[EcoBeast]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

- Aftermarket alloy wheels 17" and later changed to 17" Skoda Octavia II Vrs alloy wheels (OEM) with customized paint job

I always knew VAG cars are the most mod friendly of all, but this is taking it to the next level. Amazing mod list you've got there. I am a Yeti fan myself.
The 17" tires look awesome on the Yeti. I have some questions on those.

• Did you feel any drop in power when you up-sized from 16" to 17"?
• Did the change in tire size affect the ABS in any way?
• Were there any adjustments done in the map to accommodate the change?
• I observed that your tires are a bit low profile for off-roading. That's probably why you feel the road more. Normally a wider side wall is preferred for off-roading. How is the handling and cornering with the larger tires?

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Hi bro,
Very impressed with the work you've carried out on the car, and the way you've turned it into a monster.
In fact, you've got me thinking on a few things I could do on the Laura.
I had a query pertaining to the HU though. Could you elaborate on how the RCD 510 with navigation turned out to be?
How much did it cost? What maps did you use? Why weren't you satisfied with the outcome? Pics ?
Would appreciate it - recently drove a Superb with navi on a trip, and really liked how it worked.
Thanks!

Thanks bro! RCD 510 is a good HU by itself. The navigation box with multimedia could not match the RCD 510 quality and hence felt it was rather a downgrading than upgrading. UI of the multimedia box was typical Chinese and the audio/video quality was not great either. Overall it dint match the quality of the car and hence removed it. The best would be a RNS 510 a.k.a. Columbus HU. But presently it does not support India maps. If it did, I would have definitely got it. A bit pricey though.

Originally Posted by EcoBeast

I always knew VAG cars are the most mod friendly of all, but this is taking it to the next level. Amazing mod list you've got there. I am a Yeti fan myself.
The 17" tires look awesome on the Yeti. I have some questions on those.

• Did you feel any drop in power when you up-sized from 16" to 17"?
• Did the change in tire size affect the ABS in any way?
• Were there any adjustments done in the map to accommodate the change?
• I observed that your tires are a bit low profile for off-roading. That's probably why you feel the road more. Normally a wider side wall is preferred for off-roading. How is the handling and cornering with the larger tires?

Thanks EcoBeast!
-Though the alloys are up sized, the overall dia. is maintained. Hence there should not be any change in power delivery. If at all, the lighter alloys would only improve the performance. I don't think there is any reason for a power drop.
-ABS works fine after the wheel change
-When you maintain the overall dia. it pretty much takes care of everything I guess.
-Yeti comes with 17" tires too abroad. The actual fully loaded Yeti is designed with 17" wheels. 16" is a down sizing in fact. If you down size any car tire, the increase in profile would make the ride softer and this is the case of 16" wheel Yeti. The handling and cornering gets sharper with lower profile tires. It enhances performance.

[nitinbose]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

ICE installation was done by Mr.Teny, New Metal Effect, Chennai. I have not tampered with the Skoda amp or speaker wiring. Its not a CANBUS amp. My amp. is wired independently and signal feed is from head unit's sub. out.
I am happy with the 8 channel speaker set up in yeti and did not want to add an amp to it. But to enhance the lows I added the amp. and subs.

How is the new amp powered, directly from the battery as in conventional vehicles or from some specific points? How is the power management done?

[Behemoth]

Hi Ajay,
Great to See the Mods you have done to your Yeti! Quite an interesting set of additions there. I have had my Yeti for more than 3 1/2 years now and have completed around 60K Kms on mine. Only mods I have tried on mine are the Software mods using the VCDS.
One thing on my Radar is a Lift kit from Delta 4x4:
http://www.delta4x4.com/content/view/94/85/lang,en/
Don't know when I will finally go for it though!
Great job on your Yeti and I am closely following your Thread!

Regards,
Behemoth

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by nitinbose

How is the new amp powered, directly from the battery as in conventional vehicles or from some specific points? How is the power management done?

Power cable is drawn from the power distribution unit with fuse box in the engine bay. There is provision in there with a few empty terminal points for additional accessories. The remote wire which triggers the amp on or off could be connected to your trigger wire in the head unit if you have it or else from the fuse and distribution box inside near the head lamp switch. This line does not draw much power but is just a signal wire to trigger the amp. But be sure to get these done from reputed places as its very important that any wiring is done very professionally with proper connectors and terminals. Please not that these mods are done post the warranty period. I had waited all this while to do such mods which would void my warranty. Actually I still have a few months warranty left but I guess I can take care of my car here on. Mods are executed responsibly enough to match the quality of the car. The owner should take the pains to ensure this as it takes a lot of attention to detail to achieve such work standards.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Hi Ajay,
Great to See the Mods you have done to your Yeti! Quite an interesting set of additions there. I have had my Yeti for more than 3 1/2 years now and have completed around 60K Kms on mine. Only mods I have tried on mine are the Software mods using the VCDS.
One thing on my Radar is a Lift kit from Delta 4x4:
http://www.delta4x4.com/content/view/94/85/lang,en/
Don't know when I will finally go for it though!
Great job on your Yeti and I am closely following your Thread!
Regards,
Behemoth

Thanks Behemoth! I have been following posts from you guys too all this while but was unable to comment or contribute to those threads then as I was not a team member yet. You could think of the cruise control too. Its a pleasure on highways and long drives. A very practical and useful retrofit.
Delta 4x4 looks interesting. Do keep us posted when you decide to go ahead with it. Presently I am just waiting for my Bilsteins to arrive.

[nitinbose]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

Power cable is drawn from the power distribution unit with fuse box in the engine bay. There is provision in there with a few empty terminal points for additional accessories. The remote wire which triggers the amp on or off could be connected to your trigger wire in the head unit if you have it or else from the fuse and distribution box inside near the head lamp switch. This line does not draw much power but is just a signal wire to trigger the amp. But be sure to get these done from reputed places as its very important that any wiring is done very professionally with proper connectors and terminals. Please not that these mods are done post the warranty period. I had waited all this while to do such mods which would void my warranty. Actually I still have a few months warranty left but I guess I can take care of my car here on. Mods are executed responsibly enough to match the quality of the car. The owner should take the pains to ensure this as it takes a lot of attention to detail to achieve such work standards.

Exactly what I've wanted to know! I still have two good years of warranty remaining, so guess will wait till then. Its just now I'd noticed the Yeti does not have a stock amplifier, whereas my laura does come with a stock amplifier.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by nitinbose

Exactly what I've wanted to know! I still have two good years of warranty remaining, so guess will wait till then. Its just now I'd noticed the Yeti does not have a stock amplifier, whereas my laura does come with a stock amplifier.

Your Laura is the L&K with the 12 speaker system, so it has its own amp under one of the seats. In the lower Laura trims, and the Yeti and the Superb, the amp used is the one built in to the HU.

[shankar.balan]

Superb Mod Job
Well done

You are an inspiration to the rest of us Yeti people.

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Superb Mod Job

Well done

You are an inspiration to the rest of us Yeti people.

Thank you shankar.balan! Its my pleasure

[ajaypjayaraj]

Most awaited mod


I'm back and this time with Bilsteins!! Had been eagerly waiting for them. Got a call from Vinu @ Pete's that the shocks have arrived about a week ago but unfortunately I couldn't go get it then. Last weekend, went to Pete's Automotive and got the Bilsteins installed... Fiiiinally!!!

Stock vs Bilstein. Rear suspension removed and ready to be replaced.


Front shocks replaced with Bilsteins


The track where its all tested to perfection and right below it you see the end result!


I know the car looks dirty right? Its monsoon here. Washing your car is only good till your first drive.

I reached Pete's morning around the time they open. The car was lifted, and within no time stock shocks were out. 3 technicians who are very thorough with their job work with such co-ordination that the work is executed so fast. In less than 2 hrs Yeti had Bilsteins ON, test driven and back in garage - Impressive!! I was watching them work throughout. They know their job and they are quick in it!

My first impression about the ride with the new babies on?

The ride is a tad more stiffer than the stock, especially when I was driving in the city traffic on pathetic condition of some road sections in Kochi. That slightly more stiffer ride was very much expected especially with 17ers and 45 profile tyres. But for someone who is passionate about the way the ride handles it's not really a discomfort, it's a pleasure.

For those who care more about the travel comfort than the handling, it's bearable enough when you are on bad roads. Keep in mind that travel comfort is not just a soft suspension which absorbs every bump. Try driving such a car on winding roads. Head ache is almost certain. Here even though the ride is a bit more stiffer, the minimal body roll ensures you don't reach your destination with a very bad head ache. You can either drive slow on softer shocks or drive faster with sport shocks. Choice is yours.
Either ways please do drive civilized as sadly that's not a common thing to be seen on our roads.

Late night I started back home from Kochi. There was very little traffic. I chose NH 17 as it is more twisty and winding than NH 47 plus there is an added advantage of no speed cameras. Initially I was driving as usual, as in, normally applying brakes at turnings and curves and the car behaved with hardly any body roll. Later when I took a curve without applying the usual brakes, I realized the real change in handling! Being used to the stock handling of the car, you expect certain amount of body roll but the car just won't let that happen. That's when it hit me that I should adapt to the new found stability of the car. Then I started pushing the car into corners and enjoyed every bit of the way Yeti handled. The remap, the sport shocks, the all wheel drive traction with tons of electronic aids for traction and stability, It just won't leave your expected track and you can maintain the pace no matter straight or twisty roads.
Peter @ Pete's had warned me that Bilsteins are addictive and you can't ride without it once you get used to it. Peter if you are reading this, on my ride back home, I got it.. every bit of what you meant!
Thanks to you and your team, and Thanks to Bilstein for this amazing product!

[ajaypjayaraj]

Has anyone used adaptive cruise control? Right now I have cruise control retrofitted as mentioned in page 1 but does not have the adaptive one. Cruise control lets you set a speed and the car maintains it without the driver having to use the accelerator. If its adaptive, when you close on to a slower moving vehicle, your car slows down and adapts to the slower speed to follow the car in front safely.
This was one of the retrofits planned and in pipeline. Would like feed back from people who have used or seen it being used in cars with adaptive cruise control.

[sreejith.j]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

Has anyone used adaptive cruise control? Right now I have cruise control retrofitted as mentioned in page 1 but does not have the adaptive one. Cruise control lets you set a speed and the car maintains it without the driver having to use the accelerator. If its adaptive, when you close on to a slower moving vehicle, your car slows down and adapts to the slower speed to follow the car in front safely.
This was one of the retrofits planned and in pipeline. Would like feed back from people who have used or seen it being used in cars with adaptive cruise control.

I guess you would need automatic gearbox for an adaptive system right ? else when the speed reduces there is a chance of stalling the car also !!

[ajaypjayaraj]

Had considered that and it is a valid point. But, even in cruise control when you increase and decrease the speed by the +/- buttons, it does not actually worry about the gear you are driving in leaving that to you to take care of. When you depress the clutch the cruise control is over ridden and then you can resume using the resume button or set new speed using the set button once in the correct gear. I think same would apply for adaptive cruise control that if the vehicle has to slow down drastically and beyond that the running present gear can handle, if its not an AT the driver would have to intervene to down shift. But for slightly varying speeds it should not be a problem. These are used in highways mostly and every gear has a good range of speeds that can be handled especially with the high torque of the engine. Car would stall if the driver does not intervene in a drastic situation. I think we would be safer to take over in any case if such a situation happens.
However, with the MT the driver has to take care of the shifting part definitely if situation demands be it adaptive cruise control or just cruise control.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

Had considered that and it is a valid point. But, even in cruise control when you increase and decrease the speed by the +/- buttons, it does not actually worry about the gear you are driving in leaving that to you to take care of. When you depress the clutch the cruise control is over ridden and then you can resume using the resume button or set new speed using the set button once in the correct gear.

The entire cruise control gets overridden when depressing clutch or brakes since it assumes that the driver wants to override and take control. This is the same on the Jetta. However on my Octy RS, the cruise control would still be activated when I changed gear which was more convenient. I find this override irritating on the Jetta since it is highly geared but safety comes first.

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by ajmat

The entire cruise control gets overridden when depressing clutch or brakes since it assumes that the driver wants to override and take control. This is the same on the Jetta. However on my Octy RS, the cruise control would still be activated when I changed gear which was more convenient. I find this override irritating on the Jetta since it is highly geared but safety comes first.

Let me get that straight. So if you depress clutch and the cruise control maintains the engine speed, wont it raise the RPM to red line till you leave the clutch?
This is something which worried me when I was using the cruise control after the retrofit for the first time. I kept thinking whether I should go ahead and depress the clutch and try what happens or shouldn't I But after some time I gathered the courage to go ahead and try it and see what happens and realized its no big deal. The cruise control just lets you do the work from that point till you resume or reset it.
So how does it work on the RS?