Fog, grey sky and I am really cold. Christmas is right around the corner and I see a Yeti. Luckily it`s a Skoda, not one of these hairy mountain beasts. So, let`s take the new ap coilover-kit as a good reason to talk about this very successful compact-SUV at the ap blog. Today I get my chance to take a little, nice monster from the Volkswagen group for a ride.

I have to admit, the SUV market is really big and sometimes also confusing in the meantime. So many cars and just a few who seem to be long-time successful and a good bargain at the same time. Since his first appearance in 2009 the Skoda Yeti became just one of those few cars. Some facelifts, many different engines, compact measurements and the fact that the car is known for reliable Volkswagen engineering at a bargain price creates customers in big numbers. The Yeti starts here in Germany at the moment at 19.900 Euro and my test car from the year 2012 has only 10.890 Euro on it`s price-tag.

First impression
My Yeti from autopark-emmering.de has already a bit more than 100.000 km on the odometer but it still looks like an almost new car. This says something, not only about the love invested by it`s pre-owner but also about the workmanship and quality of he car. Of course, everything looks – typically german – a bit mundane but other than that everything is still in great condition. No annoying noises, no creaking and squeaking, the seats are still great, the plastic does not look worse than 4 years ago when the car was new, the carpets are still fluffy and all buttons and levers are not worn out either. It is like one oft he big german car-magazines already wrote 4 years ago after a 100.000 km test with the car – it just doesn’t show much weaknesses.

On the road around Munich
My Yeti comes with a 6 gear box, the 1,4 liter 122 horsepower engine and front-wheel-drive. To be honest, I am not a big SUV fan and especially not a big SUV fan in combination with a manual shift. But, the Yeti being pretty compact, is still fun to drive with this combination. The brochure says it`s about 10.5 seconds from 0-100 km/h and I think it feels like that. Even better, despite the cold weather and my driving in typical test.-drive mode it still needs only 7,9 liters of gas. I also like the all-around-vision, the sitting position even for tall people like me and the european style direct steering. In short words – it`s easy to like the car.

Other things which came to my attention
Some tests dislike the 405 liter trunk because they think it`s to small. But always remember, the car is only 4,22 meters long which makes it perfect for inner city driving. So, there will always be a compromise here. And other than that, you can still fold down the back seats. And than of course, you can still order the Yeti with 4-wheel-drive but the question ist – do you really need 4-wheel-drive?

The test-car and the suspension
My Yeti is equipped with CD audio, fog-lights, power windows at the front, air-condition, power-steering and parking sensors at the back. This is not that much but it`s basically ok if we think about the price and the condition of the car. It also comes with 17 inch rims which really look good on the car. So, just in case somebody would like to buy a Yeti now, and just in case this person would like to increase the sportiness oft he car a little bit more – we have good news: From now on ap offers coilover kits for all Yeti models with front wheel drive.  On both axles it allows accuracy lowering of 45 – 85 mm. After installing, the Yeti responds directly to steering movements, travels trail faithful and convinces with sufficient residual comfort. Now available for only 659,00 Euro.

Text: Andreas Leffler
Pictures: Andreas Leffler

december 9th 2016