I took my rear seats out today to transport my bicycle and do the recycle (dump) run. With there being no rear seats and having an empty tank - 5miles range according to the computer, the car felt noticeably quicker in accelerating around town. probably in the region of 100kg lighter than normal.

I'm seriously going to consider removing them for the track day coming up.

Mike

When I saw the title of the post and the poster... I was expecting it to end with the track day!

Be careful on how much weight you take out, as it can affect the balance of the car quite a lot.

Edit, echo!!

Edited 15 March, 201115 yr by Llanigraham

I will be having a much fuller tank on the day

Mike

Be careful on how much weight you take out, as it can affect the balance of the car quite a lot.

+100

I removed everything from the rear, spare, seats.... everything, then went to the track.

Well the car was tilted forwards far too much and the handling wasnt very good to be honest, kept feeling as if it would tip on the front wheels during fast corners :S

If you are to do it, the suspension needs to be setup for this.

to be honest, I doubt that I would run without the rear seats, but my main point was that with the reduced weight, it made the car feel much livelier.

I have now put them back in and have the internal bike rack in place as well, and for the time being at least, the spare wheel is on its side and strapped to the bike rack and the lashing points, and the parcel shelf is back in place. Middle seat is still in the house though.

Mike

I also took all my seats out for the first time last night to go and pick up some chairs. It was stop start London driving so I did not feel much of a difference.

The rear seats are very heavy but I suppose that means they offer better support etc. Trade off time really. It does give you a shock the first time you go to remove them as they are not light and easy to pick up. I can imagine an elderly person struggling quite a bit to remove them, the same when trying to use the elasticated pully/handles when folding the seats up.

It was stop start London driving

I know that one

Serve us right for living and working here

Mike

I don't get people saying the seats are heavy and difficult to lift - if the were light and made of cardboard they wouldn't offer any support and wouldn't be particularly safe. I can't see how they could be lighter and still be a decent seat.

I don't get people saying the seats are heavy and difficult to lift - if the were light and made of cardboard they wouldn't offer any support and wouldn't be particularly safe. I can't see how they could be lighter and still be a decent seat.

People say it because it is true. However you are quite right and I did add that in my post. You have a trade off. I seem to remember the original Zafira had very light and easy to move seats but they were rubbish to sit on for journeys of any length. The point is that the Yeti does state it has an easy to move seating system yet I would think it is very difficult for anyone elderly or with back problems to remove the seats. However, would I rather have good seats or easy to remove seats? Good seats every time.

If you want a van, buy a van. You want a family car that can have clever seating, then get a Yeti. Maybe they should get hep moving the seats?

I'm not sure why an elderly person would be pulling seats in and out too often anyway - I know this borders on ageist, but how often do "elderly" i.e. to the point of not coping with the Yeti seat (yes - heavy!) people need to pull the seats in and out anyway? If it were that much of a problem, would they choose something else to drive?

And yes I agree - they market it as a clever and versatile seating system - is that compromised by the weight? Could they just tumble them, rether than remove completely?

Read with interest about the rear seats. I think if elderly people needed to take them out they would probably ask someone ( like family, or friend ) to do it.

Question now, and I'm not being ignorant, but why would anyone want to take a Yeti to a track day. What are you going to prove? VRS yes I can see the point of that, but a Yeti is not meant to be flung around a track. Correct me if I'm wrong.

However, would I rather have good seats or easy to remove seats? Good seats every time.

I agree on this one.

But if any of you have the chance go to a Ford dealer then go and play with the rear seats of a Focus C-Max. The narrow middle seat disappears into the floor and then the outter seats can slide inwards and backwards for more leg and shoulder room. BUT you can stop them wherever you like and a passenger does not need training to do this eather. It is very intuative. I find the Yeti system peculiar where you have to fold the seats first and then lift them to position them inwards and there are no infinitely variable places to put them either. Just two spots: inside or out.

BUT in saying that the Ford's more user friendly system does slide around on rails which means the seats can't be taken out and left at home. And that is the rub for me. I prefer the Yeti's two positions and how they work, but with the added option of being able to leave the seats (or some of them) at home. The extra space that gives me is worth far more than variable seating positions.

What are you going to prove? VRS yes I can see the point of that, but a Yeti is not meant to be flung around a track. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Eh?! Why does one need to "prove" anything? I'm mystified but this statement. Are you saying all the vRS boys are there only to prove how fast their cars are or how good their driving is?!

EVO loved their Yeti around a track and any test will tell you the Yeti has amazing handling with lots of grip and very little leaning so why can't we also use it thus on a track?!

I suspect the "clever" seating in the Yeti is really just an afterthought, hence not truly versatile and the C-Max comparison shows you can't have it all! That said, even with 3 seats and 2 positions for each, you are left with 50 something possible iterations (read that somewhere in the brochure). That's better than most and no worse than a few of the best alternatives.

As for trackdays, Evo recognise that people will not be able to have the "sensible" family car and a trackday tool in their stable, but may have to do everything with one car. They rate the Yeti for that fact.

Be careful on how much weight you take out, as it can affect the balance of the car quite a lot.

I'd agree with this one, taking weight, around 100kg, off the rear axle will move the CofG forward and increasing the nose weight and likely understeer.

However, with the nature of a 'track day', Rockhopper can experiment with the seats in or out over several sessions to see what the effect on handling/performance he gets.

Best compromise might be a full tank of fuel but no seats.

Regarding the weight reduction versus balance for the track day outing, I can tell you from experience that weight is everything. If you can take out 50kg then you will be able to brake later, corner faster, accelerate faster and sooner. If the balance changes, then you must develop your driving skill to balance the Yeti through the weight transitions. The Porsche 911 has always had a balance issue, but to be honest, that is part of the challenge of driving such a machine quickly around a track.

Who would have thought that a Yeti could transport 5 people in comfort, all their luggage with not-too-bad MPG, can have all the rear seats out to make a van AND make for a track day machine!

The Yeti is a wonderful little car.

If you want a van, buy a van. You want a family car that can have clever seating, then get a Yeti. Maybe they should get hep moving the seats?

I'm not sure why an elderly person would be pulling seats in and out too often anyway - I know this borders on ageist, but how often do "elderly" i.e. to the point of not coping with the Yeti seat (yes - heavy!) people need to pull the seats in and out anyway? If it were that much of a problem, would they choose something else to drive?

And yes I agree - they market it as a clever and versatile seating system - is that compromised by the weight? Could they just tumble them, rether than remove completely?

I use my Yeti everyday to drive 10-20 large boxes of frozen shrimp (150kgs-ish) in fact i bought the car for this task.

I didnt want 2 vehicles as renting a garage or space in Taiwan costs about £120 a month on top of taxing the car!.

So i wanted the safest, quickest, most reliable, cheapest to run in town, pleasent to drive family car with the biggest boot possible.............. which was impossible up until the day it was released

Amazing how much cargo you can cram into this little car, when i first got it i though 14 boxs of shrimp was the most (which is ALOT!) but after fiddling about and chucking the spare out we managed to cram 20 in with still more space.