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By
DEREK OGDEN
7 November 2011
Where
would you go to find the mysterious yeti, also known as the
abominable snowman? Tibet sounds like the logical spot, but who
would think about searching for a yeti in the deserts of central
Australia?
Yet recently a dozen Yetis were spotted out the back of Alice
Springs. What’s more, there was no mystery about these
‘creatures’. They were examples of a new compact sports
utility vehicle from Skoda on a tough shakedown run with the
Aussie motoring media.
The ‘dirty dozen’, all of them 103kW diesel 4x4s, drove out of
Alice along Larapinta Drive before going bush to join the Finke
River, said to be the oldest in the world. It’s also the site of
the desert race for serious off-roaders that’s run every
Queen’s Birthday weekend.
Between
the bitumen and the destination, Boggy Hole, 20 km away, lay a
track of river smoothed small-to-medium sized rocks and
intermittent sand traps (literally). We were about to give the
Skoda Yeti’s substantial underbody protection a severe workout.
With all-wheel drive split predominantly to the front, only 180 mm
of ground clearance and rolling on road tyres at normal pressures,
any loss of momentum in the soft sand brought the Skoda Yeti to a
sudden stop.
Neither the fourth-generation Haldex clutch shifting power back
and forth between front and back, nor the limited-slip
differential on the rear axle doing likewise from side to side was
up to the sand-sapping task.
Any attempt to power the wagon out of trouble had the overheated
DSG squealing, while the wagon just dug in deeper until it sat
defiantly on the sand up to its axles.
There
was nothing left but to sit it out in the queue of ‘beached
brothers’ until Skoda techs arrived in real 4WDs to tow us out
one by one.
In the meantime my co-driver and I took to opportunity to suss out
the clever VarioFlex seating arrangement in the Yeti. The three
separate rear seats can be folded up to the front seat backs,
increasing cargo capacity. In this position and, with the flick of
a couple of levers, any, or all, of the three can be taken out
completely, increasing the cargo area considerably from 310 litres
to a maximum of 1665 litres, enough to take a pram or bike.
Even cleverer, with the centre rear seat removed, the outer rear
pair can be slid inboard to increase shoulder width. Hooks set
into the side walls are able to anchor baggage firmly in the back.
The rest of the interior owes much to its German origins, with
instruments and controls familiar to any Audi/VW regular.
Generally, from the driver’s seat visibility all round is
adequate apart from the three-quarter rear view which is obscured
to some extent by a solid C-pillar set-up.
Skoda, a Czech ‘mate’ of Audi/VW, has borrowed the DSG double
clutch transmission, along with most of the mechanicals, from the
German giant and puts it all together in its own factory in
eastern Europe.
The
Yeti is built on the Audi A5/Skoda Scout platform. It is offered
as a 2WD (front wheels) in the entry-level model that is powered
by the 77 kW / 175 Nm turbo-petrol engine.
The 4x4 variant has a 103 kW turbo-diesel engine with maximum
torque of 320 Nm, giving it 2000 kg braked towing capacity. A
combined urban/highway fuel consumption figure of 6.6 litres per
100 km is claimed for the six-speed manual and 6.7 litres/100 km
for the DSG.
With plenty of sand spewing wheel spin and ongoing engine stress
our DSG ‘Finke’ hovered around the 10 litres per 100 km mark.
That’s pretty good for the harsh conditions in which we were
operating.
Disc brakes are fitted all round with the front ventilated, while
power steering is speed sensitive. Airbags – two front, one
knee, two front side and two curtain front/rear have helped the
Yeti to earn the top five-star EuroNCAP safety rating.
Key features of the Yeti 4x4 103TDI include 17-inch alloy wheels
(16-inch spare), eight-speaker audio with six-CD stacker,
Bluetooth phone connectivity, multi-function computer, auto lights
and rain-sensing windscreen wipers and silver roof rails.
Satellite navigation is an option and there are four contrasting
roof colour options a la
new Skoda Fabia.
Despite the stop/start nature, the journey was completed in
relative comfort and the desert scenery, according to the coastal
dwellers among us, was particularly appealing.
In less severe situations, a suite of aids including off-road ABS
braking, ASR and EDL , plus hill start assist and hill descent
control are capable of taking much of the stress out of driving.
All in all, the new Skoda Yeti is a versatile, value-for-money,
go-almost-anywhere compact SUV. Just keep it a way from soft sand
(and presumably deep snow), where it can become abominable.
The Skoda Yeti is on sale now from $26,290 for the front-wheel
drive 77 kW TSI petrol six-speed manual, to the 103 TDI six-speed
DSG 4x4 at $37,990.
PRICE GUIDE
Yeti 77TSI 1.2-litre turbo-petrol FWD five-door wagon: $26,290
(six-speed manual), $28,590 (seven-speed DSG)
Yeti 103TDI 2.0-litre turbo-diesel AWD five-door wagon: $35,690
(six-speed manual), $37,990 (six-speed DSG)
Note: These prices do not
include government or dealer charges. Contact any Skoda dealer for
driveaway prices.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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