bilun77 Correct me if I am wrong, but are you saying maybe the petrol 1.2 is livelier than your Greenline? Theoretically, I would have thought the 1.6 would have more 'go' but I am quite confused! It is years since I have driven a diesel and they could be quite sluggish, but I thought now they were more lively. Could it be in making this model 'eco' it has lost some of it's 'poke'? As you may guess I am female, of mature years and not technical!! I think one of my worries with the smaller engine is it's longevity in the area where I live. Are you pleased with most aspects of your Greenline?

 

You need a little thumbnail pic like MarieK has so that we know to be more courteous! I did not realise you're female - though in saying that advice is advice so should really be the same.  

 

What you need to tow and get over hills maintaining your speed is torque. Trucks are always diesels because even though a diesel engine has less power than a petrol, it has plenty more torque (or torques as that Jeremy Clarkson ignoramus says). Getting off from a start either the 1,2 or the 1,6 will be fine - though apparently the 1,6 is a bit sluggish if you don't rev it. BUT keeping a steady speed and more importantly, having the RESERVE power to correct a swaying caravan (by slowly accelerating) you need torque and I will only recommend the 1,6 TDI in that case. Just pulling a caravan is one thing. Having reserve power (torque) to correct a swaying one, is something else.

Thank you Johann! I am thinking I will probably go with the diesel 1.6 - just hope I can get a test drive.

I don't expect different levels of courtesy as a female Everyone has been most courteous and helpful on here.

In my working days I managed a number of engineers, when I was first in charge, one chap remarked " Oh no! we won't be able to swear!" I replied "there won't be anything you say which I haven't heard before! Carry on as normal- I have no problem if you wish to swear amongst yourselves- but don't you EVER dare swear AT me!" Lovely lads.

. . . . " Oh no! we won't be able to swear!" I replied "there won't be anything you say which I haven't heard before! Carry on as normal- I have no problem if you wish to swear amongst yourselves- but don't you EVER dare swear AT me!" Lovely lads.

 You'd make a good moderator for the Yeti forum 

The 1.2 petrol has better "pick up" than the greenline but it needs more cog "rowing" to get the best out of it.

You can be "lazier" changing gear with the greenlines 1.6tdi and get away with it due to the torque.

 

I actually think the new 1.6 greentec, coming on the facelift, might be worth a look for you as it will have a reworked gearbox available.

I've been towing a two berth Abbey with a maximum technical permissible laden weight of 1230 kg behind my 1.2 TSI DSG for 3 seasons now.  We keep as much weight in the car as possible(i.e. all of our clothes, bedding, unrefrigerated food and drink, security devices for van etc) and have very little load in the van soI estimate that it is running much nearer to 1000 kg .  It tows extremely well.  Stability is superb and the DSG box works well too but not really as an auto...

 

Using the DSG in manual mode ensures that the car starts off in 1st gear (which is very low) and experience has shown that treating the car as if it has a 5 speed manual gearbox makes for a perfectly acceptable arrangement.  On long down hill runs I will pop it into 6th and in slow moving traffic I occasionally drop it back into auto to save my poor aching wrist!

 

Letting the engine stretch its legs to the heady heights of 3,500 or even 4,000 rpm is quite enjoyable and of course the gear changes are seamless causing no fore and aft pitching when you do.  I stick pretty much to the speed limits, 50 mph on normal roads and a tad under 60 on dual carriageways.  An indicated 94 kph (it's easier to set the speed on the digital speedo!) keeps me slightly ahead of the HGV stuff whilst keeping the fuel consumption within reasonable bounds.  Solo I get 38 ish mpg, with the van in tow it ranges from 22 to 25 mpg mostly dependent on wind speed and direction.

 

I have the oil temperature on display whilst towing and it tends to hover between the high 90s and 110C.  For comparison solo running at 70 mph gives about 100C.  Lower gears with more revs tends to drop the oil temperature and I am content that that is indicating an easier time for the engine, more revs more oil flow I guess.

 

I wouldn't have selected the 1.2 as an obvious choice to tow anything but looking back through the contenders for tow cars of the years ten to fifteen years ago brought a Citroen Xara (?) diesel to my attention and its power and torque were below those figures for the Yeti so I thought what the hell.

 

I hope this is of some use. 

Thank you for an excellent report. I'm sure that will be very useful for Fairyvan.

 

One comment I would make, is to ensure that you do keep the actual loaded weight of the van well down, as the plated max weight of your van exceeds the car's max towing weight by 30kg, and this is still a grey area of the complicated towing regulations, whether you are/are not legal. Certainly earlier this year North Wales Police and VOSA were stopping units and putting them over a weigh-bridge to check weights, and did catch several "unsuitable" units. I also understand that Devon & Cornwall Police were doing the same at Exeter Services and on the A30.

Thank you Alley-cat and Little-Brit for your informative and helpful posts - a lot of food for thought. 

I am not sure what this DSG is- I think it is like a semi-automatic?

 

I would rather not wait for a new model if I can help it A) because I really need another car and B)I am not so keen on the new look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would rather not wait for a new model if I can help it A) because I really need another car and B)I am not so keen on the new look.

 

Which means you are ideally placed to negotiate a cracking deal on an old stock Yeti.  Of course as you walk into the dealership you tell him you are ONLY interested in the new facelifted one...  and when he shows you a stock ready one there on the showroom floor, you tell him how ugly those front fog lights are and you only want an FL, but maybe... just maybe if the ugly one could drop a few thousand pounds in price you might just be able to afford a lifetime supply of brown paper bags to put over your head as you drive it...  And see how the pounds roll of the price as he tries to sell it to you...      (The salesperson never need know that you really LOVE the fog lights!)

Love it!!    issue is finding one to haggle over!

I always enjoy Johan's posts but his comments regarding caravan snaking need to be challenged! He advises (#26) accelerating out of a snake. This is not advised. The following is copied from the Camping and Caravanning Club website:

 

"When a snake occurs - despite all your precautions - take both feet off everything, use the steering to keep on course but avoid extreme movement."

 

Of course you should load car/caravan carefully and take extra care going downhill in my experience to minimise chance of snaking.

Thank you for an excellent report. I'm sure that will be very useful for Fairyvan.

 

One comment I would make, is to ensure that you do keep the actual loaded weight of the van well down, as the plated max weight of your van exceeds the car's max towing weight by 30kg, and this is still a grey area of the complicated towing regulations, whether you are/are not legal. Certainly earlier this year North Wales Police and VOSA were stopping units and putting them over a weigh-bridge to check weights, and did catch several "unsuitable" units. I also understand that Devon & Cornwall Police were doing the same at Exeter Services and on the A30.

Thanks for that - I know that technically my combination is not quite kosha but I really do put as much "stuff" as possible in the car and as little as possible in the van.  As a caravan virgin too I was quite anxious initially but I have many caravanning friends and their guidance was very helpful.  My combination really does perform quite well!

Thank you Alley-cat and Little-Brit for your informative and helpful posts - a lot of food for thought. 

I am not sure what this DSG is- I think it is like a semi-automatic?

 

I would rather not wait for a new model if I can help it A) because I really need another car and B)I am not so keen on the new look.

 

The DSG is a seven speed fully automatic twin clutch gearbox.  It is not perfect, it tries much to hard to keep the CO2 numbers low when using a few more revs would match engine performance to road conditions much better.  

 

As I said pretending it's a 5 speed box and using the manual change function works really well when towing.   

I always enjoy Johan's posts but his comments regarding caravan snaking need to be challenged! He advises (#26) accelerating out of a snake. This is not advised. The following is copied from the Camping and Caravanning Club website:

"When a snake occurs - despite all your precautions - take both feet off everything, use the steering to keep on course but avoid extreme movement."

Of course you should load car/caravan carefully and take extra care going downhill in my experience to minimise chance of snaking.

I don't own a caravan (yet). So I'm going by what someone told me when years ago, heading to Devon, a BMW and caravan jack knifed in front of me. It wasn't a pretty sight.

I don't own a caravan (yet). So I'm going by what someone told me when years ago, heading to Devon, a BMW and caravan jack knifed in front of me. It wasn't a pretty sight.

 

Yet!!!!

 

Come on join the gang!

 

To be fair back in the day the advice was to power out of a snake ... the advice given now has changed though.  

Thank you for explaining about DSG Little- Brit. I don't like driving automatics so I won't be looking at one of those then. 

Just my 2p worth... I have towed a Lunar Lexon 420 with a MTPLM of 1200Kg for the last two seasons and on balance I have had no problems with towing.  The car is very stable and the 1.2DSG has few problems towing the van.  Fuel consumption in the low 20s when towing and mid 30s when not.  The only change from normal is that I have to get used to the engine being in the above 3k range rather than the normal 2k range for normal driving. Al;so, the DSG likes to stay in lower gears too long and switching between auto and semi-auto helps to keep the engine on the boil. 

The "on balance" bit is that I never feel the car is totally in it's comfort zone and I put this down to being petrol rather than diesel so a bit more torque would be appreciated.  I bought the 1.2 first to tow a trailer tent which it did with no concern and then maxed out the MTPLM to get the biggest caravan without having to get a bigger Yeti...when the time comes for a change a DSG diesel would be on the cards.

 having the RESERVE power to correct a swaying caravan (by slowly accelerating) you need torque and I will only recommend the 1,6 TDI in that case. Just pulling a caravan is one thing. Having reserve power (torque) to correct a swaying one, is something else.

OMG, the last thing you want to do if your caravan starts to snake is go faster, or to brake heavily.  It is going too fast that causes this in the first place.  You take your foot of the accelerator, and brake pedals and try and correct any swaying by the car by steering.  For example in my Modeo-Ranger combo (which lacked a stabalizer hitch) I foud that as soon as you tried to exceed 60mph the caravan would start to get lively.  The above is VERY VERY dangerous advice.

Edited 3 September, 201312 yr by CitigoAllen

OMG, the last thing you want to do if your caravan starts to snake is go faster, or to brake heavily.  It is going too fast that causes this in the first place.  You take your foot of the accelerator, and brake pedals and try and correct any swaying by the car by steering.  For example in my Modeo-Ranger combo (which lacked a stabalizer hitch) I foud that as soon as you tried to exceed 60mph the caravan would start to get lively.  The above is VERY VERY dangerous advice.

 

No need to go on as if I just abducted your one and only daughter...  But fair enough...  as I said that is what the police told me (in 2002) when I was the first one on scene at a car and caravan that snaked and crashed right in front of me.  

 

But on a Yeti hopefully none of this is a worry since the car has Trailer Assist as part of the ESP.  

I was towing with mine in gale force winds on Sunday and it never moved out of line with 1400Kg on the hook.  The Yeti just continues to impress me ... I normally change cars after 18 months (itchy feet!), that should have been Sunday past but quite happy to keep it for a little while yet.

 

We are looking at changing our caravan to a 2014 Swift Challenger 570 SE which will push the weight up to around 1450Kg when loaded by us, this may well test the Yetis mettle. If it copes OK, and I think it well, we will swap to a facelift Yeti in March ... if not sadly it'll  need to be bye bye Skoda.

I don't own a caravan (yet). So I'm going by what someone told me when years ago, heading to Devon, a BMW and caravan jack knifed in front of me. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Sorry brining up an old thread like this. But I found an old hard drive today and found these pics. We were first on scene and my friend works for the London Ambulance Service and insisted we take his blue light in my Audi. Well it was used. And everyone in the BMW were fine.

Fairyvan Did you buy the 1.2 Yeti and tow with it? I live in Exmoor too and have a lightweight folding caravan 800 kg mlw. Thinking of buying petrol automatic Yeti and using it to tow.

8 minutes ago, Joan12 said:

Fairyvan Did you buy the 1.2 Yeti and tow with it? I live in Exmoor too and have a lightweight folding caravan 800 kg mlw. Thinking of buying petrol automatic Yeti and using it to tow.

 

This thread is 5 years old and he hasn't posted on the forum since 2015.

Ok thanks.