One of the best surprises with the Yeti has to be the brilliant handling. Coming from a background of ‘hot hatches’ I was expecting a high vehicle like the Yeti to be a bit rocky on fast cornering. Nothing like it, in reality it goes round corners like its on rails and with all four feet gripping it feels amazingly solid.

I was in Runcorn, Cheshire today which is covered by ‘expressways’ joined by tight curving slip roads. I was whipping round one of these in the rain when I saw a white van coming in the opposite direction. As he got to the centre of the curve the rear end of the van broke away and swung round and I saw the startled face of the driver! Fortunately he regained control without damage but he was heading my way! I was on the tighter side of the bend and the Yeti was of course perfectly poised and thankfully I was wearing my brown trousers!

The stability of the Yeti on the road is a real joy. Now if only Mr Skoda would bring out a version with buckets seats and the 210 bhp Golf GTI engine ...mmmmm!

Yeti handling is indeed a strength. Driving around the winding roads of Wales last week was good fun. I entered one bend which tightened a lot more than expected and had to brake hard mid corner to stay on my side of the road. The Yeti did not twitch or object and the ESP light did not even flash. Yeti just went around the bend without any fuss and covered up my mistake. Very reassuring.

I also had a couple of emergency stops, one when a duck walked into the road. Very stable under heavy braking although I did notice that the brakes make a whoosh noise when the car slows quickly. Anyone else get this? It is not a fault but I haven't had a whoosh from other cars.

Edited 21 August, 201015 yr by shrub

I am in toal agreement here. The SM is very nimble and solid in cornering - also on wet surfaces. The two above somments are interesting, as I assume the 140 TDI is on 17" rubber and the 1.2 TSI on 16"??

I am also wondering what effect the Haldex has on the Handling? Unlike the ESP, there is no extenal indication of the Haldex coming into play on handling - except where the surface is very slick. On drt roads, you notice nothing except the good handling.

FWD cars in heavy cornering would normally understeer - pushing as the Yanks call it - but not the Yeti. As it is normaly mostly FWD, I surmise that the Haldex does do some shifting to the rear in cornering and produces the neutral handling.

Edited 22 August, 201015 yr by Agerbundsen

That's why I'm on my third Haldex equipped vehicle; they run on rails particularly when it comes to bends Briefly returned to a FWD main family car after my first Haldex 4x4 but quickly returned to the fold as I missed that glued to the road feeling

Oh as a matter of interest prior to that I had an oldish and very unreliable but rare BMW 525ix with fixed ratio 4wd. From experience of driving these two different approaches to 4x4 I personally consider the Haldex system to be much better.

TP

I dont see it as a well kept secret; the very first road test review I read was wowing over its "GTI like handling" (There is a link on here somewhere)

Yeti handling is indeed a strength. Driving around the winding roads of Wales last week was good fun. I entered one bend which tightened a lot more than expected and had to brake hard mid corner to stay on my side of the road. The Yeti did not twitch or object and the ESP light did not even flash. Yeti just went around the bend without any fuss and covered up my mistake. Very reassuring.

I also had a couple of emergency stops, one when a duck walked into the road. Very stable under heavy braking although I did notice that the brakes make a whoosh noise when the car slows quickly. Anyone else get this? It is not a fault but I haven't had a whoosh from other cars.

Tut Tut. We expect good driving around here!! Just as well it was a duck on the road and not a cow - they make quite a big dent.

Beggar braking for a duck!!

Well only afterwards to see if it can be cooked later!!

Agreed about the handling. I finished at 2330 last night and "hurried" home to a party and was very happy with the journey time. However it has ruined the fuel consumption on this tank full!!

I have also noticed a distinct, but not unpleasant noise under really hard braking, The car is obviously doing something extra to enhance the breaking when it percieves an emergency slowdown is being requested buy the driver, not sure what it could be and have never heard this noise form any other car I have driven

I have also noticed a distinct, but not unpleasant noise under really hard braking, The car is obviously doing something extra to enhance the breaking when it percieves an emergency slowdown is being requested buy the driver, not sure what it could be and have never heard this noise form any other car I have driven

Could it be the ABS operating?

I have also noticed a distinct, but not unpleasant noise under really hard braking, The car is obviously doing something extra to enhance the breaking when it percieves an emergency slowdown is being requested buy the driver, not sure what it could be and have never heard this noise form any other car I have driven

It's probably the ABS valves "chattering".

Edited 22 August, 201015 yr by Llanigraham

My current car (Honda Accord Tourer) has ABS and then that works it sort of goes CHDD CHDD CHDD CHDD CHDD CHDD but no whooshing noise

Under REALLY heavy breaking there is also a PHZZZZZ noise, but that usually comes from my buttocks

Whooshing = EBD perhaps?

The manual states that you will hear a noise when you brake hard as the EDL is boosting brake pressure as most people do not push hard enough.

Mike

Yep, it was definitely a whooshing noise. Quite a cool sound actually; a bit like a turbine slowing down. I am not concerned about it and the braking performance is very impressive. The ABS chatter is something else altogether because that cut in as well. I missed the duck and it didn't even flinch. Carried on ambling across the road. If I had a Yeti coming at me at 60 mph I would get a waddle on:o

In answer to an earlier question, yes, I am running on 16in Spectrum alloys with Goodyear Excellence tyres (215 / 60) and they perform very well.

Well going back to the core of this thread l think this is the answer in cr170 spec to a octy vrs 4x4 that a lot of people are desperate to get there mits on my dealer lent me one for a few days whilst waiting for the new vrs and l tell you what l would happliy trade the vrs for one lot easier to drive, park, get in & out of alround vision is better due to being sat higher. Ok the looks take a bit of getting used to as the farther in law said to the black one we had it looks like a 50's gangster car, going back to the handling all i can say is sweet

Well going back to the core of this thread l think this is the answer in cr170 spec to a octy vrs 4x4 that a lot of people are desperate to get there mits on my dealer lent me one for a few days whilst waiting for the new vrs and l tell you what l would happliy trade the vrs for one lot easier to drive, park, get in & out of alround vision is better due to being sat higher. Ok the looks take a bit of getting used to as the farther in law said to the black one we had it looks like a 50's gangster car, going back to the handling all i can say is sweet

At the annual Autoclub meet at the Skoda museum this weekend, there was only one Yeti present. I had some discussions with a local Skoda dealer, who had optet not to carry the Yeti. His comment was that people here in DK have not accepted the look of the Yeti - and therefore do ot get to experience the brilliant compromise the yeti represents.

As you say, the handling is sweet, and many of the other design decisions made are based on tru utility, performance and comfort, so the body shape an looks is determined more by function and aerodynamics than a sexy look. The result is a better vehicle than it's peers, but looking cute rather than sexy.

So if your masculine ego need bolstering - go elsewhere, if not you can enjoy the SM, and have a little giggle to yourself

I was amazed at the handling of the 1.2 I test drove, after a lifetime of 'performance' cars (ignoring the wife's fortwo ) I was resigned to the inescapable conclusion that the car I needed (an SUV) would be a joyless experience compared to the car I wanted (Gti etc etc). How wrong I was!

Of course I have now ordered a 140 4X4 so maybe that handles even better with the Haldex chipping in as and when needed. Looks are of course a subjective thing but I think the Yeti has real presence, you can keep your Korean clones and Quasimodos as far as I am concerned.

Roll on October.

I was amazed at the handling of the 1.2 I test drove, after a lifetime of 'performance' cars (ignoring the wife's fortwo ) I was resigned to the inescapable conclusion that the car I needed (an SUV) would be a joyless experience compared to the car I wanted (Gti etc etc). How wrong I was!

Of course I have now ordered a 140 4X4 so maybe that handles even better with the Haldex chipping in as and when needed. Looks are of course a subjective thing but I think the Yeti has real presence, you can keep your Korean clones and Quasimodos as far as I am concerned.

Roll on October.

You won't be dissapointed.

The haldex 4 reponds in a fraction of a second to move the drive from wheel to wheel.

This is my first 4x4 and as TP has indicated by his several purchase looks like once you have one there's no going back.

I love the looks and style of the Yeti. It's so well proportioned with its wide, 4 square stance. Many crossovers / SUVs either look like their saloon counterparts on jacked up suspension or look too tall and thin. I'm a little surprised that I don't see more of them on the roads now though. I went to Snowdonia again at the weekend, a 250 mile round trip, and didn't see one other Yeti. Again, loads of Qashqais, X-Trails and others but not a single Yeti.

As for the performance and handling, it's just a master stroke from Skoda. It would be interesting to pitch it against some of its competitors around a wet track. I know what my money would be going on.

I can't speak from great experience as my SM hasn't arrived yet, but thinking back to my test drive (in a 1.8 TSi) I was surprised how easy it was to drive. I'd just got in it and it was like an old friend I'd been driving for years. I couldn't really "press on" too much as I had the dealer, my wife and father-in-law on board but I chose a route involving, B roads, A roads, country lanes, motorway and dual carriageway and the Yeti felt right at home on all of them.

Can't wait ETA 6 weeks. No doubt the longest 6 weeks of my life :(

1500 miles in, and i still aint stopped smiling, handling to match most hot hatches, enough low down grunt to make sporty cars think twice( had quite a few chav's tailgating and trying to overtake in there corsa's/novas etc etc thinking oh its a skoda....as soon as they attempt to go, bye bye..) i even had a tussle with a golf gti lol...loving it, and the mpg is outsanding...only trouble is at this rate its gonna have very high miles lol...