Yeti is a cute name for a horrible mythical monster. The Skoda Yeti, however, is no hairy, growly abominable beast. It is also no hulking SUV but a smaller, slicker and superlatively smooth car that I greatly enjoyed on a 1200 Km test drive from Delhi to Orchha and back over the New Year.
With permanent four-wheel-drive Yeti qualifies as a proper SUV but it is much smaller than an Endeavour, Captiva or Fortuner measuring just 4.22 Meters. On the insides it is roughly as spacious as a Civic or Corolla but can easily handle quite rough roads. As it is also lighter it also burns less fuel.
An excellent suspension made rough roads smooth because with permanent 4WD all the wheels were climbing out of potholes instead of banging through them. Surprisingly its handling on fast curves was also very acceptable.
The Yeti has more chips in it than a packet of wafers. An excellent touchscreen music system morphed into an array of parking sensors. Controls on the steering wheel easily control the music system and the multi information display from the mini computer tells the driver outside temperature, fuel consumption, elapsed time, driving range, etc. The climate control was also excellent. An excellent little touch was a little light that would switch on to the side of the road whenever the wheel was turned left or right making night driving feel very secure. The interiors were also top notch. A car really made for fun driving.
The writer is an automotive analyst and the former editor of an auto magazine