Call me bonkers, but I've just taken my 3 month old yeti round the Abingdon 4x4 Festival off road course earlier today. (unfortunately no pics of me off road). I asked what other soft roaders had been round and the answer was a Volvo XC90. From watching the other cars going round, I reccon that 50% were Land Rover Defenders, 40% Discovery's, 10% mix of Range Rovers, Nissan Pickups and Suzuki jeeps.

I've not been off road driving for about 10 years, so took a marshall along for guidance.

I got a lot of laughs when I pulled onto the course and a lot passengers in cars took to taking photos of Yeti rather than their own efforts!

OK I tool the easy route round some of the bigger obsticals, but got round mostly in one piece.

The marshalls (and myself) were very impressed with its ability to climb and decend hills and the tight turning circle helped no end round the obsticals.

So what were my findings ?

1. Yetis do a very good job off road and the 4x4 buttons is magical

2. The front bumper does a good job of scooping up soil :-(

3. The ride hights a very low and I got beached at one point so needed a tow (also now need 2 new plastic underbody protection panels and some underseel as a result)

4. You get laughed at by bigger 4x4 owners and marshalls who think you're bonkers

5. You and your Yeti will get the last laugh by showing them how good it actually is.

Really happy with Yeti and should be dropping Skoda a line to say how good it does and unfortunatley off to the dealer next week for some new plastic.

Thanks Rog,

excellent report and a braver man than me grounding your Monster on a 4x4 assault course. Hope it's not to pricey to fix :S oh does yours have the rough road pack :wonder:

Regards,

TP

excellent. well done you!!

Surely that's what you buy a 4x4 for?

I would never have considered one myself, until the Mad Wife changed her job...

The X Trail we bought is more than capable of going anywhere,and although I like the look of the Yeti, I am yet to be convinced that we should exchange the Nissan, although a change is due.

Excellent! Keep looking on Flickr for tags "Abingdon 4x4 Festival" and people's pictures should be up of your car at some point! The club also has a Facebook page where phitos will go up at some point. Can't wait to see them!

Edited 25 September, 201015 yr by 900000

Thanks :-) Really enjoyed going round and showing how good this car is!

I didnt buy the Rough Road Pack option - as it didnt seem to offer much more protection than whats there... (ok theres a metal sump protector)

Looks like I may need some new exhaust shielding metal work and I think I've dented the fuel tank slightly too. Will be jacking her up later for a closer look :(

I'll put an update on later this week once I know how much its going to cost.

RogN - sounds like it was quite a hard core 4x4 course, so well done Sir!

My monster's only the 2WD version but i've still driven over some pretty rough ground and the big suspension copes very well.

Surely that's what you buy a 4x4 for?

I would never have considered one myself, until the Mad Wife changed her job...

The X Trail we bought is more than capable of going anywhere,and although I like the look of the Yeti, I am yet to be convinced that we should exchange the Nissan, although a change is due.

We found ourselves in a similar position to you at the end of last year.

My X-Trail had done 95,000 miles and needed money spending on it. For various reasons my Dealer changed from Nissan so a future Nissan purchase meant travelling 80 miles to source a new car. The best I could get out of my X-Trail was 33 mpg and it went through front tyres, wearing the inside edge bald, in 15,000 miles.

So a change was due. The Skoda Dealer was 20 minutes drive away and the Yetis were becoming available. I ordered in October and my car was available early November.

Now I feel that it was the best decision we made. The Yeti is less suited to off-road than the XT but it handles our country lanes perfectly - even through last winter. I have gone "off road" on tracks and beaches with no concerns at all. In my opinion, the Yeti is a better all round SUV than the XT, lighter and easier to drive (certainly less tiring over long distances (in our case 240 miles and 4.5 hours to Manchester and back))

The Yeti has one major downside to the XT and that is boot space. The XT has plenty of storage space compared to the Yeti. But we cope OK with the smaller volume of the boot.

So if you go off road on anything rougher that a field or trails or if you want a large boot - stick with the X-Trail. Otherwise go for the Yeti - you won't be disappointed.

I found some photos here and here.

And this photo below made me realise that perhaps softroaders with low ride hights should not really tackle more than they can handle!

But the photographer obviously does not like Skodas as I could not find a single photograph of your car!

But the official pics will go up here by the end of the week: http://www.abingdonphotos.com/ So will have to look for muddy Yetis there!

Havent seen any of Yeti yet either :-( I hope somebody somewhere got one of me going round.

I avoided the area where most of those were taken from because the water leading upto the bump was a little too deep for my liking (and the bump was vicious). Looks like this bump may have caused similar damage to an Merc ML which had the front end hanging off just as I started.

Shes been in the garage today for an assessment and the bills £480! (plastic underbody panels, new heatshield, a few bits and pieces and man time) Shes going to visit on Friday for fixing.

Shes been in the garage today for an assessment and the bills £480! (plastic underbody panels, new heatshield, a few bits and pieces and man time) Shes going to visit on Friday for fixing.

Grrr. Sorry to hear about the cost of the damage RogN. Will surely make me go slow when I finally get to do this sort of thing. Though I will make sure Llanigraham or James Rothwell are there to hold my hand! I sure they won't mind. :yes:

vicious).

Shes been in the garage today for an assessment and the bills £480! (plastic underbody panels, new heatshield, a few bits and pieces and man time) Shes going to visit on Friday for fixing.

So I'm wondering... Were the plastic under body protection panels that were damaged, ones that are swapped for metal versions in the off road pack or it only the sump protection plate that is metal instead of plastic?

Good luck in getting it back to full health :-)

So I'm wondering... Were the plastic under body protection panels that were damaged, ones that are swapped for metal versions in the off road pack or it only the sump protection plate that is metal instead of plastic?

Good luck in getting it back to full health :-)

Hi Focus,

the floor panels are still plastic but with some strengthening (not sure how much exactly), steel engine under-tray and plastic shields on the rear axle beams with some protection for the rear springs.

Put a bit of a guide in the Tech Section from my observations of 'Pat'.

Regards,

TP

Hi Focus,

the floor panels are still plastic but with some strengthening (not sure how much exactly), steel engine under-tray and plastic shields on the rear axle beams with some protection for the rear springs.

Put a bit of a guide in the Tech Section from my observations of 'Pat'.

Regards,

TP

Thanks

Yeti being pulled out of the rough: General Arena, 3rd row, 3rd from left.

I'd have liked to have gone to this!

Yeti being pulled out of the rough: General Arena, 3rd row, 3rd from left.

G I T

Go and stand in the corner with a pillock hat on!!

And the final bill

Labour – 212.50

K1K0825661N Heat Shield – 40.25

K1K0825201AC Lining – 25.85

K1K0825202BF Lining – 25.85

K1K0825235AD Sound Baffle – 48.75

K1K0201307F Protection Plate – 31.23

K1K0521441E Protection Plate – 26.42

K1K441863987B Clips – 2.52

Plus VAT

Total 485.66

Guess I'll need a parts manual to work out whats what from this..

And the final bill

Labour – 212.50

K1K0825661N Heat Shield – 40.25

K1K0825201AC Lining – 25.85

K1K0825202BF Lining – 25.85

K1K0825235AD Sound Baffle – 48.75

K1K0201307F Protection Plate – 31.23

K1K0521441E Protection Plate – 26.42

K1K441863987B Clips – 2.52

Plus VAT

Total 485.66

Guess I'll need a parts manual to work out whats what from this..