I will be in the market in the next year for a new car, hopefully another Yeti to replace my existing 

110 PS diesel. Like many of us, I have been dismayed by the 'dieselgate' issues we have just now 

which are not going to be sorted any time soon. 

 

With this in mind, I would be happy to go for the 1.4 l petrol variant which has a similar torque 

figure to my current car and suitable to tow my small caravan. However, as we know, this is only 

available in the L and K with that unattractive, to me, brown leather interior. Why not as an SE or 

SE-L? Well I contacted Skoda to ask them and got a very prompt and courteous reply from John 

Good at customer services. He said a number of people had been in touch about this and if 

enough interest is shown, the factory would have to respond. I made the point that sales of diesels 

will very likely be down and that Skoda/VW Group should be making more petrol options available 

if only to help keep the company afloat. 

 

So, like the successful alloy wheel campaign to have 16" wheels as an option, maybe we need to 

make a bit of noise to persuade Skoda make more engine options available?

Migration from diesel to petrol is inevitable with many changing over.

It's the big diesel users ie: trains, lorries, heavy plant and ships and such,  can't just swap to petrol driven engines.

If they did the 1.8 petrol in 4x4 SE trim I might consider it, otherwise it will be another 150bhp diesel for me, because of it's caravan towing capabilities.

I think it unlikely that all trims of the Yeti will be available with the 1.4 Tsi engine. VAG may well have a supply problem with petrol engines if the 'dieselgate' crisis results in more buyers opting for petrol over diesel power. If there is a supply shortage then you can bet that Audi and VW will get priority - as they do now with the ACT versions of the 1.4.

Sadly the financial penalties for VAG are likely to be so severe that I can see them forced into some rationalisation of ranges and the slowing down of new introductions. Inevitably new buyers are going to be wary and with the level of competition in the motor market other marques could well be more attractive. I am not sure if I was a new buyer that VAG motors would be top of my list!

The replacement for the current Yeti is due in 2017, that could well be delayed by a year or so with VAG relying on the new VW Tiguan and the SEAT "Yeti" SUV (due next year) to satisfy the market demand in the small SUV market.

The financial penalties are going to be tens of billions Euros, high enough to destabilise the biggest of companies.

Other than the Yeti L&K, what other VAG cars use the non-ACT 1.4 engine?

Other than the Yeti L&K, what other VAG cars use the non-ACT 1.4 engine?

A quick review of VAG models seems to indicate that Skoda are the only one not using ACT engines across the range.

That's what I thought. I had a look through several Audi, Seat and VW model ranges and couldn't find another car using a non-ACT 150PS variant of the 1.4. Is ACT purely an ECU software control?

 Is ACT purely an ECU software control?

No, a lot of kit on the engine needed to operate it.

Here is a YouTube clip of how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBg4pUUnpck

Nice video, very nice tech.

 

The reason I ask goes back to Expatman's comment about potential supply problems. If the engine is only fitted to the Yeti, it's in a queue of one. I can understand though that a lot of the basic components will be shared with the ACT variant.

Nice video, very nice tech.

 

The reason I ask goes back to Expatman's comment about potential supply problems. If the engine is only fitted to the Yeti, it's in a queue of one. I can understand though that a lot of the basic components will be shared with the ACT variant.

Does anyone know if the 1.4 Tsi non ACT version is the same basic engine as the ACT version? If so then I wonder why Skoda don't offer it in the Yeti? Or is this brand separation? Seat have the ACT version of the 1.4 in both Leon and Ibiza so hopefully it will be offered in the new Seat SUV due in 2016. Guess my Yeti replacement could be a Seat, but I will examine all the competitors much more closely than I might have before "Dieselgate", not because of any antipathy towards VAG but I fear the financial upheavals might impact on models and service as they are forced to reduce spending to cover fines, legal bills etc.