Škoda has just given the Yeti a facelift and a new Haldex 4×4 system. Glenn Brooks was curious to see how the restyle looks covered in mud.
According to Škoda UK, 199,504 SUVs and crossovers were sold here last year. With a new Qashqai entering showrooms right now, the C-SUV/Crossover segment should continue to remain highly energised, with 2014 likely to be another record year for these vehicles. The perfect moment, then, to launch an updated Yeti. Well over a quarter of a million have been built since the model first appeared in 2009, 82,000 of which were sold in 2013. Britain remains a strong market for this model, total registrations having now reached 29,200.
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Something which sets the Yeti apart from class rivals such as the Mokka, ASX and Sportage/ix35 is a range that’s split into two models – the crossover-like standard car, and the more robust-looking Yeti Outdoor. Both feature the same new headlights, bumpers, wheels and diagonal creases in the tailgate, the last of these now becoming a Škoda styling feature. Prices start at GBP 16,600, and there are four trim levels – S, SE & Elegance, with the top-spec Laurin & Klement available only for the Outdoor.
Buyers who want the high seating position and visibility of an SUV but who don’t need off-road capability will go for the standard Yeti, while the Outdoor will appeal to anyone who needs the reassurance of all-wheel drive. You can specify 4×4 drive for the Yeti at extra cost, whereas in the Yeti Outdoor it comes as standard.
The fifth generation AWD system has already been seen in other Volkswagen Group vehicles but this is its first application in Škoda’s compact SUV. It remains an electro-hydraulically controlled multi-disc clutch arrangement but there are several improvements. The clutch actuator now incorporates a new centrifugal overflow valve that more accurately distributes torque between the front and rear axles. This also means there is no need for a hydraulic fluid pressure reservoir, solenoid valve or filter, and the resultant weight saving is 1.4kg. Less mass, combined with greater operating efficiency is also why the latest 4×4 Yetis have better CO2 and fuel consumption averages than the old versions.
Taking an Outdoor into what were slippery, sticky, off-road conditions, I was genuinely impressed not to end up beached in the mud, and downhill, descent control works a charm. Attempting to reach the top of few steep hills there were a few times I had to roll back down and attempt a fresh climb on soaked grass that had turned to mud. This would happen if I failed to apply just the right amount of throttle – the tyres started to spin and dig in.
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By GlobalDataIn the end, patience and four-wheel drive saved me the indignity of having to seek a tow or push out. The only thing you have to do as you leave the tarmac is push a button marked ‘Off Road’. The 4×4 system’s ECU monitors your driving (steering angle, throttle position and how heavily you’re braking) and sends what it judges to be the correct amount of torque to each axle. The moment wheelslip is detected, the pump is told to exert pressure on the clutch plates, delivering torque to the rear tyres. An electronically locking diff on both axles helps too, drive being distributed evenly from side to side for optimum grip.
The engine line-up consists of four choices. The petrols are either a 105PS 1.2 TSI or a 160PS 1.8 TSI, followed by a 105PS 1.6 TDI (this Greenline II variant has a 119g/km CO2 average, the lowest in the line-up), and a 2.0 TDI with outputs of 110PS, 140PS or 170PS. Depending on the variant, transmissions are five- and six-speed manuals or six- and seven-speed DSG twin-clutch automatics.
The main European manufacturing location for this model is Kvasiny but there are other sites across the globe. The Czech plant first began building the Yeti in August 2009, five months after its debut at that year’s Geneva motor show. SKD assembly at Solomonovo in Ukraine followed (February 2010), with the Volkswagen Group then commencing CKD assembly in October 2010 at its Aurangabad plant in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
In June 2011, VW Group and GAZ Group revealed plans for Yeti production at the latter’s Nizhny Novgorod plant from late 2012 and the first vehicles rolled off the line on schedule in December 2012. Then a special model for China, the ‘Ye Di’, was announced in July last year. This is longer than the car sold in other markets and has a 2,638mm wheelbase. It has been built at Shanghai Volkswagen’s Yizheng palnt in Jiangsu province since November. One easy way to tell it from the rest of the world’s model is an (optional) externally-mounted spare tyre.
Here in Britain, the launch of the new Yeti and Yeti Outdoor in Europe comes as Škoda is celebrating a record 66,081 sales for 2013, compared to 53,602 in 2012. This was also the fourth year in a row in which deliveries increased. Pushing through the 60,000 unit barrier has given Škoda a UK market share of 2.9 percent, compared to 2.6 percent in 2012.
At a global level, the million mark is the next big number to be attained and that target might come as soon as 2014, following 920,800 customer deliveries for calendar 2013. After that, it’s onwards towards 1.5 million, the Volkswagen Group having set its Czech subsidiary a goal of selling that many cars by 2018.
