Hi, doing some research for a car-inept pal! The Yeti ticks many of their boxes but they live in a an area with VERY bad roads and all their recent cars have munched springs and bushes like they were biscuits. Might be something to do with the way they drive, but that's one of the things the car will have to cope with

 

Views on how tough the Yeti suspension is would be great.

 

And is there a difference between the 2WD and 4WD set-ups? (I've finally persuaded them that 4WD REALLY won't help if the roads are covered in sheet ice......)

 

Any other feedback v welcome. Seems there was a facelit in 2013 which sorted many niggles. Am I right?

 

 

Hi

 

Other than increased height, the Yeti suspension is pretty much the same as other VAG cars - mostly shared with an earlier Golf platform I think.

So no tougher than anything else really.

 

Aside from the obvious absence of a rear drivetrain, no significant difference between 2wd and 4wd in terms of suspension design - both are single wishbone with McPherson strut at the front, and multilink at the rear.

There was a slight change to the front wishbone bush arrangement early on, around 2010-2011 I think.

 

No idea about suspension but 4x4 will make a big difference is slippery conditions. 

 

Granted under braking they are much the same but when trying to move you have 4 wheels trying to find traction rather than effectively 1 on a 2wd. The open diff on a normal car means if one wheel looses traction then you are stuck. A 4wd will "move" torque around the wheels with the most traction. 

Thus far I've only test driven a Yeti, I collect mine next Wednesday! Saying that I noticed a huge difference in how the Yeti's suspension handled both minor lumps and bumps on the road and more significant ones like traffic calming sleeping policemen type bumps on the road, compared to my current Octavia. The Octavia has what is best described as a crap suspension system, torsion beam at the rear and a fidgety setup makes it only really comfortable on smoother motorway type roads at faster speeds, it is bad around town and excellent on the motorway, obviously optimised for the autobahns.

 

With the Yeti even in the short time that I drove it on both motorway and city streets around Glasgow, felt much more comfortable on the slower, rougher roads than the Octavia would have been, it barely seemed to notice the sleeping policemen bumps on one of the back roads near the garage, the Octavia would have been severely uncomfortable over that same road, even driven slowly. So maybe a conventional suspension setup in the Yeti but probably better dampened somehow to cope with rougher roads that a 4 x 4 might encounter.

I wonder what your friends were driving that wrecked so easily?

It seems to me that a change in driving style may be in order,

rather than a different car.

Agree with gumdrop driving style can make or break a car in these circumstances.  I have a friend who's attitude is the car should be built to survive any road conditions and is always surprised if something breaks. Mind you I get fed up following someone who's whole journey appears to be swerving around every manhole cover or slight road imperfection.

2 hours ago, Nobbi1977 said:

The open diff on a normal car means if one wheel looses traction then you are stuck. A 4wd will "move" torque around the wheels with the most traction. 

 

Most cars nowadays including the Yeti have a system whereby the wheel with no or lesser grip is braked sending the drive to the other wheel.
Not had a chance to use that function on the Yeti yet but it worked a dream on the Fabia I had for 10½ years.

As one who drives forestry tracks for both a hobby and currently as "work"* I find that the Yeti suspension copes admirably. Yes I did have 2 rear springs break on the previous Yeti, but that was at 4 years old and nearly 95k miles, so not something I complained about. Spring fractures now seem quite commonplace on lots of cars; my local garage are always changing them on various makes.

 

Don't know what your friends were previously driving, but I would say that how they drive will have a lot to do with it. Even on a forest track I try to plan a route avoiding the worst holes and rocks. A bit difficult at the moment as they are either under water or a couple of inches of mud!!

 

*Currently photographing the "Built Heritage" mining remains in the Hafren Forest.

1 hour ago, Urrell said:

 

Most cars nowadays including the Yeti have a system whereby the wheel with no or lesser grip is braked sending the drive to the other wheel.
Not had a chance to use that function on the Yeti yet but it worked a dream on the Fabia I had for 10½ years.

 

It works!!

I once drove my 2CV around an off road track but had to reverse through some sections,

thats how I found out the blue paint was mixed with pink to get the right shade!

4 hours ago, Urrell said:

 

Most cars nowadays including the Yeti have a system whereby the wheel with no or lesser grip is braked sending the drive to the other wheel.
Not had a chance to use that function on the Yeti yet but it worked a dream on the Fabia I had for 10½ years.

 

 

Worth knowing. I find most modern cars just sit on the spot flashing lights on the dashboard when it gets snowy, that and sliding straight on when the ABS can't cope.

They are probably as good as it gets from Skoda as the replacement or the bigger Kodiaq are not likely to be more capable.

If you need to upgrade the springs or dampers and fit different tyres they are easy to do.

 

I think the spring crunching could be a lot down to how a car is driven but saying that I only ever had this problem with one car, my Mondeo Estate 2.2 TD, it was bought secondhand from Arnold Clark with lowish mileage but within a year of buying it both front springs broke within a short time. Car was still in warranty but Ford not interested in even looking at the broken springs, which both seemed to have flaws in the metal where they broke, kind of looked like small bubbles but beyond that who knows what loads were carried in that car before I owned the car or how much abuse it was given, particularly as it turned out to be an ex hire car!

 

The new springs lasted right up until I had to sell the remains of it, after it was severely rear ended by someone who in broad daylight on a fine clear day completely failed to notice that a rather large Ford Mondeo Estate was sitting patiently at a junction until it was safe to move and attempted to park her Vauxhall Corsa inside my car!

On 2/22/2017 at 11:26, Llanigraham said:

As one who drives forestry tracks for both a hobby and currently as "work"* I find that the Yeti suspension copes admirably. Yes I did have 2 rear springs break on the previous Yeti, but that was at 4 years old and nearly 95k miles, so not something I complained about. Spring fractures now seem quite commonplace on lots of cars; my local garage are always changing them on various makes.

 

Don't know what your friends were previously driving, but I would say that how they drive will have a lot to do with it. Even on a forest track I try to plan a route avoiding the worst holes and rocks. A bit difficult at the moment as they are either under water or a couple of inches of mud!!

 

 

Did you go for the rough road package?

Can't decide whether to add it to my new yeti order or not. Similar to you I sometimes have to take my car down track or across fields etc for work. Not significantly damaged one underneath yet, even my current lower greenline, but some insurance against damage may be a good idea. I did rip the engine tray off a Mark 1 superb though!

 

Its not that clear what you get by looking in the brochure and the spec seems to have changed since the car was first introduced?

1 hour ago, kenfowler3966 said:

Did you go for the rough road package?

Can't decide whether to add it to my new yeti order or not. Similar to you I sometimes have to take my car down track or across fields etc for work. Not significantly damaged one underneath yet, even my current lower greenline, but some insurance against damage may be a good idea. I did rip the engine tray off a Mark 1 superb though!

 

Its not that clear what you get by looking in the brochure and the spec seems to have changed since the car was first introduced?

 

My new one has got it, and the Off Road Button, but the last one didn't and it never bothered me. Even the thin plastic undershield fitted as standard was quite resilient if driven carefully. I scratched it a few times but never got anywhere near damaging it, but that may have more to do with careful route selection and 30 odd years of off-road training and instructing. 

If they are that "unsympathetic" it might be a good idea.

 

RRP is basically a much stronger sump guard and guards on the suspension arms and, I think, tank. Originally it was a metal sump guard but they have now moved to a plastic one that is just as strong but lighter.

Edited 23 February, 20179 yr by Llanigraham

I will throw a bomb in the discussion as my intentions are far away from most ;-) I bought my Yeti for pulling round the UK my track car. The big boot etc is great for tools and the 4X4 2.0tdi is excellent, especially now it has being re-mapped and air filtered so it can breath better (shame the dpf etc restricts the car by 50/60 available HP & loads of NM). I recently completely overhauled the speaker system with amazing results over standard using the head unit from Skoda. I should also say that at 47000 miles when I bought my Yeti I did the gearbox and Haldex system servicing with Skoda followed by belts and water pump. Gearbox service was magic in taking all the slack out of the gear changes making it drive like new, I am also sure if stuck in a field in the next few years the Haldex system will also perform well. My next job relevant to the post is to drop the suspension 60/85mm with coiler suspension, I think maybe KW V1's at the minute but I am open to any suggestions that people may have done. I am as a track driver, very impressed with the overall handling of the broad stance Yeti and want to just loose some of the body roll to give a better corner control/ride. I understand for many this will be a step too far, so those people I think they also will be  upset that I also intend to change the wheels and upgrade the brakes over the coming months as well, but as they say my money my car. I want to have a great looking sounding tug bus that when not towing will provide a car that will entertain beyond Skoda's expectations, for me that is anyway!

32 minutes ago, McGee01 said:

I will throw a bomb in the discussion as my intentions are far away from most ;-) I bought my Yeti for pulling round the UK my track car. The big boot etc is great for tools and the 4X4 2.0tdi is excellent, especially now it has being re-mapped and air filtered so it can breath better (shame the dpf etc restricts the car by 50/60 available HP & loads of NM). I recently completely overhauled the speaker system with amazing results over standard using the head unit from Skoda. I should also say that at 47000 miles when I bought my Yeti I did the gearbox and Haldex system servicing with Skoda followed by belts and water pump. Gearbox service was magic in taking all the slack out of the gear changes making it drive like new, I am also sure if stuck in a field in the next few years the Haldex system will also perform well. My next job relevant to the post is to drop the suspension 60/85mm with coiler suspension, I think maybe KW V1's at the minute but I am open to any suggestions that people may have done. I am as a track driver, very impressed with the overall handling of the broad stance Yeti and want to just loose some of the body roll to give a better corner control/ride. I understand for many this will be a step too far, so those people I think they also will be  upset that I also intend to change the wheels and upgrade the brakes over the coming months as well, but as they say my money my car. I want to have a great looking sounding tug bus that when not towing will provide a car that will entertain beyond Skoda's expectations, for me that is anyway!

Have you seen this..

 

Edited 14 February, 20215 yr by Kenny R

1 hour ago, Kenny R said:

Have you seen this..

 

 

No I hadn't seen those posts. All have there interesting points, thanks!

If you use the Yeti for towing and intend an 85mm drop then you will need to consider the tow bar height.

 

Will that drop you below the type approved minimum and will your trailer be too nose down.

I have vague recollections that, somewhere in the hundreds of pages of Richard (BossFox)'s monster Yeti build, he found there was only so far you could drop the Yeti - I think the large arches give the impression it can be dropped a long way, but in reality it couldn't.

You'll enjoy reading his thread though trying to find the info. I had the pleasure of being on a track in my Yeti at the same time as his, I think his was only running a measly 3-400bhp at the time (not the 700+ it is now) but clearly remember the  speed he flew past me on a straight, and the looks of confused people as his 5-cyl Yeti burbled it's way in/out of the circuit. I also then remember the same people turning to look at mine following behind, with high expectations of another exotic monster, only to be disappointed by it being a standard 170 TDI...