Skoda Yeti

Skoda’s new Yeti is assessed by Tom Scanlan…

Skoda is on a bit of a roll at the moment, with buoyant sales figures. The Yeti can take some of the credit. The new version is available as either a 4-w-d car or, as in the test model, a front wheel drive version.

This car is equipped with the least powerful of the 2-litre diesel engines, with 110 PS (140 PS and 170 PS outputs are also available) and it had a manual gearbox; the VW group’s excellent DSG automatic can also be specified.

Several people admired the cars looks, in Jungle Green metallic and black roof. However, these were optional extras totalling £915. Various other colour combinations (for example, on the cars shown in our photographs) are of course there for the choosing.

Driving the Yeti proved to be easy and enjoyable. The performance was more than adequate from the modestly-powered engine. Zero to 62 mph in 11.6 seconds may seem sluggish but progress never seemed over-slow. Maximum speed, at 110 mph is of course academic.

The engine was generally smooth and refined, although there was a noticeable knocking or vibration on tickover.

The Yeti steered and handled nicely. The brakes were nicely-weighted and progressively powerful when necessary. The seats and ride were generally very comfortable. Over the worst of potential road surfaces, the suspension clearly struggled to give a damped response, but so have other makes and models.

At night, the illumination from the headlamps was excellent; the test car, being the high-range Elegance type, also had cornering front fog-lights providing even more visibility.

The car was driven well over 400 miles in every sort of traffic condition; it proved to be a very versatile performer, well able to give occupants a relaxed long-distance motorway journey, or a trip to the superstore where it proved very easy-to-park, thanks to good all-round visibility and rear parking sensors.

The boot is not that big, but the whole interior has a very been very cleverly designed. The rear seats can be configured into twenty different positions; these include the outer rear seats able to be slid backwards or forwards, the middle seat removed altogether and outer seats moved inwards to create a two-seater rear, or one or all seats are able to be rolled up to fold against the front seats. Therefore the Yeti scored highly as a load carrier. Equally, rear-seat passengers can easily get in or out.

The Yeti is equipped with the important safety features such as seven airbags and ESC (Electronic Stability Control).

The car was always driven quite gently, as journey planning worked out well, preventing any need for undue haste. Fuel consumption worked out at an overall 53 mpg, according to the trip-computer. The official combined cycle figure is 55.4 mpg. The test-car, with nearly £3000 of options on board, totalled £24,085. That’s not cheap, but there is no doubt that this well built, versatile car is very competitive in its field.