This mag - an interesting mix of pix and fax - has a delightful report on the recent off road extravaganza in Spain that Skoda set up for available Journos.

This was the mag which, despite featuring Jeeps and Discos and Defenders in profusion negotiating hair-raising bumps and berms and quarries, named the Yeti as its 4*4 of the Year. I expect there were a number of raised eyebrows among their readership.

Once again they say that the brilliant Yeti is just that - brilliant! And they go on to commend the Scout Octavia as well as the Superb.

This car of ours sure does have friends in strange places!

That is rather impressive.

I've had a fair number of people with Grand Cherokees, Discoverys, Defenders, etc come in and buy Yetis I think a lot of people think that you need a Defender to deal with a few inches of water and a bit of snow. Once they can be shown that they don't need this they are happy to jump ship into the Yeti which has far better on road manners and hugely better running costs.

An example of this would be the people that part exchanged the Landcruiser 80VX 4.5 (That I had for myself!) since they've had it and it's been just over a year, they've had not a single problem and it has done everything they wanted it to. They need 4x4 because where they live the lane is properly muddy and does require four wheel drive and a bit of ground clearance. Even in the snow it performed well in fact they found it easier to drive than the Landcruiser because the Yeti weighs a lot less and is more manageable, not to mention the fact it is a lot easier to operate, No hi/lo rations, no centre diff lock, no axle lockers the Yeti just gets on with it with minimal interaction from the driver, pretty much point and go.

In the last 10 days I've been approach by a female Discovery owner and today a male Defender owner enquiring about the Yeti. Both seemed very impressed and left saying their next port of call would be the nearest Skoda dealer.

The reality of course is that living in the country does not mean you need 4wd- you need the right tyres. I live in a hamlet with a 1 in 5 single track road which is never gritted .I have never failed to get home in various Golfs etc fitted with winter rubber, even in 6" of fresh snow. The only reason I have gone for 4wd on last and next car- Yeti 140-is that I negotiate more and more bumpy off road tracks where ground clearance makes a big difference and 4wd gets you almost anywhere. Why folk buy horrors like Audi Q5s , Cayennes etc is beyond me.And let's say that the appeal of a Defender is ..ermm..limited