Skoda Yeti Review & Pictures


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Skoda Yeti Review Synopsis: Skoda Yeti price tag is between Rs. 20.10 – 21.80 Lakh (Ex.showroom, Delhi). It officially launched in India in Nov 2010.

Indian automotive scenario is on a huge leap and the trend of premium Sports Utility Vehicles is the latest buzz in our market. The Czech car manufacturer is eyeing for a big share too. After an effort to capture hatchback as well as luxury sedan segment, which however, did not do well due to incorrect pricing strategy. This time, Skoda again has a chance to rectify their past mistakes, and apparently, they are now on the right track with latest offering – The Yeti. This lifestyle SUV has many hopes pinned along. It offers adequate luxury, features, and most importantly the decent price tag too, but this compact-sized vehicle goes there directly against some of the full-fledged premium 7-seater SUV’s which could create an uncertainty about its popularity in our country. Nevertheless, we have finally found the answer to that; would you also like to know? Read on.
 
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Looks And Design.

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Yeti is a solid, decent looking utility vehicle, which characteristically resembles to any other latest car from Skoda. The hood with simple curves and lines immediately makes you realize that designers at Skoda have maintained the modernity while keeping the looks elegant. The Yeti’s headlamps design though looks tasteless, and that too without projectors, but thankfully the fog lamps complete their overall shape. Also, note the name “Yeti” cleanly embossed on their edges. When seen from the head-on view, the fog lamps appear well-integrated within the bumpers, and they also come with the cornering illumination ability, which takes the input from the steering direction, but this feature is available only in top-end Elegance variant. On the side profile, this car is unique and looks somewhat like Skoda Roomster. The black colour C and D pillars compliment the sporty touch, whereas the flared out wheel arches also adds some muscularity to the Yeti along with those yummy 16-inch alloy wheels. Dual chrome plated roof rails come standard in Elegance. ORVM though looks stylish, but compromises on size, resulting that it does not provide good visibility of what is behind and therefore, one might have to lean a bit sometimes to get a clear view.

The Ground clearance of 180mm will suffice if you do not plan any serious off-road trials. Moreover, the special rubber flooring comes underneath the Yeti to protect the mechanical parts from any unwanted damage. The rear looks a bit too boxy and the tail lamps again carry the basic theme, but if you look the car from rear low-end, clues from Laura can easily be identified. The exhaust pipes also lend a sporty touch, but totally uncoloured rear bumper can become a matter of surprise. Except for the front parking sensors in the base version, they are available as standard across the range, along with rear defogger and wash wipe. Overall, considering the target audience, and the lifestyle SUV tag with which Skoda is promoting this car, we firmly believe that the dimensions of Yeti are totally justified.

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Interiors And Comfort.

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Pull those doors and they open wide enough, even more so, shutting them with a loud thud provides a sense of security and build quality. Once all the doors are properly shut, there is a pin drop silence in the cabin and you can barely hear anything sound from outside. The front seats are comfortable with good lumbar and thigh support, which is adequate for long journeys, and the leather upholstery,which also includes steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake, is of top-notch quality too. Interior of Yeti have traditional Black & Beige colour combination, Its dashboard is very neatly designed and the fit and finish quality of all the buttons is upto the mark. Finding a comfortable driving position is relatively easy; thanks to the driver side height adjustment and the height and telescopic adjustable steering wheel. The steering wheel is lifted from the Skoda Superb and offers audio controls in the top-end variant. The Instrument console also looks good and provides information like Traveling time, Distance traveled, Average speed, Immediate consumption, Average consumption, Travel distance before refuelling, Service interval, Outside temperature, Gear shift indicator and Clock. Like all other European cars, the indicator stalks comes in the left side and wipers on the right side, even the bonnet release lever is also placed on the opposite side which makes absolutely inconvenient for the driver to reach to it. Both the sun visors come with vanity mirrors, but they are not illuminated. The front seats have a storage compartment beneath, which is useful to store CD's and other stuff.

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The internally cooled glove box is illuminated, but is a bit small and can carry only some papers and maximum 1-liter bottle. The front and rear doors come with cup holders but again they are of medium size and can hold only 1-liter bottles. The centre armrest is adjustable in height and length. You also get cup holders in the centre console and a 12V power socket. The complete fascia of interiors is finished with wooden inserts. The legroom and headroom in the front seats are also impressive which can house six footers with ease. The power window buttons are provided on the doors typical of all Skoda's and all of them come with one-touch up and down function. The wiper quality is good and they come with automatic rain sensors as standard, The ORVM's comes with defogger with timer as standard that can be helpful while driving in rains. The ORVM'S though electrically adjustable but are not electrically retractable. Skoda Audio Infotainment system offers a 6.5-inch LCD touch screen interface. This touch screen feels nice and easy to operate and is well within the reach of the driver, no need to stretch to reach out the interface. It also comes with a 6-CD changer, an Aux-in port inside the centre armrest and an SD/MMC card reader facility. There are total eight speakers in the vehicle and the sound quality is good enough for a normal music-freak, however, an Audiophile may not be too happy with the overall sound quality. The touch screen interface also adds up as dual-zone climatronic as well as Parktronic display. No USB interface is provided like in other Skoda cars and Yeti is not GPS equipped either. The dual zone climatronic AC is quite effective in the front seats. The cabin cools up effectively in sometime. The dual zone AC can be quite useful as the passenger side facing the sun can set a lower temperature to have better cooling. Rear seats are also comfortable but only if two adults are sitting at the front. Considering a six-footer at front, rear passengers would definitely feel cramped. The person at the middle in the rear will feel little uncomfortable as the front centre armrest protrudes slightly backwards at the centre housing the rear AC vents. So taking position of the middle passenger in the rear seat is a bit difficult. The rear seats can be moved forward in case you need that extra luggage space.

Moving to the boot, with 416 litres of luggage compartment space available, it is decent enough and can gobble up luggage for a weekend trip. Skoda has used this Varioflex seating arrangement in Yeti in which the rear seats can be folded completely, and even removed when required. A good 1485 litres luggage space is available with the rear seats folded forward and it is expandable upto 1665 liters if the rear seats and parcel shelf are completely removed. Lift up the boot mat and you can find the spare wheel, necessary tools, and the hazard triangle. However, the spare wheel is not alloy (cost-cutting!). The Parktronic system is one of the best in Yeti; it is so accurate that it detects everything that is present in the front and the rear with perfect accuracy. Thanks to these accurate sensors, parking at tight spots in city can be a charm.

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Engine and Gearbox.

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Open the hood of this big foot, and you will find the powerful 2.0 Litre, 4 cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, resting calmly, but only until it comes to life after cranking the engine, when it produces 140 horse power. The noise of the engine is slightly higher on the outside but once you enter the cabin and shut the doors the noise levels reduce greatly. Thanks to the greater levels of insulation, we never felt this was a diesel car once we moved on. No jerk, rattles, squeaks can be felt anywhere. Moreover, The 6 speed gearbox is delight to work with. It is easy to shift gears and gearshift indicator assists you with the correct gearing for the speed of the vehicle. However, the gear knob could have been a little taller, because the tall drivers need to stretch a little to reach the gear lever. Apart from few glitches, Yeti has gem of engines under the hood. Yeti easily pulls up from even as low as 36kmph in fourth gear and can blaze up to 100 in just few seconds. There is no apparent knocking from the engine but one disappointing thing is when you try to pull up from 10kmph in second gear the engine switches OFF and the car just refuses to move.

Therefore, the engine needs frequent downshifting in city traffic conditions. In addition, those who practiced half clutch technique, be cautious because it will not work with Yeti. This SUV is capable of running only after 75% of clutch is released from second gear. You obviously cannot move the car from second gear, from a halt. The Yeti comes with the intelligent 4X4 system, which requires no switch. One need not to select the mode the car should travel. Depending upon the conditions of the road, the all wheel drive system works actively and automatically. With the ABS, ASR, EDL, and ESP systems, Yeti gets the torque to each wheel individually and based on the terrain you drive, power ratio is equally distributed. In normal conditions, the 90% of the engine's power is supplied to the rear wheels. This is truly amazing from Skoda! While testing the off-road capabilities of the Yeti, one could just feel the torque shifting to the different wheels according to the situations and road conditions.

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Performance and Safety.

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The 140Bhp diesel mill in the Yeti is an exhilarating performer. It sprints to 100kmph under 13 seconds, which is not bad after all. Turbo lag from the engine is very minimum, push the accelerator in any gear and the Yeti just hurls forward with ease. A true top-speed of 170kmph is quite manageable and, the engine still has lots of juice left it in it. The way in which the Yeti gathers momentum is truly amazing; within no time, you can reach 160kmph and leave behind all the slow moving traffic. The gearing ratios are just perfect for both city and highway drives.It just cruises at 100kmph at 1750RPM in sixth gear, which makes driving a lot relaxed without putting strain on the engine. High-speed stability is also good and the Yeti is well planted on road, thanks to the 215/60 R16 tires. It absorbs all the bumps at all speeds and rarely shakes the cabin inside. Throw the Yeti around corners at even 160 kmph and still there is no evidence of body-roll, under-steer, or the vehicle loosing traction. Steering inputs are precise and it obeys the driver at all times, truly a driver's car! Braking is also good due to ABS along with discs in all four wheels; the vehicle comes to a halt from any speed without the tires loosing traction. Greater surprise from Yeti is turning radius, which is only 5 meters. You can just zip through traffic in city and the smaller dimension of Yeti is relatively easy to manoeuvre compared to a bulkier SUV.

Upon testing the Yeti for its off-road capabilities, we discover that this SUV is not the best off-roader. Though the big ground clearace proved to be a saviour at a few times, but while traversing through real bad roads one has to be really careful. Nonetheless, the traction control and torque management to individual wheels were awesome in providing decent Hill controls, which maintain speed to 29kmph for your safety. Safety features comes in the form of HHC (Hill Hold Control), ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), EBD (Electronic Brake force Distribution), HBA (Hydraulic Brake Assistant), ASR (Anti Slip Regulation), TCS (Traction Control System), EDL (Electronic Differential Lock) & ESP (Electronic Stability Programme), along with dual front airbags, seat belt pre-tensioners and fuel cut-off in event of crash as standard in both the variants. In addition to this you get front side airbags and curtain airbags in rear along with Hill descent control, Drive-off assistant, Off-road ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), Off-road ASR (Anti Slip Regulation), Off-road TCS (Traction Control System) & Off-road EDL (Electronic Differential Lock) in top-end Elegance variant. With all these features on hand, there is not much one can complain about, at this price tag, if it comes to Safety.

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Fuel Efficiency and Verdict.

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We generally look at the fuel efficiency figures after considering the price of a car. Well, but for people like us, Skoda has given a great balance between Performance and Fuel efficiency. The Yeti can deliver 12 - 13kmpl in city and up to 17 kmpl on highways, with fuel tank capacity of 60liters; you can cruise for long distances easily without worrying about re-fuelling. and this is where the lesser kerb weight and compact size does the trick. Overall, Skoda Yeti is a perfect blend of a luxury sedan with muscles of an SUV, that too at a spot-on price tag. Thanks to the compact dimensions, this SUV is not a pain to drive in tight traffic of cities and once you find an empty road, it roars ahead all. If have the money, and are inclined getting an SUV in this segment, to full-fill the motoring requirements of your family, as well as the ‘enthusiast’ inside you, then do give a thought to the Yeti. However, only as long as Skoda’s after sales is near you, otherwise the weak network could become one of the major cause to spoil the party, and this is specifically the area where Skoda still needs to improve.
 
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Likes, Dislikes and Ratings.

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We Like in Skoda Yeti: [thumbsup]


  • Spot-on Price
  • Nice Fuel Efficiency
  • Simple & Solid Design
  • Intelligent 4X4 system
  • Impressive Features List
  • Varioflex Seating Management
We Dis-Like in Skoda Yeti: [thumbsdown]

  • Absence of USB Port
  • No Automatic Transmission
  • No Projector Lamps on Offer
  • ORVMS Could Have Been Bigger
  • Weak After Sales and Support Network
The Automotive India Star Ratings:

  • Design and Quality: 4_star_rating.gif (4/5)
  • Comfort Levels: 4_star_rating.gif (4/5)
  • Performance: 4_star_rating.gif (4.5/5)
  • Ride Quality: 4_star_rating.gif (4.5/5)
  • Handling: 4_star_rating.gif (4.5/5)
  • Fuel Efficiency: 4_star_rating.gif (4.5/5)
  • Safety: 5_star_rating.gif (5/5)
  • After Sales: 3_star_rating.gif (3/5)
  • Value for Money: 4_star_rating.gif (4/5)
 
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Price and Specifications.

Skoda-Yeti-Side-View.jpg

Price:


  • Ambiente 4x4: Rs.15,40,324
  • Elegance 4x4: Rs.16,62,721
(Ex.Showroom, New Delhi)

Engine:

  • Max Power: 138BHP @ 4200 RPM
  • Max Torque: 320NM @2500 RPM
  • No. of Cylinders: 4

Transmission:

  • 6 Speed, Manual
Suspension:

  • Front: McPherson Strut with torsion stabilizer
  • Rear: Multi-Element Axle
Brakes:

  • Front: Discs
  • Rear: Discs

Wheels/Tires:
Alloys, 215/60 R16

Dimensions:

  • Length: 4223mm
  • Width: 1793mm
  • Height: 1691mm
  • Wheelbase: 2578mm
  • Ground Clearance: 180mm
  • Fuel Tank Capacity: 60 Liters
 
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Pictures Speak.

Skoda-Yeti-Center-Console.jpg

Skoda-Yeti-Cupholder.jpg

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Skoda-Yeti-Instrument-Cluster.jpg

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Road Test Credits

  • Road Test & Photography: Zinam & Cooldhaya
  • Edit & Format: 350Z
(C) The Automotive India. All rights reserved. Our content such as reviews, images etc. can not be reproduced in any form without written permission of our authority.
 
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Thanks All,

Yes Mukesh, Thats is Dhaya :)

And wrt road test, Yeti is not an pure offroader, we took it on a very bad roads & it did an decent job. We wouldn't want to put in like the outlander which we tested before because of its 180mm GC!!
 
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@ Mastersquall Due to time limitations we could not test it in complete off-road conditions. However the road where we have tested is a very bad one and the Yeti scraped the bottom twice! So in bad roads you have to shift to first gear , no other go! But still with 180mm GC its sufficient enough!


@ Mukesh Yeah that's me! I also accompanied Zinam for TD![:D]
 

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