Hi,

My apologies if this subject has arisen before (I'm sure that it has) but a quick search didn't bring up anything that hit the spot. There is a thread that discusses tyres in detail and this seems to infer that the 16" (60 profile) shod Yeti's make the ride noticeably more comfortable than the 17" (50 profile) but I'm not sure that I might just be reading something into the tyre thread that isn't there? So my question is for those that have had the opportunity to test the Yeti on both 16" and 17" wheels - is there a noticeable difference in ride quality/road noise between the two? Is the trade off in handling 'acceptable'? I'm not interested in knowing the handling characteristics of summer/winter tyres etc, just simply is there a difference in comfort for day to day driving?

I'm looking to do a deal on a 170 Elegance next weekend once SWMBO has has the chance to input I have already test driven a 140 DSG SE and to be honest was disappointed with the ride quality for a vehicle that was supposed to be class leading. Quite frankly on many of the potholed roads I travel it was a close run thing between the Yeti and my Fabia VRS for comfort (seriously)! Of course on smooth roads or gently undulating surfaces it's no problem but potholes and fast changing surfaces saw it thudding rather more than I was comfortable with. Whilst it will be my car I will be transporting the in laws that are none too well and comfort is a priority for me. My initial thought was to see if the dealer would downgrade to 16" wheels for me at the point of delivery assuming your feedback indicated a difference but I now realise that this would provide me with 'H' rated tyres which on a 170 wouldn't be too smart so if the responses indicate a noticeable difference then I will purchase 16" wheels and appropriate tyres and have them fitted when the car is delivered and e-Bay the 17" ones that will come with the car (next February if I'm lucky!).

In case you're wondering why I simply do not test drive an 'E' or 'S' model with 16" inchers - believe me I've tried, but my locals dealers only run SE and Elegance and due to needing to order before the end of Sept I do not have the time to look further afield. Many thanks

I've driven my 17" wheeled SM over cratered tarmac and grotty forest gravel tracks and found that the ride is perfectly satisfactory, and much better than my old Freelander on 15" wheels with 80 aspect tyres. Can be a bit thumpy on really rough forest stuff, but then nothing is perfect there.

I have no comparitive experiences, but I am happy with my 16 inchers. The normal road surfaces here may be different from the UK. People in this forum with 17" wheels have complained about harsh ride - 16" owners have not.

The 16" wheels are a no cost option on the Elegance and SE as far as I know.

The H rating should be OK, it goes up to 210 km/hr, which even the 170 hp TDI cannot accomplish. Why go for higher speed rating? It will only make the sidewalls of the tyres stiffer - opposite of what you say you want.

Finally, not so important, but I think the 16" wheels look better on the Yeti than the 17".

Edited 13 September, 201015 yr by Agerbundsen

If you were disappointed with the quality of the Yetis ride when it's supposed to be class leading, then it might be worth test driving some of the competitors so you can more accurately judge for yourself.

In truth the ride in the Yeti is never going to make your passengers think they're riding in a Range Rover, but apart from a slighltly niggily low speed ride over small indentations, in general the ride is good on 17" wheels, particularly over larger indentations and at speed.

As with pretty much any car, a higher profile tyre with the same overall diameter is always going to ride better than a lower profile tyre.

I test-drove a Yeti with 17 inch wheels over a 60 mile route. Driving my own Yeti, which has 16 inch wheels, over the same route I concluded that there is not that much difference between them. Both tended to patter over broken surfaces, with the 17 inch wheels and lower profile tyres being slightly worse. I have just returned from taking an 89 year-old relative, with a painful hip, to England and back without complaint but I found I was driving around road defects to prevent the short ,sharp vertical suspension movements that result.

I test-drove a Yeti with 17 inch wheels over a 60 mile route. Driving my own Yeti, which has 16 inch wheels, over the same route I concluded that there is not that much difference between them. Both tended to patter over broken surfaces, with the 17 inch wheels and lower profile tyres being slightly worse. I have just returned from taking an 89 year-old relative, with a painful hip, to England and back without complaint but I found I was driving around road defects to prevent the short ,sharp vertical suspension movements that result.

Interesting how this topic is cropping up more and more on a wide range of forums from many marques. Presumably this is related to the fast-deteriorating uk roads.

My Mercedes A- Class is almost the perfect car for me,only let down by the sllghtly choppy ride on poor surfaces. Having said that I have yet to drive a car of similar size and 'tall' profile which is significantly better - eg Yeti ,Golf Plus, Honda Jazz a bit lower down the scale. In deciding what to go for next I also needed to try an A-Class with 16" alloys - the Avantgarde version - compared to my present 15" steel wheels. I could detect hardly any difference.

So I have decided to go for another A-Class - not because of shortcomings with the Yeti which is a most interesting car - but because the A-Class has a spread of talents which most matches my needs. No car is perfect and I am prepared to forgive the A its jiggle over broken ground because of all its other pluses. Not least an MB dealership with whom I have had an immaculate experience over the past 3 years. The A is never going to ride like an S Class - nor , as someone here has said,is the Yeti going to challenge a £50k Range Rover in this respect.

Well I tried the Yeti with 16" wheels over some potholes and speed bumps and frankly I was amazed at how much you could feel them. It was a harsh ride, at least compared to my very old MB 190d. I asked a friend who owns a SUV . He told me that all SUV-s suffer from this. It is the way they are designed (the suspension?). Also, I found the steering wheel to be very easy to rotate, like a toy. My friend told me this is also the same with his SUV ().

Can anyone confirm this?

I have ordered my Yeti, and since it's the Elegance version, I almost decided to change my 17" wheels which came standard, with 16". I think I will not change my order. I don't think 17" wheels can be worse than 16". It should be the suspension which is "hard". If you read the reviews of MB b-class (which is considered a sort of cross-over like Yeti ), you will read the same thing, a "hard" ride.

My SE Yeti has a great ride quality - much better than my MIN Cooper on run flat tyres! The steering is nicely weighted as well. Perhaps the Albanian ones have a different suspension / steering setup? My MX5 was set up for Swiss & German autobahns and the UK roads are noticeably rough!

Many thanks for the responses so far. Unfortunately hardly a conclusive answer but then I guess that was more out of hope than expectation!

I've arranged an extended 1-1.5 hour road test on Saturday, hopefully in the 170 4x4 manual if it comes out of the workshop after an incident with a stripper (paint stripper that is). That should provide the opportunity for a thorough shake down and test over numerous surfaces. I'll also take the opportunity to lose a PSI or two out of the tyres to see if that helps and retest. If I get the chance I might get hold of a Kuga for a run as similarly that is supposed to be top of the heap.

My take on the Yeti's ride is that it is better than it seems. I say this because when driving along a bumpy country road recently I concentrated on the ride and discovered that you are led to believe that it is worse than it is because the suspension (particularly at the rear) goes about its work in a fairly noisy way. The noise from the suspension tricks you into thinking that the car has failed to absorb the bump very well, however, the jolt in the cabin is relatively minor. Next time you drive a bumpy road in a Yeti try to ignore the noises and concentrate on how well the car absorbs the bump. It is actually ok. Not as supple as a Golf but then a Golf doesn't have such a tall body to keep tied down. Mine rides on 16 inch Spectrum wheels with 60 profile Goodyear Excellence.

My take on the Yeti's ride is that it is better than it seems. I say this because when driving along a bumpy country road recently I concentrated on the ride and discovered that you are led to believe that it is worse than it is because the suspension (particularly at the rear) goes about its work in a fairly noisy way. The noise from the suspension tricks you into thinking that the car has failed to absorb the bump very well, however, the jolt in the cabin is relatively minor. Next time you drive a bumpy road in a Yeti try to ignore the noises and concentrate on how well the car absorbs the bump. It is actually ok. Not as supple as a Golf but then a Golf doesn't have such a tall body to keep tied down. Mine rides on 16 inch Spectrum wheels with 60 profile Goodyear Excellence.

I think there is something in this. My A Class suspension operates silently and this is undoubtedly helpful in terms of the overall experience.