[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by karan561

I had personally owned a Laura & Punto simultaneously and frankly found the rear seat of the Punto more spacious and airy compared to the Laura, so IMO you actually downsized your existing car.

No way. The Punto is significantly smaller than the Laura on the inside, I can't fathom how you found the Punto's back seat more spacious than the Laura's. The Punto's back seat was cramped.

Oh im sure it would be so much fun to launch this car in a straight line and will shame the likes of A4, Lauras 2.0L Tdi's if launched well.

It certainly is a lot of fun to launch this car. Even with these crappy tyres the car doesn't lose any traction.

It ideally should depart as soon as you release the clutch & give you a raring to go effect.

The Yeti's releases almost mid way, its a weird clutch. And its similar with all Yeti's. The vRS on the other hand releases immediately like you described above.

I believe the car can clock much better numbers if driven more sedately.

I'm sure it can.

Whats the tire size on your Yeti & what options do you have in the above brands considering its a Car/SUV/Crossover ?

Its 215/60 R16, no real SUV tyres in that size. Will have to get a tough sedan tyre.

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I guess you arent worried about warranty.

No not really, since no wires are being cut they can't really say anything. Also the HIDs wattage is less than stock so I'm not worried.


Here's another pic of the car, actually looks quite nice from this angle if I may say so myself-

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Achyuth Vaibhav

Man, I envy you so much, 320d, Accord, Punto, vRS and now this!. Excellent and to the point review! Considering your requirements the Yeti was tailor made for you. I do hope that the Skoda ASS woes are absent with your Yeti and vRS. How does the this compare to the Jetta and vRS? Choice of colour is great. Wishing you many more happy miles with the Yeti and do post more pictures of your li'l bigfoot.

Cheers,

Achyuth

Whoops forgot to reply to you. Thanks man, I have had my fair share of luck when it comes to cars in the past few years. The Yeti certainly was tailor made for our requirements.

The Skoda ASS has been just fine till now, with nothing to complain about, besides tha fact that they couldn't understand the off centre steering wheel issue on my vRS.

Have replied how it compares to the Jetta earlier, but compared to the vRS its obviously not as much fun. The handling of the vRS is at another level, and the acceleration of that is far superior. But the Yeti gives different thrills, in terms of eating up rough roads. The roads which I would normally have to slow down for in the other cars I can zoom over in the Yeti without feeling a thing.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

It certainly is a lot of fun to launch this car. Even with these crappy tyres the car doesn't lose any traction.

This is what I wanted to ask. Despite accelerating hard on not so grippy surface, the Yeti doesn't spin its wheels, rather, it pins me back to the seat. At 20K+ the 2.0 has really opened up.

The Yeti's releases almost mid way, its a weird clutch. And its similar with all Yeti's. The vRS on the other hand releases immediately like you described above.

While the clutch mechanism is a bit weird, I used to drive most Cars this way & may be 2-3 times, the Car might have stalled.

Its 215/60 R16, no real SUV tyres in that size. Will have to get a tough sedan tyre.

Michelin 215/65 R16

Originally Posted by akshay1234

but compared to the vRS its obviously not as much fun. The handling of the vRS is at another level, and the acceleration of that is far superior. But the Yeti gives different thrills, in terms of eating up rough roads. The roads which I would normally have to slow down for in the other cars I can zoom over in the Yeti without feeling a thing.

This is what I wanted to ask you. Somehow, at speeds, I find the Figo more reassuring to maneuver than the Yeti. Most pronounced is the roll.

The Yeti's GC is a boon in this monsoon. Glad the Laura's purchase was put off in lieu of this.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Sheel

This is what I wanted to ask. Despite accelerating hard on not so grippy surface, the Yeti doesn't spin its wheels, rather, it pins me back to the seat. At 20K+ the 2.0 has really opened up.

While the clutch mechanism is a bit weird, I used to drive most Cars this way & may be 2-3 times, the Car might have stalled.

Michelin 215/65 R16

This is what I wanted to ask you. Somehow, at speeds, I find the Figo more reassuring to maneuver than the Yeti. Most pronounced is the roll.

The Yeti's GC is a boon in this monsoon. Glad the Laura's purchase was put off in lieu of this.

Yes it really is amazing the amount of traction the Yeti manages to get off the line with its Haldex 4x4. Never ceases to surprise me.

The clutch is just a matter of getting used to.

Do let me know on how the Michelins hold up on road or no roads. Hopefully you don't have to baby the car to make sure there are no punctures, sidewall tears/bubbles. I'd rather stick to the stock size than go up in profile.

The Figo has a lower centre of gravity, hence it probably feels more stable changing lanes etc at higher speeds. But be rest assured, push the Yeti all you want it wont lose grip. I think it will probably outhandle the Figo on a curvy road.

The GC is a boon certainly, but do keep in mind I think the wading depth of the Yeti is 300mm which is just about a foot. Not that much.

[vb-saan]

Short and well-balanced review Akshay. Enjoyed reading through. Thanks for sharing.

How do you rate the steering in comparison with your vRS?

[kingofmyworld]

Congratulations on the buy. Amazing car I must say. Jeremy clarkson says the same too Landing a chopper on it's roof aint a joke

And we need more pictures. ! picture just isnt enough my Akshay.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Short and well-balanced review Akshay. Enjoyed reading through. Thanks for sharing.

How do you rate the steering in comparison with your vRS?

Well the vRS steering is heavier, this car is extremely light and effortless to drive. The Lauras steering has more feel now too, especially after upgrading to the 225s on that. The steering in the Yeti is still far better than a Hyundais, or the new EPS units in the Hondas.

[animeshb]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

The Yeti is a car, not appreciated by many. But those who own one, or have experienced one are all praise for it. Sure it looks quirky, and it could have been larger considering its price. But the fact is that this car does everything well, and doesn't leave one for wanting for anything.

Congratulations akshay1234, that's a nice addition to your garage! I am also looking for a pre-owned Yeti 4x4 right around Delhi-NCR but haven't found anything interesting. This is the first time I am looking for a pre-owned vehicle and perhaps am a bit clueless. How did you manage to find yours in such a pristine condition? I have a Laura TSI and a 5.5 year old Fusion 1.6 and it's the Fusion which I am looking to replace with something more modern and capable with similar characteristics as the Fusion.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by animeshb

Congratulations akshay1234, that's a nice addition to your garage! I am also looking for a pre-owned Yeti 4x4 right around Delhi-NCR but haven't found anything interesting. This is the first time I am looking for a pre-owned vehicle and perhaps am a bit clueless. How did you manage to find yours in such a pristine condition? I have a Laura TSI and a 5.5 year old Fusion 1.6 and it's the Fusion which I am looking to replace with something more modern and capable with similar characteristics as the Fusion.

The Yeti will make a good upgrade from the Fusion. How did I find a car like this? Patience. Just keep an eye on the market, and the when you find a good condition car just pick it up. I had been looking at the market for a couple of months, before I finally saw this one.

[ironager]

Congrats on ur new ride. I have also recently purchased a yeti 4 wd same colour as yours but its a Jan 2012 model done 25000 kms. I was thinking of purchasing the Renault Duster 110ps but decided against it as its not premium enough, lack of leg space in the rear, fit and finish etc was really disappointed in the duster. A friend of mine told me about a 4wd yeti up for grabs....saw the car...fell in love...end of story :-)

[animeshb]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

The Yeti will make a good upgrade from the Fusion. How did I find a car like this? Patience. Just keep an eye on the market, and the when you find a good condition car just pick it up. I had been looking at the market for a couple of months, before I finally saw this one.

Have been quite passive till now, I guess i need to actively start looking! I also have the earlier generation CRV as a consideration, but for me the Yeti scores over the CRV as of now, the only issue being availability of the Yeti.

Originally Posted by ironager

Congrats on ur new ride. I have also recently purchased a yeti 4 wd same colour as yours but its a Jan 2012 model done 25000 kms. I was thinking of purchasing the Renault Duster 110ps but decided against it as its not premium enough, lack of leg space in the rear, fit and finish etc was really disappointed in the duster. A friend of mine told me about a 4wd yeti up for grabs....saw the car...fell in love...end of story :-)

ironager, where did you pick this up from? Can you please pm me about a ballpark figure that you paid.

[ironager]

[/quote]ironager, where did you pick this up from? Can you please pm me about a ballpark figure that you paid.[/quote]

Animesh there are 3 yetis 4wd available in delhi on Carwale. One is a 2013 and two are 2011 models. Out of these 3 one 2011 model is priced at 11 lakh, its a second owner car...you can check it out and if the vehicle is in satisfactory condition try to bring down the seller to a reasonable figure

[Drivethru]

Akshay Congrats on the yeti.nice colour and looks almost new. I test drove the yeti once. I agree that they should have offered an automatic tranmission (dsg) in this model. Laura, Superb and Rapid get automatic transmissions but not the yeti. I was not sure of Skoda India's logic behind this policy. may be they could ave tried offering AT on the 4X2 variant if cost was a constraint.

Will await more pics and some travelogues in this shkoda yeti.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by animeshb

Have been quite passive till now, I guess i need to actively start looking! I also have the earlier generation CRV as a consideration, but for me the Yeti scores over the CRV as of now, the only issue being availability of the Yeti.

The CRV is good, and actually has better low speed ride, a bit more space, and an A/T. Otherwise its no comparison for the Yeti.

Originally Posted by Drivethru

Akshay Congrats on the yeti.nice colour and looks almost new. I test drove the yeti once. I agree that they should have offered an automatic tranmission (dsg) in this model. Laura, Superb and Rapid get automatic transmissions but not the yeti. I was not sure of Skoda India's logic behind this policy. may be they could ave tried offering AT on the 4X2 variant if cost was a constraint.

Will await more pics and some travelogues in this shkoda yeti.

Thank you. Yes a DSG would have been brilliant on this car. Its already very easy to drive, with an auto it would have been super easy.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by akshay1234;3158324[B

Features
[/b]Ok let me start out on what the car doesn't have, or rather what I wish it would have had.

1) Xenon lamps. I find the stock headlamps inadequate, luckily the fogs lamps actually help and are not just there for show. Even though VAG doesn't make the best xenons, they would have been nice.
2) Power drivers seat with memory. Again this would have been a great addition since there are other people also driving this car. It just saves time in adjusting everything.
3) DSG box. Yes I'm being greedy. Not that the manual is bad at all, but a DSG would've just been better.
4) Bluetooth. For the convenience it offers.

-Bolero touchscreen audio, with 8 speakers. This sounds surprisingly good, though bass is less than in the Laura. Its a 6cd changer, and also has an SD card slot. Also the bluetooth can be integrated into this with a kit.

-Steering wheel controls and maxidot display. Unlike other models of the Yeti, this does get steering controls, and the maxidot display in the instrument cluster. All the vehicle settings can be accessed there, and even the trip computers show up there. The controls for this display are on the steering wheel.

-ESP with 6 airbags. The car has 2 front airbags, 2 seat airbags and 2 curtain airbags. Also ESP is a nice addition, and provides the hill hold control too.

-Rain sensing wipers with light sensor. As much as some people are against it, there is no denying the usefulness of rain sensing wipers. Just set it to auto and you never have to worry about the wipers again. Without this you have to keep increasing and decreasing the speed, and putting it off. Oh yes the car can also close the windows if they are down and it senses rain, but only when the car is parked. It also has a light sensor, but no auto lights. This can be easily added with some coding and a new switch since the wiring is done from the factory.

-Hill hold control. It keeps the brakes pressed for about 2 seconds when on an incline so that you can start off smoothly without rolling back. A big boon considering the funny clutch on this car. My driver loves this feature.

Yep the -ves like the missing DSG Box and Bluetooth are major -ves for me. Can live without the Xenons and memory seats (which are indeed good to have) but Bluetooth is too important in todays times. I have for a short period moved from the Aria (Which I sold off) back to my earlier Laura which too misses the Bluetooth and the add-on accessories just are no fun and not as convenient. (having to switch on and switch off the extra unit, plus the fact that the sound is not coming from the car speakers as also the fact that one has to mute the car sound system separately when getting a call and then again unmute them. It hurts when one has been pampered.

Don't how precise the auto wipers on the Yeti are but the ones on my Laura are not sensitive enough and they tend to not react fast enough to the rain compared to the ones in the Aria. So in my Laura I actually miss the manual intermittent mode since the sensors are not sufficiently sensitive to rain. I Guess this would have improved in the later Laura and surely in the Yeti. The Laura sound system is superb (especially the 12 speaker one but the one with 8 speakers is also very nice and the integrated touchscreen Head Unit on the Yeti is superb relative to the first gen Laura and base model units. I eye it when I see any superb pass by at eye level.

The Hill control is neat but I think the Yeti does not have the park brake assist which as you know being like an auto brake reduces the leg effort further by holding the brakes on a Traffic Signal automatically rather than one having to engage the parking brake and shift to N. Actually without this Auto Park Brake the right leg in AT vehicles does have to put in even more effort than in a manual while the left leg is totally free.

Congrats - Do keep reporting in.

Originally Posted by karan561

I had personally owned a Laura & Punto simultaneously and frankly found the rear seat of the Punto more spacious and airy compared to the Laura, so IMO you actually downsized your existing car.

Nope own a Laura and have had a lot of times been in my friends Punto and Linea and do disagree for sure. The Laura is more spacious both in the front and the rear for sure.