[sharanramesh]

great car and very versatile. nice review too.

somehow at 18+ on road in Bangalore, i think its a little expensive. yes the market seems to guide this kind of pricing, but an on road of 16.5 would have been quite ideal me thinks considering this is not a full blown SUV and a sort of cross over from a sedan to a UV.

Any of you agree?

[ACM]

Rehan Excellent Review - Rated 5 Star

Now how about the following comparo's

1) The Laura vs the Yeti (no L&K/DSG/Xenons/Auto Lights/ Electric Seats on Yeti)
2) The Yeti vs the CRV vs the Outlander (all 5 seaters but Yeti - the only Diesel - Yeti from Europe, rest from Japan)
3) The Yeti vs the Captiva vs the Aria - All 4X4 diesels with similar power but the other two are 7 seaters and have better ground clearance as well.

[live&ride]

Nice review Rehaan.

When is the Yeti launching in other cities and at what price points?

[shankar.balan]

yes i totally agree with you
20.75 on road bangalore is rather expensive
even if it were 17-18 on road bangalore it is worth considering as an upgrade option from the current crop of safari's and scorpio's.
but i would not want the lower end version - the upper end one is what I am beginning to wish for quite keenly now!

Originally Posted by sharanramesh

great car and very versatile. nice review too.

somehow at 18+ on road in Bangalore, i think its a little expensive. yes the market seems to guide this kind of pricing, but an on road of 16.5 would have been quite ideal me thinks considering this is not a full blown SUV and a sort of cross over from a sedan to a UV.

Any of you agree?

[ACM]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

Great review. The one thing that I did not quite get, if there is a problem with stalling at start up, why has that not been addressed ? Seems simple enough.

What kind of mileage did it give in city & on highway drives ?

That has to do with the Fuel Effeciency settings, It is set to give higher fuel effeciency and tweaking the start-up setting would impact the effeciency, i guess they rather that people get used to it and overcompensate one time.

Should give similar milage on road as the new Laura as it has the same engine and should in the long run settle to about 11-13 in city (depending on the city) and 14-18 on the highway (depending on the speed 80s or 100+)

Originally Posted by Sheel

How to unlock the other doors? Do you need to press the unlock button on the key fob/remote?

A double tug at any of the door lock latches would release the lock from that door, or a press of the lock button unlocks all doors and would change the amber light to green.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by ACM

That has to do with the Fuel Effeciency settings,

Hmmm. Thats a possibility too.

Originally Posted by ACM

A double tug at any of the door lock latches would release the lock from that door

A single tug does it.

Though i should clarify -- the doors remaining locked is not an issue for passengers inside the car, they can open their door at any time. Its an issue when say the driver gets out of the car and tries to open the rear door from the outside, etc.

cya
R

[jayded]

Great review!

Boy, that picture along with the Nano makes it look very small indeed, basically looks like a Fabia on steroids.

The interiors look really well put together though. Consumers who prefer to own an "easy to live with" luxury SUV is sure to have the Yeti on top of their list.

[Auto freak]

That is an awesome review there Rehaan!
I wasn't particularly impressed of the Yeti until i read through this.
The Yeti has grown in my mind from what i thought to be a confused, "not for India" car to a very practical, "just perfect for India" car!
The Yeti will be a very good alternative to a Sedan that does everything a sedan can and a bit more!

[invidious]

It might be sacrilegious but the Yeti's exteriors and its dimensions remind me of the Premier Rio.

[dhuli]

I am hooked to this new thread. Thanks Rehaan, Dippy and other reviewers. Great review.

In the picture http://www.team-bhp.com/carpics/skod...da-yeti-20.jpg shows 2 seats folded. What happens to the middle one? Do you have to take it out? Apologies for asking a silly question - is it often that cars come with an option to pluck seats out? Add to that. What is DSG?

Thank you.

[Invinsible]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Hmmm. Thats a possibility too.



A single tug does it.

Though i should clarify -- the doors remaining locked is not an issue for passengers inside the car, they can open their door at any time. Its an issue when say the driver gets out of the car and tries to open the rear door from the outside, etc.

cya
R

A well put up reiview. Surely it's a niche product. But I guessing bring in more options will bring in the sales. A petrol variant may be a lakh cheaper would add to the sales along with DSG options.
Size and looks will surely take time to appeal to most consumers. However the looks definitely grows on you.

Regarding the door lock that's been standard with the Fabia and laura too.
My fabia elegance and the Laura din't have the auto lock (locks after crossing speed 15km/h) and unlock feature which I got it activated using the VAG COM. It use to unlock in the same manner as you mentioned earlier. Which means when one the drivers door was opened I could not open any other doors from out. However after getting the auto unlock feature activated it's not the same. Now whenever the driver door opens rest of the doors are unlocked too. It goes same with the other doors now.

Most of the feature that are missing on the Ambiente model accept for the 4x4 safety features can be activated using the VAG COM.

One would surely miss the retractable mirrors in neck to neck urban traffic.

Originally Posted by invidious

It might be sacrilegious but the Yeti's exteriors and its dimensions remind me of the Premier Rio.

Rio is bit more smaller than the fabia both in length and width. length and height of Yeti may be not that great but the width is good for it's size.

[kapilvgupta]

Originally Posted by dhuli

What is DSG?

DSG stands for Direkt-Schalt-Getriebe or Direct Shift Gearbox. In simple terms it is a gearbox with actual mechanical gears that allows one to use it like an automatic while retaining the benifits of a MT.

In technical terms it is an electrnonically controlled dual clutch arrangement with a multiple shaft gearbox.
An ECU achieves super quick gear changes while the driver does not need to bother about shifting gears and can drive like an automatic. This is achieved by pre-selecting the next gear (as per speed n throttle position) on the alternate gear shaft. The gear up-shift time can be as low as 8 milliseconds.

for more details refer this thread or HSW

DSG is something that I think is the future of automotive transmissions, would love to see a 1.8TSI DSG version of the Yeti in India.

peace,
~kg

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Though i should clarify -- the doors remaining locked is not an issue for passengers inside the car, they can open their door at any time. Its an issue when say the driver gets out of the car and tries to open the rear door from the outside, etc.

cya
R

Hi Rehaan,

In fact this is a great security feature for me - and works the same on my Laura.
I generally have my laptop on the rear seat while travelling to office. And if I have to get out of the car for something just for a moment, unlocking the driver door does not unlock the other doors so I don't have to worry.

BTW, a good review but two really concerning issues:
1. Lack of low end torque - even my Hyundai Tucson has this problem (shows up only in tricky situations like steep uphill stop/start, off-roading etc). I know how bad one can feel to ride the clutch. In fact, I really feel stupid to have to do that - you know.
2. Ground Clearance - I have come to know this the hard way- there is simply no alternative to high GC and with enough GC, say 220mm or so, one can sail through most of the patches. If one runs out of GC, even 4x4 can not do much...


Could you add an elaborate section on the off-road test and how effective the LSD is? Did you try any muddy/sandy patch with 3 wheels slipping? Does Yeti pull on with a single rear wheel without much drama? Can you also post pics of the underbody?

And on the other end of the spectrum, how was the expressway drive? What's the top speed?

Thanks again for a good review - the auto magazine reviews have really become kiddish with no technical stuff, Team-BHP has been a great place to share and find out facts.


Also, I am curious about light flywheel - how did you guys find this out? Did Skoda give you some presentation? And what's the reason for a light flywheel - in a softroader? And in this context, can you share the main differences (engine and gearbox related) between Yeti and Laura?

A BIG THANK YOU!
Looking forward to your reply.

[tanwaramit]

Great review Rehann.

Mods: We are missing video reviews, kindly see if you can include them, Video of the car; presenter may not be on the camera.

I couldnt understand the relevance of 4x4 on the gear knob, can we shift into 4x4 from the gear knob ? Need to understand 4x4 of Yeti better.

How much is the back space when the 2nd row seats are pushed totally back ? Can we keep suitcases ?

Is there a rear view camera attached to the dash unit ? Though judging the size of the vehicle it shouldnt be hard reversing it.

Is a good value for those who want better than Scorp-Safari but not as costly as CRV + likes of Diesel.

Though I would prefer 4x4 Scorpio over this.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by dhuli

In the picture http://www.team-bhp.com/carpics/skod...da-yeti-20.jpg shows 2 seats folded. What happens to the middle one? Do you have to take it out?

No you don't have to take it out. It can flip forward like the other two seats do.

Here's a pic of the removed seat :

Originally Posted by dhuli

is it often that cars come with an option to pluck seats out?

Its a useful value add for the crossovers / SUVs, especially in international markets where they are used more "actively" (eg. camping trips, canoes etc).

Originally Posted by Invinsible

Most of the feature that are missing on the Ambiente model accept for the 4x4 safety features can be activated using the VAG COM.

True. Check out this thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...vag-com-3.html

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

In fact this is a great security feature for me - and works the same on my Laura. I generally have my laptop on the rear seat while travelling to office....

Interesting point.

I guess during a test drive it gets especially irritating, since there is a lot of entering and exiting the car, switching seats, and opening doors. But like you mentioned it does have its advantages too.

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

two really concerning issues:

I recently replied to another member regarding these two points. Here's the relevant part again >>

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Just to clarify - ground clearance is more than adequate on bad roads, its just that it doesn't have SUV like GC. They are different beasts.

Also low end response is actually good - theres minimal turbo lag, its just that there isn't much torque near idle (~800RPM) till about 1000rpm, after which its fine.

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Could you add an elaborate section on the off-road test and how effective the LSD is? Did you try any muddy/sandy patch with 3 wheels slipping? Does Yeti pull on with a single rear wheel without much drama?

The off-road test was not extremely extensive. I will try to post a short video.
GTO can give his impression, as he was in the drivers seat at the time.

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

And on the other end of the spectrum, how was the expressway drive?

The expressway handling was good. Ride smooths out a bit more at those speeds. There is no high speed bobbing or floatyness. As mentioned many times, sedan like behaviour. In-gear acceleration was superb, and the 6-speed box enabled lazy cruising too.

We did not try for top speed. Honestly, i feel its an irrelevant figure since we are no longer being fed cars that run out of steam before reaching decent 3-digit speeds. Those days are long gone.

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Also, I am curious about light flywheel - how did you guys find this out?

As mentioned, it was a possibility (assumption). Seeing the way the needle jumps when the car is revved at idle led me to believe that its possible that the flywheel is a lot lighter than what you'd find on most other 2Liter+ diesels. We could do some www research to see if there is any truth to this.

cya
R