[contessa]

Thanks to Behemoth, I'm poorer by Rs.28k this month !!

After reading through his feedback on tyre swap, I was motivated to start my search seriously and faster than i anticipated.

After a few phone calls over the last one week. I got the following options

1) Bridgestone ER370 (Honda Accord OEM)
2) Yoko A348 (Toyoto Camry)
3) Bridgestone Ecopia
4) Bridgestone ER90 (Seemed the best option, but the most expensive @ Rs.12k)

Not satisfied, I took a personal trip to J.C.Road and within 30 minutes discovered the following options

1) Pirelli P6 P6, Car tyres, Summer tyres - PIRELLI AUSTRALIA
2) Pirelli P6 Four Seasons (UTQG : 400) - We know this never came to Asia, so it must be grey
3) Michlein XM1 (again was'nt sure whether this was an official import)

So I went with safe option (1) and the price was Rs.7100 per tyre. All four tyres were changed today.

In the short ride home after fixing tyres
(1) Noticed the ride was no longer hard..and it was a lot more smooth. I think Autocar guys should change the tyres on Yeti before blaming it for the hard-ride
(2) Sharp corners felt a lot more smoother to take. The GY always felt as if they dragged around sharp corners.

Could not wait for long..and quickly left home for a short ride on the NICE road..for highway cruze experience.
(1) The noise reduction is as drastic as what Behemoth has explained
(2) Improvement to Straight line stability is equally drastic
(3) I was planning to touch 100 and before i could know i had already crossed 120. Tremendous improvement in overall ease of driving...even the passenger (my wife) did not feel the speed as before.
(4) On the same road, the bumps and the tyres (GY) used to make the yeti feel like it was rolling (due to hard ride). This time, the ride was a lot more smoothers and comfortable now !!

Thanks to Behemoth , My Yeti feels a lot more luxurious now.

[shankar.balan]

My parents, wife and I fit very comfortably in the Yeti for day trips and such. Happily can buzz up to Mysore and back or similar.

Me driving, Mum in front and Dad in the back seat along with my wife. The middle seat folded down and acting as an arm rest.

However, I don't think we will really fit all of us plus all our luggage for an out station holiday together to say, Ooty or Coorg. For one thing, there wont be space for all our suitcases and my golf stuff when there is a full complement of passengers.

My wife, one of our dogs and I can go about in the Yeti. the dog can sit in the dicky area where he/ she is quite comfy.

The Yeti is NOT the choice to make if one has to regularly transport 5 people. It is the best choice available for a family of two, possibly two young ish kids and their luggage.

For sheer space, choose the Fortuner or Captiva or whatever.

[contessa]

Yeti is no competition for the larger SUVs or MPVs. My only point of reference is other cars like Laura.

My family is more comfortable in the Yeti than they were in Octavia.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by contessa

Thanks to Behemoth, I'm poorer by Rs.28k this month !!

After reading through his feedback on tyre swap, I was motivated to start my search seriously and faster than i anticipated.
My Yeti feels a lot more luxurious now.

yes it is certainly well worth it! Just take it a little easy in the first 500 kms as the tyres need to break in to get good grip. Basically they are coated with a protective resin to improve shelf life which will gradually wear away to reveal the grippy rubber. Then the tyres will show their true abilities.
Enjoy!

[contessa]

Well I had to tell this. I have not been going around much on my Yeti for the past one year. But finally got to take the Yeti to Ooty. Apart from the last year, I'm a regular at ooty. I visit ooty - at least once in 3-4 months. I generally drive a lot in the hills - and thats a great to enjoy this place - which is blessed with exceptionally good road network.

Great Driver's Car..

I have never enjoyed driving a car in ooty as much as i did with the Yeti. Taking on corner after corner, without having to slow or brake...was just great fun. Aiding greatly was the additional visibility (applicable to those who have moved in from a Sedan..octavia in my case). Given how tall the Yeti is, this much of drivability surprised me very much - one year after i bought it !!

Offroad capability ..

I generally wander off into the hilly area behind bannerghetta is Bangalore and often picnic is a nice spot there. We found a off road track connecting two main roads. The track went down a hill and was very uneven. I'm no expert in off road and started the climb down nervously. But the ease with i could drive down surprised me a lot. The under body touched a stone only once, despite the not-so-great ground clearance. This is definitely one clever vehicle.

The photo was taken after we reached the bottom of the climb, just adjacent to the road.

and oh! Please get rid of the Goodyear OEM tyre. You'll never know how comfortable Yeti can be, unless you use a good tyre.