1.8 4x4 elegance

Lovely drive, but a greedy guzzler with a nanny attitude

I bought this to replace my beautiful Suburu Forester turbo that has given me 10 years of trouble free driving. The Yeti has alot to live up to!

Plus side: Nice drive, fast (especially with the seats taken out of the back!) with a nice driving position. It corners extremely well, I have tested it hard on the sharp winding roads around here and I am very impressed. I have to admit it corners better than the Suburu. It is roomy and takes my two very large dogs with no problem at all. I like the position of the heating vents and the way the lights go round corners.

Minus side: It is very thirsty. I can't believe that it does less that the 2.0 litre turbo Suburu which is bigger and faster. So far, the best I have got from it is 31.5 mpg I have not pushed it at all because I have been running it in as per manufacters' instructions. I have taken it on a 300 mile run on fast A roads and motor way. I did not speed and changed gear at 2,000 revs and still only got 31.5 mpg. I used to hammer the Suburu and always got 33 mpg - mind you it took premium grade petrol. So I tried premium grade petrol in the Yeti and guess what - 33 mpg! But that is without pushing it at all. It is very disconcerting to look at the onboard computer when you are doing 60 mpg and reving at 2,000 to see petrol consumption at 29 mpg. Not good. The controls are extremely fiddly. I can't believe it has all these on board computers but to change a CD mid - track you have to look at the main console and push several buttons -which in my view is dangerous. The 10 year old technology of the Suburu (Sony) did it with one push. The on board computer has alot of whistles and bells on it that are not ony useless but very annoying! I drove it over the Welsh hills in minus temperatures and at every 5 degree change in temperature under 4 degrees it gave a very loud three bongs - as I was going up and down hills with constant temperature changes it was continually bonging me throughout the journey. Skoda would have been better sorting out how to change a CD without crashing your car instead of putting a range of useless gadgets on the car. Incidentally, I did manage to turn those bongs off - what a waste of time and money! Other faults are: it keeps telling me what to do! When you put it in reverse a note comes up to say, "Safe to move?" tchh! It comes up with a sign to change gear. It keeps turning on the air con when I don't want it and the wipers seem to have mind of their own.

Maybe I am being picky - as I say it has a lot to live up to. I have enough people telling me what to do each day without my car doing it as well!

All in all it is a nice drive but spoilt by very heavy petrol consumption and unnecessary gadgets, whistles and bells - or bongs - all of which I have paid for. I would only recommend this model to people with deep pockets who like being ordered around alot!

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