I have a Yeti 1.2DSG It was delivered on 225/50/17 Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres. Quite often the wheels will spin when trying to make a quick getaway at a roundabout. Traction control kicks in and after a quick rise in my blood pressure the car takes off again. I have just moved to a new house where the driveway exits on to a 1in 4 hill. The road surface is concrete. The Yeti loses grip as you exit and traction control brings you to a stop. After reversing down the hill and centering the wheels I can restart with traction control OFF and can make it to the top of the hill with occasional wheelspin. With traction control on it is impossible to get up the hill if the road surface is damp. Is the Yeti the problem or is it the tyres?

How many miles have you done on those tyres?

Phil

Tyres, plus you perhaps need to be a bit more gentle on the "go" pedal.

This is often a problem with DSG cars. The Clutch take up is brutal. Try to find a gentle throttle position that will move you forwards gently. There is a knack to it. My drive is steep and I find the same.

My non-DSG 1.2 TSI has similar issues & I'm on the same tyres.....mine have done 18k though, and are coming to the end of their life.

I think it may be time to shop for a 4x4. My wheels never spin

Pirelli tyres - it seems to get worse the more you turn the wheel??

The P Zero Rosso came bottom in Autocar's tyre test as long ago as 2007. Six years on, it must be pretty hopelessly off the pace, unless it has been completely reformulated (which it probably hasn't, or it would likely have been renamed).

The Pirellis may have a tread pattern that dont provide great grip when the wheels are off centre as they would be for a junction perhaps. Also, you have the lightest engine in the range so less weight over the front tyres on a fwd model wont be making the most of the tyres contact patch and traction capabilites. However, ive driven the 1.2 DSG's and never had an issue as you describe. (I cant recall what yres where on them though if im honest!)

Thanks for all the replies.

The tyres have done 19000km and are about 50% worn, despite very gentle throttle the 'problem' still exists and is made worse if the wheels are not 'dead ahead'.

Today it is raining quite hard and it was almost impossible to get up the hill.

On the highway the car drives superbly and feels very stable and secure. There is almost zero road noise from the tyres.

Can anyone suggest a replacement that would not degrade the main road performance?

I have the Dunlops (and the Dunlop winters) and tend to agree that you have to feather the throttle at all times when pulling away from standstill. Had to take a run at a relatively insignificant raised area on an uphill slope in a country lane as it wouldn't grip - although the surface was a little bit loose-ish admittedly ..... and at the time it crossed my mind that 4x4 might have it's advantages.... but most of the time it's acceptable and I've got used to it.

I have the Dunlops (and the Dunlop winters) and tend to agree that you have to feather the throttle at all times when pulling away from standstill. Had to take a run at a relatively insignificant raised area on an uphill slope in a country lane as it wouldn't grip - although the surface was a little bit loose-ish admittedly ..... and at the time it crossed my mind that 4x4 might have it's advantages.... but most of the time it's acceptable and I've got used to it.

Id bet a lot of this is down to the reason I mentioned above ie the lack of weight over the driven wheels from that lightweight miracle of a small capacity engine.

I wonder what the weight distribution ratios are across the different engines/transmission?

I've now been running Kumho (KU39?) for over 2 years and have been very pleased with them. Looking at the ratings on various sites they get better "marks" than the Pirelli's.

Can I suggest without ending up banished to 'Bobs' corner that the 17" rim's won't help either. Tyres wise you could try a wet weather specialist such as the Uniroyal Rainsport or maybe a Hankook e.g. the 115; been very impressed with the wet weather performance of their winter pattern tyre.

TP

The plumber is probably right. The width of the tyres looks impressive but are probably not helping with traction. My previous car was a 1.6 Roomster on 15 inch wheels. Equivalent power through a 6 speed auto box and never a wheelspin in similar conditions.

Although I live 600 meters up in the spanish mountains we don't have very low temperatures in winter, maybe minus 2 or 3 at night but still 10 to 20C during the day. Winter tyres may be an overkill. The Annapurna's look good but I may have to change to a smaller rim.

The plumber is probably right. The width of the tyres looks impressive but are probably not helping with traction. My previous car was a 1.6 Roomster on 15 inch wheels. Equivalent power through a 6 speed auto box and never a wheelspin in similar conditions.

Although I live 600 meters up in the spanish mountains we don't have very low temperatures in winter, maybe minus 2 or 3 at night but still 10 to 20C during the day. Winter tyres may be an overkill. The Annapurna's look good but I may have to change to a smaller rim.

Sorry to be OT but where are you based?

In Spain during the winter. About one hour inland from Malaga.

Hi yeti-jeff. As the posters above have already said, this is likely to be a combination of the tyre type and size and the weight distribution of the 2WD yeti which I suspect is not as front biased as a typical hatchback. Once you are facing up a steep hill even more weight is shifted backwards. There is another factor too. The Yeti is fairly stiff in roll, so if the back of the car is on ground sloping sideways one way and the front is on ground sloping sideways the other way there is a strong tendency for two diagonal wheels to be "unweighted". This naturally increases the risk of the unweighted driven wheel spinning. Traction control will brake the spinning wheel in an attempt to divert more effort to the one with grip, but this may not be sufficient. If you had something really softly sprung like a 2CV then side to side weight transfer is minimal and traction would be better. You might be able to experiment with the exact line you take exiting your driveway. Dropping the tyre pressures to the minimum might help a little too.

Thanks Austin 7 for your input. I think that your reasonings are probably correct. The exit from the lower driveway (where the car shade is) is as you describe and can only be exited at fairly high speed after a run up. As you straighten up you lose all momentum due to wheel spin. You then have to reverse and straighten up and start again. In the dry you can set off (with ASR off) with only occasional spin, in the wet it is a different matter. My neighbours all drive Dacia's, Susuki's or Mitsubishi's. I am loath to take a big hit on the Yeti (its only 13 months old) but the only solution may be to trade in for one of the afore mentioned.

If traffic permits, just reverse up the hill. Then weight transfer will work in your favour. That's how we get out of our drive and up the hill outside it whenever conditions are too slippery for our 2WD front-driven cars. It has not failed yet.

Strangely you get more wheelspin in reverse however light on the throttle. Could be something to do with the gearing. A friend tried reversing up in a manual Fiesta and almost burnt the clutch out trying to slip it to reduce spin.

... neighbours all drive Dacia's, Susuki's or Mitsubishi's. I am loath to take a big hit on the Yeti (its only 13 months old) but the only solution may be to trade in for one of the afore mentioned.

Sounds like you need to road test the next car for this access road! I'd suggest swapping to a 4wd Yeti but with auto presumably means a bigger engine (and cost).

But thanks for pointing out that 2wd and traction control can't solve some of the basic traction issues!

Have you tried the aggressive approach? Line the Yeti up and make it have it...............

Maybe not the answer, but I think Skoda would do you a good deal on a 4x4 Yeti.

The agressive approach does work but the downside is tyre wear. 300 metres of twin black lines up the hill is quite costly and the smell upsets the neighbours a bit.