The Yeti as a camping car?

[jespo03]

Looking for someone in kindda' the same situation as me and wondering if the 1.2 tai in a Yeti is big enough an engine:

 

We go camping every summer in sourthern europe - meaning a lot of long trips up and down german, italian, swiss and french motorways hills

ten

We are two adult and three kids (aged 7, 4 and 1) and carry everything in the car (large and heavy tent, camping furniture and so on)

 

We took our current Roomster (1.4 16V petrol) last year, and it was in no way a pleasant trip. Loosing speed uphill and in instance we almost couldn't leave the campsite, because of a steep hill

 

therfore: wold the 1.2 tsi be enough or should I try locate a used 1.4 tsi?

 

/jesper

[BossFox]

Personally I think the car will be too slow to accelerate for you over 50mph due to it's power/drag and the boot will be too small.

 

Unless all the tent and gear go on the roof?

At lower speeds it's quite nippy.

[bettysman]

How about a 110bhp diesel , you should have plenty of power and good fuel consumption.

 

 

Bob

[mrchrispy]

tested a 1.2 petrol and it was great around town but fully loaded I think it'd really run outta legs on the motorway.

Ended up with the 140bhp which is pretty nice

[jespo03]

Personally I think the car will be too slow to accelerate for you over 50mph due to it's power/drag and the boot will be too small.

 

Unless all the tent and gear go on the roof?

At lower speeds it's quite nippy.

All the gear would go on top in a large Thule Box - but as I hear it from everyody, unfortunately the engine sounds to big

 

 

 

How about a 110bhp diesel , you should have plenty of power and good fuel consumption.

 

 

Bob

 

I got offered a good price on the 110 hp diesel, but would that really do the trick, or should I try to look for a 140 hp diesel instead?

[BossFox]

The diesels all have a reasonable amount of torque and make better workhorses than the 1.2tsi in my opinion.

 

That's not to say the 1.2tsi is bad, but it's not a load lugger/workhorse.  My wife has a 1.2 DSG.  It's more of a family run around.

[Michael G]

Hi Jesper

 

We have the 1.2 petrol, DSG. It was a demo car. Wouldn't have been our first choice, but we wanted a DSG, and wanted it quick. It was ours with a week or so of seeing it.

 

We camp, mainly just the two of us. Last year we were in the Vendee, western France, this year the Dordogne. We take a big heavy polycotton Outwell tent, and a lot of gear. The car has the spare wheel option, and is full to the roof lining, with two of the rear seats out. Our youngest (adult) daughter joins us on site, but lives in London so travels separately. We have a roofbox too, a Kamei Delphin 380.

 

So, you could say we're well loaded. Whilst we don't have the journey you'd have, or the hilly terrain down by the Med, the car has performed well. Indeed, for what we need from it, I'd say it's the best camping car we've had.

 

There's certainly a difference with the 'box on, and off, I think that's more to do with drag than anything else.

 

Setting off this July:

 

 

and on site:

 

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

[Helgestahill]

I would recommend a Yeti 170 TDI 4x4

Look at our 21% road trip last year with caravan.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSJgRWYhv6E

[bettysman]

My 110 diesel towed a 1200kg caravan no problem. I only changed it because I need a heavier car.

Bob

[Llanigraham]

My 140bhp copes more than adequately with my caravan.

[James I]

Guys, he wants to go camping in Europe with a roof box. All the heavy caravan towing on steep inclines is very impressive but my parents used to do all that with an Austin Princess and a 109 2.25 diesel series 3 LandRover.

 

 So back to the thread topic, I as others have said a 1.2 is probably ok if you take your time but as with all things car if you can source a diesel you will probably do the job with a little more power and possibly better fuel economy too.

[jespo03]

Wow! Thanks for all your kind replies :-) to sum up all the posts this is what I'm hearing:

 

• 1.2 tsi is good enough, but won't rockn'roll through the southern french hilly motorways
• Diesel is an option - however it is only in summer that I do a lot of milage
• therefore I have decided to try and locate a 1.4 tsi

 

thanks again for all the help :-)

 

Michael G: I own a polycotton Outwell tent as well, and I absolutely love it...

[Michael G]

.....

 

Michael G: I own a polycotton Outwell tent as well, and I absolutely love it...

 

I thought I'd mention the brand, given your location, and as it's in the Oase Group!  Bear Lake 6, love it 

[900000]

A conundrum eh?  You want a petrol for 11 months out of 12, since you don't want DPF problems (I guess).  But you want a 110 diesel for the 1 month out of 12.  I think the answer to that conundrum is the 1,8 petrol.  

[Michael G]

A good summary of the compromises we all have to accept.

 

If they did a 1.4 petrol DSG, that would make our "best camping car" just about perfect!

[Yeti_Man]

I can thouroughly recommend the 1.8tsi 4x4 for camping and its ability to handle sites all across Europe. Never let me down once and at times (two sites in Croatia for example) we hit problems a 2wd Yeti just wouldnt have managed.