Driving Impressions

Vehicle Dynamics International drives many of the latest vehicles on the market, and you can read our subjective impressions of the cars here!

Most of the cars we drive are standard production vehicles driven on our regular public road test routes near the VDI office in Surrey, UK. This provides a more controlled test environment and enables us to make more valid comparisons between models. If a car was tested elsewhere, or the vehicle was not a final production model, this is stated at the top of the relevant review.

Latest Test Drive: Skoda Yeti SE

Looking at the Yeti, Skoda’s fifth model line, it’s hard to tell at first glance which market segment it slots into. The company’s product planners will doubtless delight in this ‘segment-busting’ feat; for anyone who remains confused, the car’s principal rival has been identified as the Nissan Qashqai, in the UK market at least.

So what we have here is a C-segment ‘crossover’ vehicle in the mold of the Peugeot 3008, the aforementioned Nissan or the forthcoming Hyundai ix35. As such, Skoda also plans to steal sales from C-Max-style compact MPVs, small SUVs such as the Kia Sportage, and regular Astra-esque family hatchbacks.

Yeti is based on the same PQ35 architecture as the Octavia Scout, which means a fourth-generation Haldex 4WD system can be offered, as on our test vehicle. It also means ubiquitous chassis hardware: the well-proven MacPherson/multilink suspension and electric steering found all over the VW Group.

We didn’t venture off-road so can’t comment specifically on the Yeti, but have previously tried the same 4WD system on an Octavia and it performed remarkably. No, you won’t get down the Rubicon Trail, but it’ll handle pretty much anything else you’re ever likely to throw at it.

In a break from the current SUV vogue for going ever lower, compromising off-road performance, the Yeti rides high, and its wheels deliberately don’t fill the arches, accentuating its supposedly rugged persona. As a result, in- and egress is very easy, as is attending to children in the rear seats. Also family-friendly is the 416-liter trunk capacity, much more than the average C-segment hatch. Mildly irritating is the Alfa-style beep when you lock the doors.

On the road the Yeti drives much as you’d expect it to from the mechanicals underneath. The ride isn’t firm but on our test car it was unsettled at times – the 17in wheels with Goodyear Excellence 225/50 rubber seemed to be bouncing across small bumps rather than soaking them up. There was also a noticeable difference in the ride quality from front (better) to back (not so good). Our only other gripe was that the 2-liter TDI in our example, which puts out 110PS, felt a little lackluster when off-boost. It's possible that both of these deficiencies could be fixed by a change of spec however, and the Yeti is otherwise another fine effort from Skoda.

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