I don't think I'll need a dog guard - the way I pack the superb now, he can't get near the seats! I also have the Superb boot liner fitted from my experience in my Octavia previously - so it's a must in the Yeti - not just for the dog, but for chucking in of dirty puschairs, boots, stuff...

Also bear in mind that in the Yeti the middle seat has fabric or leather patches on it (for when it is used as an armrest). These are of course open to the boot when the middle seat is in use, so be mindfull of what your dog might want to do to these when it gets bored!!! Someone else also pointed out (and I think it was EdmundBlackadder himself?) that his dog just loved chewing the Yeti's rubber pull down handle too... Hence the dog going in a cage!

Small dog I do not have...Lab. Cage is 96xsomethingxsomething. I did the exact measurements at home and it will fit in the boot, but fill it almost completely (leaves about 30cm above for "stuff"). I will therefore be testing the clever seat folding and even the option of putting hound in loose, folding cage, partitioning boot with luggage nets etc. He is a good dog and doesn't chew stuff.

Test drive booked for Saturday - to assess space as the model they have (TDI 170 4x4) is about as far removed from what I will get to be almost a different car (aiming for Greenline II SE).

You can drop one of the seats and put the cage in lengthways, the dog can get in through the back door and you can either leave it there or try to push it back into the boot and reverse the process at the end, probably easier to let the dog sit in the cabin though.

I think I should become a tester for car manufacturers. I am not part of an unusual family, but a recent 2 hour trip to spend 4 days with the mother-in-law saw us take:

- 2 children (under 4) with 2 child seats;

- Fat lab with cage (folded - it won't fit in the Superb hatch assembled);

- Very large holdall full of clothes (think sports holdall, rigid base and wheels);

- 2 small holdalls with child stuff;

- numerous plastic bags full of shoes, coats, gubbins, toys;

I think that was it, but I could be wrong. I tried several iterations of packing but found this to be best:

- Folded dog cage (92x68cm) strapped against seat backs (cavity between base of seats and cage, due to angle of seat back filled with soft stuff).

- More luggage placed in front of dog cage (between cage and boot opening).

- Luggage net around all of that, then softened (pooch comfort) with coats etc.

- Now flush with twin door locking mechanism, fill floor with blankets (usually on floor of cage).

- Dog in, just enough head room to sit up and have daylight (i.e. not just stuffed under the "saloon" bit of the twindoor hatch.

- Large holdall on floor in front of back seats (sooooo much legroom, kids on child seats).

- Other rear footwell stuffed with what's left.

Kids on seats, stuff between kid seats. All safe (i.e. no flying death bringers above rear seat back or between kid seats).

I'm 6ft 3in, so drivers seat fairly well back, wife less so, but far enough.

In the Yeti (having driven it saturday and played with seats etc and took cage base) I will pack differently and have a different (in my eyes) better load space, that's easier to access and easier to partition. the dog wiil not have access to the plush rear of seats and has never chewed anything non-dog-toy before, so I hope wouldn't attack the rubber handle, but I may devise a stowage device for this...

Incidentally, the Yeti was a 2.0 TDI CR 170 manual Elegance 4x4 - impressed with the car in general, not particularly fussed about 4x4 (adds thirst and not practicality for what I need), not especially fussed over CR170 (I have Superb Greenline - 1.9 is fine). found elegance trim to be fine, but I will probably go for SE, as I don't need leather and a smarter stereo etc. I am probably going down the Greenline II route - most economical, lowest emissions, cheap to buy and now available in different trim levels - GENIUS!!

Great review and accurate for the real world of people with families. It does make me laugh when car reviewers who are clearly single or without children talk about certain cars being great family cars when anyone who has packed like you have here knows in an instant that the car they are talking about is not up to the job. My eyes can scan a car in 5 seconds and know if it will be a decent family car or not. Space, more space, cubby holes, internal flexibility, oh yes, and more space again.

My eyes can scan a car in 5 seconds and know if it will be a decent family car or not. Space, more space, cubby holes, internal flexibility, oh yes, and more space again.

What was the weather like on Krypton when you left?

I need at least half an hour alone with a car to find ALL the important features - including a test drive. I do know from a test drive if a car is right for me. Like a new pair of shoes - if it feels right it is right.

Terfyn - Whether it drives okay is an entirely different matter and you are completely right, you only find that out on a test drive, actually only after about a month of ownership but that is too late. What I meant, and I think you know you cheeky pup, is that as a parent you know the space that is required when you are transporting a family and you know how you need to access that space. For example a saloon car is generally useless when you are carrying buggies, travel cots, bags etc as the boot opening is not as good as a hatchback. Some cars have back seats that fold but the wheel arches intrude so the width of the car is not fully used once you get past the boot section. Wheel arches that intrude giving an odd shaped boot = black marks. All bad design as you lose space.

With the Yeti you instantly felt the cabin was spacious, the rear doors were easy to access, the end of the boot lid was vertical, the wheel arches don't intrude, the seats fold easily and also fold up giving a wonderfully wide, full width spacious boot when required. These things stood out yet I would not have noticed before having kids and lugging endless amounts of tosh. Oh and as far as my kids are concerned not only do I have x-ray vision but I can see behind me as well. I learnt all of this at "Dad School".

Sadly driving pleasure takes second seat...oh and the fact that Brand Loyalty, while not essential, generally ensures a better trade-in value, so looking at replacements for the Superb from Skoda left me like this:

- Superb Combi - great, I have the hatch, so why not go bigger! BUT why when I only need the limo once a month? Also costs more.

- Roomster - looks like a pope-mobile, is not sanctioned by Mrs PDIBK...and that vote counts!

- Yeti - looks (and is) big inside, yet small outside (so will fit better everywhere than Superb - driveway, parking etc). Drives well.

- Octavia Combi - been there, didn't get on with small-ish rear space (seats not boot - that was big).

Speaking as a parent with 3 daughters (8, 11 and 13), plus my 2 large dogs in the boot, could maybe sound like a squeeze? It's not, of course children come in all shapes and sizes, all mine are tall like their Mum, and the youngest uses are booster full size seat. I think the problem can be is that some of these children's booster seats can be quite wide and so take up much shoulder room in the back. There's no were near the interior space of my last car , a 7 seater Mazda MPV, but the Yeti can and does suit a family of 5. Although if you have very young kids who all need car seats you may have to re-think.

I think I'm right in saying that NO rear bench seat of any car can take 3 kiddy seats side by side - they are too wide. Interesting that your 8 year old still uses the full seat - I thought it was booster only past a certain age.

The Superb is brilliant because of its size and the cost of it - I get E-class size and comfort (in my mind at least - my uncles E-class wasn't noticably different) for Skoda money. Why would I look at a VW (nothing near it) or Audi (likewise, although A6 avant is close - but way more money)?

I don't need an MPV (only 2 kids), but they do offer the best fit in terms of practicality etc vs size. Yeti is a pseudo MPV I guess and ticks more boxes for me.

The old shape Picasso could certainly take 3 booster seats and I see no reason why the new one would not. If the Picasso could then I would expect the Zafira, Scenic etc to do so as well. I don't think a "normal" car would though which is the point I think you are making. A proper third seat would be good but then the Yeti would have to be wider and you start to lose one of its benefits, easy to park, easy to manoeuvre etc.

You can change to a booster, with a back, once your child is large enough to cope with a cross chest seat belt, it still needs to go through a section of the back which lowers the height of the belt so your child is not garroted, and also when they are able to prop themselves up on their own, including when they are sleeping. You can lose the back section when they are tall enough not to need the seat belt re-directing. The really great moment is when they are tall enough not to need the booster seat at all, 135cm. That then makes it much easier to fit 3 kids in the back.

My eldest (3) is in a booster with back. Didn't need to lower the belt (although it had the adaptor). I thought once they got a certain height/age, you removed the back and just went booster base, but it makes little difference to the width of the bench.

I hadn't thought of that - most "proper" MPVs' middle seat is not between the wheelarches, so can be a bit wider to take a 3rd seat. Yeti (and some MPVs) is actually just a cleverly configured standard car.

My dog (flat coated retriever, 32 kilos) has a good amount of space in the boot. He's not destructive, so no chewing problems. I've had the Skoda dog guard fitted, and it's fine. No spare wheel, so the dog's bed fits perfectly. Only problem is, he's 10 years old and getting a bit arthritic, so sometimes struggles to make the height of the jump in. :( May have to buy him a portable/folding step

You remove the back when you are comfortable that the seat belt, when tensed, will not slice off your child's head if you need to break suddenly. There is no height limit on that, it is your own choice. The only legal part is when to lose the booster completely. I found losing the back to the booster was good as some of them can be quite wide, they flare out, and 3 next to each other was tricky. 3 bases alone seemed easier to fit in and manipulate, car depending, and of course childrens shoulders are quite narrow and so once the booster were in it was easy. Mine are past the booster stage but not yet teenagers so the narrow middle seat was less of an issue for me.

Mine are out of boosters now, so much so that in 3 months of ownership, I have not had all 4 of us in the car at once. Thats teenagers for you. The eldest takes her test tomorrow.

She is NOT driving Elsie if she passes, even if the insurance company would let her, which they won't thankfully......

Mike

My dog (flat coated retriever, 32 kilos) has a good amount of space in the boot. He's not destructive, so no chewing problems. I've had the Skoda dog guard fitted, and it's fine. No spare wheel, so the dog's bed fits perfectly. Only problem is, he's 10 years old and getting a bit arthritic, so sometimes struggles to make the height of the jump in. :( May have to buy him a portable/folding step

going on a diet down to 25kgs would help - and so would glucosamine/chondroitin and some omega 3,6,9. And Metacam too - but you'll need to visit the vet for that.