Review of the Month – Skoda Yeti – What’s the Deal?
Yeti- Skoda’s newest launch is an extended hatchback of sorts, with its 4.2 meters length. That sure is the first thing you are bound to notice about this car. So what should we call it – hatchback or an SUV; what is a Yeti? It would be a better option to call it Skoda’s crossover. Without a doubt, Yeti is one of the most interesting vehicles on sale this year. The styling of the Yeti is a mix match of a hatchback and an SUV, and will take some time to get used to the new and distinct looks on the exterior of the car. For once, you can mistake this car to be a tall hatchback if you consider it from the front, but when you move to the rear, you realize that it is smaller and more compact version, when compared to an SUV.
This four-wheeler wonder sure is going to be a visual treat for the Indian car connoisseurs. With latest safety features and a powerful engine, Skoda Yeti comes with a stylish look – both on the interiors and the exteriors. It is customized for the ever pot-holed Indian roads as well as the silky-smooth highways. Yeti is a unique blend of tough exteriors and gentle interiors.
Yeti is a beast engine, with a 2.0 TDi in diesel variant and the base 1.2 litre petrol, which are one of the strongest possibilities in the Indian market. The engine is capable of producing 140 bhp at 4200 rpm and a maximum torque of 320 Nm at 1750-2500 rpm. The engine of this crossover is mated to a six gear manual. Its four cylinders are in line. It can touch a might 60 kmph in just about 5 seconds and speed up to 100 kmph in an eye-opening 10.78 seconds. Its fuel efficiency can be raked to 11.5 kmpl in the diesel variant which is a very decent mileage in its league of cars.
Skoda Yeti is designed to give you a comfortable drive and a luxurious journey. With front seats generous with bolstering at the right places, and the brilliant outside visibility thanks to the high stance, it couldn’t have gotten any easier to find the right driving position. It is a sheer-genius blend of safety, functionality, and comfort – both on and off the road. Yeti has been launched in two petrol and three diesel variants and all of them are turbocharged and transversely mounted and drive either the front or all four wheels. The interiors of the Yeti are a familiar territory- they match the Laura and Volkswagen Jetta. Everything on the inside of this car has been built with the same solid demeanor of Skoda that we as end users have come to appreciate over the years.
The Yeti is big enough to transport almost anything, given that the two middle seats can be packed up and even completely removed in case you want to transport some furniture, luggage or airport transfers too. It is a very comfortable choice for a family of five, although the leg-room for the rear passengers can be termed ‘decent’ and not ‘luxurious’.
It has very compact dimensions and independent suspension set-up with the same kind of agility reserved for sedans. It is a well under control automobile and because it is so compact when viewed from behind the wheel, it is a hoot to drive through the traffic too. However, on our test drive of sorts, we did notice that the journey became uncomfortable as the road quality deteriorated. Laura is way more comfortable when compared to the Yeti. It is hardly marginally priced with the base petrol model at INR 12 lacs and 18 lacs bracket in the fully-loaded diesel variant.
When you take everything into consideration, from the looks to the dynamics, the performance and practicality, Yeti does score high. Even though it has only been launched in late November of 2010, it sure had eyeballs rolling because of the 1000 people who booked it even before it was launched! Yeti only lacks value-for-money, but with Swedish engineering, and when viewed in its entirety, Skoda Yeti sure is the all-terrain all-weather crossover, and nearly touches perfection!
