ther equasion. By then the problem is usually roads blocked by other abandoned vehicles!

The FL2 is better off road, the Yeti better on-road. Some reports say the Yeti is too "hard" on road - but I prefer it that way and the result is the terrific GTi-like road holding that the set-up gives.

Tyres: Skoda lent 4 or 5 SM's as safety cars on a Scottish Rally earlier in the year, and they all suffered from failure of one or more front tyres. Fitted with standard 17" wheels & tyres, the sidewalls couldn't cope with forest tracks at even modest speeds. In such situations, 16" wheels and reinforced tyres would be essential. But are you going to use it in such conbditions?

The Yeti is smaller than the FL2, all round. When I was trying to decide what to buy, I simply drew a rectangle to scale on a sheet of paper to represent the Yeti, then supimposed each other vehicle that I was considering. The Yeti is actually smaller than the latest Ford Focus, and substantially smaller than the FL2. So I bought the Yeti, & I haven't regretted it! It's a damn site easier to park and has a terrific turning circle.

Finally, a private buyer wanting all the toys & one of the quickest version, should probably buy the 170bhp Elegance Diesel - especially if you are going to do over 15,000 miles a year or will be towing regularly.

Less than 10,000 a year, the 160bhp petrol makes more sense unless you can get a magic deal to get a big chunk of cash off the 170. Why the petrol? You can buy an awful lot of petrol for the £2k or so extra that the diesel version costs compared with the petrol and the petrol version is more refind and has marginally better handinlig. In between those mileages, the decision is less clear cut.

As a business buyer, you have to consider the emissions more closely; the diesel may make more sense at lower mileages - but I'm not an expert on the business tax situation!

I think you'll prefer the Yeti - but then that's just my opinion!

Edited 7 July, 201016 yr by speedsport

Finally, a private buyer wanting all the toys & one of the quickest version, should probably buy the 170bhp Elegance Diesel - especially if you are going to do over 15,000 miles a year or will be towing regularly.

Less than 10,000 a year, the 160bhp petrol makes more sense unless you can get a magic deal to get a big chunk of cash off the 170...

I can't add to the FL2 vs Yeti comparison but let me just comment on Yeti 1.8TSi vs CR170 engines:

I struggled with this same dilemma for a while but ended up ordering the CR170 even though likely annual mileage will be more like 10K. Reasons were:

Neither 1.8TSi nor CR170 have enough power:weight to give properly GTi-type performance so either engine was likely to be a slight disappointment in performance terms. The CR170 probably has the edge in power while the 1.8TSi has a more fun power delivery, but even so only revs to about 6K or so. So the - arguably marginal - benefits in power delivery and refinement weren't really significant enough to encourage me towards the 1.8TSi.

Over a 3-4 year period there's probably not too much difference in total cost of the two engine types. But what I felt was that with the diesel you're paying the money upfront which might be a bit more painful initially but would relatively soon be forgotten (and in any event should still give slightly higher residual value than the petrol). But having to visit the filling station eg every 2 weeks (petrol) rather than every 3 weeks (diesel) would be an ever-present reminder of the poorer running economics of the petrol, as would also be the case every time a tax reminder dropped through the letterbox. (And who's to say that the differential in road-tax between emission bands won't become still more exaggerated in a year or two's time?)

Finally, economics aside, the high emissions of the 1.8TSi engine really isn't very good for a newly-introduced model. (I can imagine that this is one aspect of the Yeti that will be due for fairly early attention by Skoda - will the 1.8TSi mutate into the 158bhp 1.4TSi before too long and as soon as the supply situation for the 1.4TSi improves? That might be a more fun proposition!) The 1.8TSi is only one category below my current Accord 2.4 and one of the reasons for moving on from that is its relatively poor emissions (215).

Edited 7 July, 201016 yr by prodata

Thanks for all the replies so far.

160gm+ is a big step in the way a company treats a car for tax purposes. For an individual is not as big a deal on BIK. This alone would mean the diesel if I go for a Yeti. If I was buying privately then I would look at the 1.8TFSI - she only does 8-10k/ annum. Private and Business.

As mentioned it wont be going off road - maybe a playing field next to Twickenham to watch a rugby match occasionally. Just need it to cope with the snow and ice on the hills and country roads around South Bucks. The FL2 as stunning with its hill decent control. From what I am reading here it might need winter tyres and wheels to be mega effective. Guess I can suck it and see.

Any feedback on the Iphone?

Hoping the next decision will be colour !

Edited 7 July, 201016 yr by Chins

There are plenty of Yeti videos on You Tube, many of Russian snow. However you may as well just check out the thread here:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/147392-skoda-yeti-off-road-video-links/page__p__1888746__hl__videos__fromsearch__1entry1888746

This link starts at post#17 or #18 so scroll up to start from the beginning.

tom

Any feedback on the Iphone?

Hoping the next decision will be colour !

Yeti Elegance has GSM II bluetooth which works fine with an iPhone.

As for colour, it's a personnal choice but I think they look better in the mid to lighter colours rather than the dark ones.

Yeti Elegance has GSM II bluetooth which works fine with an iPhone.

As for colour, it's a personnal choice but I think they look better in the mid to lighter colours rather than the dark ones.

Hi jlwah, does this include the latest iOS 4 software??

I have the iPhone 4 :yes:

Hi jlwah, does this include the latest iOS 4 software??

I have the iPhone 4 :yes:

Not sure, as I have 3GS and haven't upgraded to OS4, but I can see no reason why it would make any difference.

Not sure, as I have 3GS and haven't upgraded to OS4, but I can see no reason why it would make any difference.

Thank you.

Will be a few weeks until our SM arrives, so I will keep everyone updated. :yes:

Not driven a FL2 and so I have only the published road tests to go on which generally review both cars very well.

I'm posting here just to recommend James and Allams of Epsom for a good deal and good service. Not local to me by any means but worth the drive. I might even return there for service if James has an interesting loan car for me to try........