[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.

How We Got It
With 3 sedans and the hatchback in the house, we didn't really have a car to tackle bad roads. Yes the Punto could somewhat tackle bad roads, but then the front scraped everywhere, and it was small. I had a tyre issue with the vRS once when I went to a slightly remote place, and it was then that we decided it is time we get an suv. We didn't want a big car, having owned an Innova before the 7 seats were hardly used and the size just made it irritating to maneuver in the city.

The Yeti was a car we had appreciated ever since we got the vRS, having test driven at that time my father and I were smitten. So naturally the Yeti was first on the list. What also helped is that my experience with Skoda after sales has been fine so there were no issues in picking up another Skoda. Also the Yeti is the perfect size to drive around in the city, yet is has enough of space and all the creature comforts you could need while being reasonably fuel efficient.

Now I had been keeping an eye on the used car market for Yeti's, knowing very well that since its not an accepted product it would make for a good deal. I had seen a few cars, with high asking prices. But then in March I came across a car just about a year old done 6000kms. I knew this had to be it since we probably won't get another deal like that. What also helped was that this car was Mato brown, a colour I really liked. So we looked at the car and all seemed good. Started negotiating with the seller and in the mean time put an ad for the Punto on tbhp, and sold it in a few days. Finalized on price, and picked up a perfect condition Yeti done only 6000kms. About the price? Lets just say I saved us 7 lacs off the price of a new Elegance 4x4.

Yes I we were looking for the 4x4. The Elegance version was pretty well loaded, and it only missed out on xenon lights to be honest. Yes a DSG would have been nice, but you can't have everything. And anyway if we were going to take this car out of town, maybe on bad roads you never know when the 4x4 could come in handy.

Anyway so I got the first service done before I took delivery from the seller. Also told the Skoda guys to check it out if any other work was needed. The car is pristine save for a few very very minor dings probably caused due to bikers, well it saved me the heartburn of getting the first scratch.

[Akshay1234]

The Car
Or SUV or Crossover, whatever you want to call it

The Exterior
This is the most controversial part of the car. To many people it looks just like a Fabia, and apparently is similar in size too. The looks are totally subjective, but it takes time to get used to them. The flat rear and the quirky B pillar are the odd bits. But after a while you start appreciating the looks, or maybe you just don't care about them anymore. Also thanks to the looks, the car does manage to turn a couple of heads with people wondering what EShkoda it is. The black bumpers don't look premium, but they are very functional, and you don't have to worry about bikers grazing past. In fact you can give the bad bikers a little nudge too without losing any paint (Just kidding all you bikers).

The Interior
Spacious is not the word that comes to mind. Rather sufficient is what I can use to describe it. 6 footers can just about squeeze in one behind another, being reasonably comfortable. The width again is similar to the Laura, no brushing elbows with your co passenger. The front seats are very supportive with good side bolstering and pretty comfortable too. The rear seats are comfortable, but not luxurious and best suited for 2 people on longer drives. A 3rd (wheel) person can squeeze in for shorter city drives. The plastics, I have to admit do feel a step above the Laura and more at the Superb level, as does the rest of the cabin. The driving position is spot on, with brilliant visibility and it is well suited for long drives too. Luggage space is at a premium, not as much as a sedan, though it is more than hatchbacks. Removing the parcel tray a couple of suitcases can be stuffed in. For more luggage a lovely looking Thule roof rack is available.

The Engine, Gearbox, and 4x4 System
We can call this the VAG national engine, the same way the 1.3 Multijet by Fiat is called our national engine. The 2.0 TDI outputs 140bhp and 320nm of torque, the same spec as the Laura, the Superb, the Jetta, the A4 and the soon to be launched (but inferior if I may say) Q3 sport. The same engine is also used in the Passat, the Q3 Quattro, Q5 and A6 in the 170bhp tune. In the Yeti this engine seems to be the perfect balance between frugality and power. In any situation it does not leave you wanting for more power, but yet at the same time manages to keep you surprised with its efficiency. In terms of acceleration its quick, I would put the 0-100 at about 10.5 odd seconds. Turbo lag is negligible as long as you don't try and lug the engine. Refinement is above average, though the engine is certainly more audible than in the Superb and Laura. Though at normal operating speeds its not intrusive at all. This car can cruise at 150kmph all day, the engine is not stressed and you still mange a respectable mileage.

The 6 speed gearbox is beautiful, with short precise throws. Not as good as the vRS, but almost there. The gears seem well spaced out, not too short and not too long. 6th gear is good from 80kmph onwards if just cruising, otherwise its better to switch to 6th at 100kmph. Will talk about the fuel economy in another paragraph. It is surprisingly fun to drive with this gearbox, and it is unlike any other SUV or MUV.

As for the 4x4 system it uses a Haldex clutch, it is a permanent 4x4 but transfers most of the power to the front wheels, and transfers more power to the rear wheels as and when needed. So it preserves fuel, but it is not as good as a proper 4 wheel drive with a low range gearbox. Don't let that make you think this car is only for road use. It can do a bit of offroading, and it will surprise you. I haven't really taken it offroad, just on some muddy trails and a few terrible roads. The 4x4 gives tremendous traction on the road too and the traction light doesn't come on in first gear under full throttle either. The car just shoots off the line and the 1st gear acceleration can stun many. Another time the roads were flooded and suddenly the front left wheel of the car fell into something (ditch?, open manhole? god only knows what). I gave it some throttle, nothing happened for a fraction of a second till the 4 wheel drive transferred more power to the rear, and then I was out just like that. Mind you this wasn't some tiny pothole, but my head almost hit the steering wheel with the impact of falling into that lol.

The clutch on the Yeti is a bit weird, if you do not pay attention the car will stall. Its a diesel, but you have to drive it like a petrol car. A slight bit of revving is needed when you start off from a standstill, and when you go over speedbreakers you need to shift down to first. If you try and continue in 2nd the car will stall. It takes about a day of driving to get used to. The car has stalled on me twice till date, and both times were not from a standstill, but because I was in 2nd gear when I should have been in 1st.

[Akshay1234]

Suspension, Ride and Handling
More surprises are in store here. The ride is a tad bit stiff at lower speeds upto about 40kmph, possibly due to the stock crappy Goodyear tyres. But as soon as the speed picks up a bit the ride flattens out well, it absorbs bumps excellently. While it does not take smaller bumps as well as a sedan, you can feel a bit of pitching, the larger bumps are absorbed extremely well. Even if you manage to go through a pothole at speed, you will hear the suspension working but you won't feel much. The ride is not as good as say, a Safari, but its good enough to keep you happy.

The high speed stability of the car is also noteworthy. Up to about 160kmph its totally comfortable, do keep in mind I'm comparing this to the other cars in my garage. Beyond that it is not as stable, but nothing worrysome. Since this car is taller than a sedan, the crosswinds do manage to be felt with tiny steering corrections needed sometime.

The handling is surprisingly good for a box lol, it sticks to the road. Body roll is present, but the car never loses traction. This can be attributed to the 4x4 system again I'm sure. The body roll is nowhere near cars like the Fortuner or the Safari or any full size SUV, infact this can probably handle better than some sedans too. Overall you won't be disappointed or scared even if you decide to start pushing this car around corners.

Also this suspension seems very robust. I've not really taken too much care of bumps, etc while driving this car. Actually I have pushed it around a bit. But not one rattle, and the suspension still feels as tight as ever. Though I do think falling into that ditch (mentioned earlier) has made the alignment go awry.

Ground clearance is not an issue unless you do serious offroading. The car has never scraped anywhere, I've even managed to jump over an unmarked speedbreaker or 2 but the suspension just took it in its stride. At 180mm it doesn't seem like much clearance, but coupled with short overhangs and a stiff suspension its more than enough for even terrible roads.

Fuel Economy
The figures which people are the most curious about. This car is the most efficient car at home. I've never got under 10kmpl, even in bumper to bumper traffic. With normal usage the mileage is around 11, which is brilliant for a 2.0 in the city. On longer drives it gives around 15, but thats cruising at 130 or so. With cruising at a 100kmph, expect even better figures. When driven hard too, the car just does not give less than 10kmpl. Its nice to have at least one car giving me double digit fuel economy figures.

Features
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.

Now on what the car does have. This car is packed with features, its literally the same level of kit as a Superb.

-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.

-Off Road Mode. This adjusts the ABS and ESP systems so they aren't intrusive when offroading. This also makes the throttle a lot less sensitive, and seems to raise the idle speed a bit. Hill descent control also gets activated along with off road mode, and to be honest I haven't tried it anywhere but a steep ramp in my building. But its still a nice feature in case I ever need it.

-Leather seats and Varioflex seating. The leather seems to be of good quality, though it does get dirty easily being beige. Wish black was an option here. The rear seats are split into 3 parts, and each can be folded in front separately or removed. Very neat for when you have to carry some oversized items. Also the middle seat folds down into a big arm rest with cupholders for the 2 rear passengers.

-Climate control. Works pretty well as in most cars nowadays, and the AC cools surprisingly well considering what I had heard of older Yetis. Wish the vRS had this.

-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.

Of course the car also has other little things like puddle lights, hooks in the boot to keep stuff in place, 3 point seatbelt for the 5th passenger too, a gear indicator which also tells you when you should upshift or downshift for better mileage, rear ac vents, and other little thoughtful features like that.

[Akshay1234]

Overall
Till date, the car seems to be an excellent buy. It is possibly the best all rounder I have seen. It manages to do everything well, and it certainly is a jack of all trades. The only negative I can think off till today is that the rubber seals on the doors squeek when going over bumps. Putting this liquid called Gummi Pfedge solves it for a while, guess its due to the heavy duty door seals.

Otherwise its too soon to comment on the reliability of the car, but I don't expect anything to go wrong with it. Have also instructed the drivers on how to take care of it.

I would recommend this car to anyone who wants a single car which can manage to do a lot of things. This is the perfect daily driver (rather it would be with a DSG). Its performance is good, so is the ride and handling, and its bad road capability, and its mileage, and its features... Ok you get it, everything is good besides the looks which are subjective. I'm used to them now and I never really had a problem with them anyway.

Stuff To Be Done

-Sunfilm. Actually already got this done, a 60% Llumar film on the sides and rear and a 70% film on the windscreen. Works well and blocks out a lot of heat. Cops haven't noticed it till date.

-Better tyres. The stock goodyears are crap. Can't wait to switch this set out, either to Yokohamas or Michelins which seems to be the trend at home nowadays. They are noisy, and spoil the ride.

-Xenon headlights. Already tried to put these on but a bulb fused error kept coming up, so took them off. After a bit of research it seems I may have to do some more coding before I can put these back. But these are certainly needed since I find the stock headlights inadequate.

Well so that's about it, hope you liked my review.

Here's a pic of the Yeti next to the vRS (sorry for the crap pic). I'll take better pics with my dslr and put them up once the weather settles down in Bombay.

[Akshay1234]

The Mods didn't bump it, so here's a post to bump the thread.

[shankar.balan]

Nice work akshay and a very good, detailed and balanced review.

Its truly a lovely vehicle, this littlebigfoot.

Enjoy!

[nipcarlover]

So, you finally made an ownership thread for the Yeti!
Anyway, congrats on your car! Mato Brown is a superb colour, do post some better pictures to show the colour and the car better!
Hope you have many awesome miles in it!

[brraj]

Congratulations.

How do you compare this with Jetta in terms of performance, handling and braking?

[Baddychat]

Excellent review Akshay.
This car is on the top of my wishlist and it should replace my City in some time.
I had TD'ed the 4X4 elegance trim a few months back and that was the exact same impression that I had with the clutch. I stalled on the first speed breaker as I drove out of my office. Also did you by any chance notice the vibration the clutch when you are changing gears ?

Cheers

[iTNerd]

Concise and to the point review! Congratulations, you got a very good deal indeed! HHC - I think its 3 seconds in the hold position.

Regarding the external appearance, I never find my yeti attractive. However, strangely, when I see other yetis on the road, they looks very appealing with tough/manly stance. Probably its the 'Grass on the other side is always green' mentality lol. Its rare to see that many yetis on the road, but in my society alone, there are 5 yetis (including mine).

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

-Xenon headlights. Already tried to put these on but a bulb fused error kept coming up, so took them off. After a bit of research it seems I may have to do some more coding before I can put these back. But these are certainly needed since I find the stock headlights inadequate.

You will need levelling sensors (one at each wheel) to be fitted before you can plonk in OE Xenons.

OE Xenon headlamp assemblies are available on ebay from a Polish seller at about USD800, and a German seller for about USD 990 per set. What they dont give you is the levelling kit.

VAGTune in Cochin sells the full kit including the sensors and does the fitment and coding for you (they also travel to Bangalore, Mangalore, CBE and Madras for fitting - by appointment). However, their kit is extremely expensive at about Rs.125,000/- fitted.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by nipcarlover

So, you finally made an ownership thread for the Yeti!
Anyway, congrats on your car! Mato Brown is a superb colour, do post some better pictures to show the colour and the car better!
Hope you have many awesome miles in it!

Thank you. Will take and upload pics tomorrow or day after hopefully, weather permitting.

Originally Posted by brraj

Congratulations.

How do you compare this with Jetta in terms of performance, handling and braking?

Its not as good, to put it in one sentence. The Jetta is lighter, and being a sedan has a lower centre of gravity. So the handling is better, the acceleration is better, and the braking too is better, but not by a very huge margin. If you aren't pushing the car you won't really notice anything, but if you are driving very quick then of course the Jetta will seem better.

Originally Posted by Baddychat

Excellent review Akshay.
This car is on the top of my wishlist and it should replace my City in some time.
I had TD'ed the 4X4 elegance trim a few months back and that was the exact same impression that I had with the clutch. I stalled on the first speed breaker as I drove out of my office. Also did you by any chance notice the vibration the clutch when you are changing gears ?

Cheers

Good choice you have made. Well I used to feel vibration on the clutch, but now I don't even notice it. Maybe its just a matter of getting used to.

Originally Posted by Steeroid

You will need levelling sensors (one at each wheel) to be fitted before you can plonk in OE Xenons.

OE Xenon headlamp assemblies are available on ebay from a Polish seller at about USD800, and a German seller for about USD 990 per set. What they dont give you is the levelling kit.

VAGTune in Cochin sells the full kit including the sensors and does the fitment and coding for you (they also travel to Bangalore, Mangalore, CBE and Madras for fitting - by appointment). However, their kit is extremely expensive at about Rs.125,000/- fitted.

Sir I'm not talking about retrofitting the OE xenons. I'm just adding a xenon kit from Philips, or maybe some projectors too.

The main issue was the bulb error, which came inspite of me using can-bus xenons. After doing research apparently I have to enable some xenons option on VCDS after which the bulb out error won't come since 35w (also the xenon bulb rating) is what it will be set to.

[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

[karan561]

Congratulations 1234 for a owning one of the best all rounders on sale in the Indian market

Originally Posted by akshay1234

The Car
Or SUV or Crossover, whatever you want to call it

The Crossover

Originally Posted by akshay1234

The Interior
Spacious is not the word that comes to mind. Rather sufficient is what I can use to describe it. 6 footers can just about squeeze in one behind another, being reasonably comfortable.

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.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

[b]The Engine, Gearbox, and 4x4 System
The 6 speed gearbox is beautiful, with short precise throws. Not as good as the vRS, but almost there.

Oh i love that slick shifting gearbox present on the Laura & i am sure the Yeti will be equally fun.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

As for the 4x4 system it uses a Haldex clutch, it is a permanent 4x4 but transfers most of the power to the front wheels, and transfers more power to the rear wheels as and when needed.

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.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

The clutch on the Yeti is a bit weird, if you do not pay attention the car will stall. Its a diesel, but you have to drive it like a petrol car.

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

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Fuel Economy
The figures which people are the most curious about. This car is the most efficient car at home. I've never got under 10kmpl, even in bumper to bumper traffic. With normal usage the mileage is around 11, which is brilliant for a 2.0 in the city. On longer drives it gives around 15, but thats cruising at 130 or so. With cruising at a 100kmph, expect even better figures. When driven hard too, the car just does not give less than 10kmpl. Its nice to have at least one car giving me double digit fuel economy figures.

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

Originally Posted by akshay1234

-Better tyres. The stock goodyears are crap. Can't wait to switch this set out, either to Yokohamas or Michelins which seems to be the trend at home nowadays. They are noisy, and spoil the ride.

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

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Sir I'm not talking about retrofitting the OE xenons. I'm just adding a xenon kit from Philips, or maybe some projectors too.

I guess you arent worried about warranty.