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Yeti v Countryman

Fluffy destroyer of worlds

By Fluffy destroyer of worlds
in Skoda Yeti

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Fluffy destroyer of worlds

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That pic of the Yeti and Clubman really shows how disjointed and just plain 'bloated' the new Mini looks. Last night I saw only my 6th Yeti, a grey one on a 60 plate on the Mancunian way in Manchester. It looked superb, I hadn't appreciated until now how good a Yeti looks illuminated in the dark. Excellent 'down the road graphics' as the designery types say!

I had just visited my best mate who lives in Pensitone s. yorkshire. He had managed to have a play in a Yeti in the local country fair, and very impressed he was too. Possible new owner in fact.

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Trevorminor Rising Star

Trevorminor

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Just taken a trip to local MINI dealers - Cooper BMW of Colchester and closely looked at three new Countrymans. A 'ONE in a nice dark blue metallic, a white Cooper D and a beige Cooper S.

Admittedly they do look slightly better in the metal than in photos but a lot of this seems to be down to trim detailing - MINI are quite good at chrome and light design. The overall styling still looks a total mess alongside the Yeti. My Yeti looked out of place but well and truly a cut above them.

The Mini is considerably smaller inside and the roof and sides seem much tighter to where you sit than the airy Yeti. You don't sit as high either. The bonnet is longer than you expect and there seems a lot of wasted space in the design of the rear bumpers. This seems to be the design thinking - swoopy styling and bling over practicallity and simple, neat lines. The Countryman is decidedly bigger inside than the MINI saloon and Clubman but that is not saying much.

After all of the hype for the new Countryman and some amusing TV ads, I was quite disappointed with it.

Tellingly the sales guy sat well and truly tight in his office and didn't even venture outside even out of interest in my Yeti. We were also the only people taking a look at the Countryman - and this is quite a large MINI dealership. There were several people looking at new Skodas at Underwoods of Colchester's considerably smaller patch just down the road.

I suspect that car sales will take a dip after the October spending review as people face uncertainty about jobs. I would far rather be a Skoda than a MINI dealership!

I should get a drive within a few weeks but both Autocar and Auto Express don't exactly make me look forward to the prospect other than to further confirm that the Yeti is still the best Crossover available.

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Trevorminor Rising Star

Trevorminor

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Next week's Autocar should be interesting. We are promised a full test of the Countryman. It will be interesting to see how they rank it against the Yeti. They should be able to easily compare it, bearing in mind that they are running a Yeti long term.

Hopefully they won't bottle it like their sister publication WhatCar? and will compare the Yeti against the Countryman. Somehow they have got themselves into a corner with their apparent dislike of the Yeti.

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DavidY Rising Star

DavidY

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Hopefully they won't bottle it like their sister publication WhatCar? and will compare the Yeti against the Countryman.

Whereas the latest What Car? compares... the Yeti against the Countryman (and the Nissan Juke, which it likes best, placing the Yeti 2nd and the Countryman 3rd).
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Trevorminor Rising Star

Trevorminor

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Whereas the latest What Car? compares... the Yeti against the Countryman (and the Nissan Juke, which it likes best, placing the Yeti 2nd and the Countryman 3rd).

I think you must mean CAR . But they aren't that clear as to which one wins it - they don't say so directly.

The latest issue of WhatCar? shows the Countryman with the Kia and Mitsubishi (I think, as I didn't have my specs and it was busy in Sainsburys!)

BTW, saw a Juke on the road last night - it's definitely a very bold design but I can't decide whether I like it or hate it yet.

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prodata Rising Star

prodata

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The latest issue of WhatCar? shows the Countryman with the Kia and Mitsubishi (I think, as I didn't have my specs and it was busy in Sainsburys!)

No, definitely the latest What Car. As ever, it's a pretty pointless article - the Juke being (correct me if I'm wrong someone) 2WD with the Yeti and Mini being 4WD, so hardly an apples and apples comparison. The only thing that it does rather highlight (the test grouping the top petrol engine for each car IIRC) is that the 1.8TSi Yeti engine is becoming rather uncompetitive vs the opposition in terms of power vs consumption vs emissions etc. Maybe there'll be a 1.4TSi engine in a decent state of tune (eg 180bhp) for the Yeti before too long.

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Trevorminor Rising Star

Trevorminor

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No, definitely the latest What Car. As ever, it's a pretty pointless article - the Juke being (correct me if I'm wrong someone) 2WD with the Yeti and Mini being 4WD, so hardly an apples and apples comparison. The only thing that it does rather highlight (the test grouping the top petrol engine for each car IIRC) is that the 1.8TSi Yeti engine is becoming rather uncompetitive vs the opposition in terms of power vs consumption vs emissions etc. Maybe there'll be a 1.4TSi engine in a decent state of tune (eg 180bhp) for the Yeti before too long.

I'll take my specs next time B)

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Trevorminor Rising Star

Trevorminor

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That What Car only appeared in the last couple of days - I expect it's your local Sainsburys being a bit slow in stocking their shelves.

No it was only a couple of days ago and I think the latest issue. Just couldn't read it properly at the 'Sainsburys Library'.

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Paul007 Experienced

Paul007

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My second of a 3 issues for a £1 deal of What Car came this morning. I usually read the much berated Auto Express but I can't help feeling that there is definite bias against VAG cars in What Car. I don't think I'll be having anymore issues after issue 3. £1 spent on it is quite enough I think.

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shrub Rising Star

shrub

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No, definitely the latest What Car. As ever, it's a pretty pointless article - the Juke being (correct me if I'm wrong someone) 2WD with the Yeti and Mini being 4WD, so hardly an apples and apples comparison. The only thing that it does rather highlight (the test grouping the top petrol engine for each car IIRC) is that the 1.8TSi Yeti engine is becoming rather uncompetitive vs the opposition in terms of power vs consumption vs emissions etc. Maybe there'll be a 1.4TSi engine in a decent state of tune (eg 180bhp) for the Yeti before too long.

The Juke is available with 2wd or 4wd, just like the Yeti. I haven't made my mind up about it yet. It looks ok from the side and the back but I am still to come to terms with the front. Nissan have dared to be bold though which has to be applauded. They also seem to have done a fine job with facelifting the Kumquat.

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prodata Rising Star

prodata

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The Juke is available with 2wd or 4wd...

Sorry - should have been more specific. I think the Juke in the WC review was 2WD. Bizarrely I can't see anywhere in the article that spells this out (probably got subbed out at a guess). But it's described as a Juke 1.6 DiG-T Tekna and the review states of the Juke 'You have to be careful that this sudden burst of power doesn't overcome the grip of the front wheels...'. Hence my thinking that it was a 2WD Juke whereas both Yeti and Mini were explicitly confirmed as 4WD

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900000 Experienced

900000

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Sorry - should have been more specific. I think the Juke in the WC review was 2WD. Bizarrely I can't see anywhere in the article that spells this out (probably got subbed out at a guess). But it's described as a Juke 1.6 DiG-T Tekna and the review states of the Juke 'You have to be careful that this sudden burst of power doesn't overcome the grip of the front wheels...'. Hence my thinking that it was a 2WD Juke whereas both Yeti and Mini were explicitly confirmed as 4WD

The top of the range 190hp turbo 1,6 Juke (called DiG) comes only as a 4x4.

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helix Rising Star

helix

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Only the auto version of the Juke 1.6T is explicitly labelled as 4wd. the performance and economy of this version are worse than those of the manual version tested in the WC article. This could be attributable to the auto, but the 10mph lower top speed suggests this is because of 4wd so I deduce (perhaps wrongly!) that the 1.6T manual reviewed in WC is 2wd.

it would have been helpful if this had been made explicit by WC.

Edited by helix
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900000 Experienced

900000

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Only the auto version of the Juke 1.6T is explicitly labelled as 4wd.

Ah the plot thickens. But hey ho, of those three cars we all know which is best and has a few awards behind its name to prove it!

Edited by 900000
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DavidY Rising Star

DavidY

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I think the Juke in the WC review was 2WD. Bizarrely I can't see anywhere in the article that spells this out (probably got subbed out at a guess).

:yes:

I think it says something about the car-buying public too though - I'm not sure how many people actually care whether this type of car is actually 4WD or not (although last winter's snow and ice may have caught the attention of some of them).

Edited by DavidY
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helix Rising Star

helix

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:yes:

I think it says something about the car-buying public too though - I'm not sure how many people actually care whether this type of car is actually 4WD or not (although last winter's snow and ice may have caught the attention of some of them).

I think that's probably true, with many buyers more interested in the ovrall practicality and look rather than 4wd in itself. The 4wd component of a Yeti costs c.£1700, and c.£1200 in the Countryman, which explains some if not all of the Juke's apparent price advantage in the WC comparison test. I guess a lot of "urban" buyers would be happy to save that kind of money and get a 2wd variant if it were available, which in the Yeti 1.8 it isn't.

Edited by helix
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EdmundBlackadder Rising Star

EdmundBlackadder

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I saw a Juke last week on a neighbours driveway and it certainly has presence. I liked it but I would not see it as a replacement for a Yeti, it is too small for that. It is more of a second car, not a family car.

For all that we may not like the Countryman I think they will sell like hot cakes. The marketing campaign is in full flow and yummy mummy's all round the country will be snapping them up. The cuteness of the Mini, add a bit of practicality and extra protection in winter and it ticks a lot of boxes. The Mini has a great image and brand and whilst the Countryman does not appeal to me, it looks like a 12 year olds drawing of a car, I think it will appeal to an awful lot of people on the SE school run.

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shrub Rising Star

shrub

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I saw a Juke last week on a neighbours driveway and it certainly has presence. I liked it but I would not see it as a replacement for a Yeti, it is too small for that. It is more of a second car, not a family car.

I agree. The Qashqai, not the Juke, is Nissan's equivalent to the Yeti. The Juke would compare with a Fabia based SUV, if ever Skoda were to make one.

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mhjonesuk Collaborator

mhjonesuk

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I noticed when What Car compared the Juke, Countryman and Yeti the Nissan inevitably won - must be a love affair with Nissan, the Yeti was second and the Countryman 3rd. Strangely enough the gripe about the ride quality and noise was gone, the only complaint they had was price. It was a 1.8 SE they tested.

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900000 Experienced

900000

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? None of those links work. Says you have to be registered...

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Jock Community Regular

Jock

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I just saw a Countryman "in the flesh" so to speak ... anyone who can possibly compare that to a Yeti really need to go to Specsavers!

Seriously, it's tiny!

OK, so perhaps they can do this, but I'll bet with a bit of tweaking, a Yeti won't be too far off the mark!

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