Back in school, I had a very weird classmate - he had a peculiar and somewhat distorted face, flaunted a silly, unsure walk and was creepily quiet most of the times. When he spoke though, he oozed so much sense and intellect that everyone would take notice and hear him intently, and hate him even more! I liked the chap. I liked his eccentricity and individuality - that made him strangely attractive in a lot of ways. Okay, that didn't sound quite right! Fascinating - that made him fascinating.
The Yeti, when it came, was quite like that boy - a peculiar looking thing. I'm not obsessed with discussing the nuances of design in detail, but I can tell an outright ugly form from a distinct, but interesting, design. For me, if you like the look of a car, it's attractive enough - no point discussing the curves along the sheet metal, or the way the bumpers are designed and if the grille section has a make-me-happy 'smiling' design going for it.
The twin-head-lamp design was an unmistakable design element and the overall shape was really striking. There were people who disliked the way it looked - the hatch was just too flat and it didn't go down as a 'proper' SUV shape for many. As I mentioned before - I really liked it, and those who didn't, I think, are just removed from the concept of fun and outlandish. The erstwhile Yeti had a crisp shape and very tight dimensions - perfect size for a nuclear family; it was a fine product, too.
Now, there's a 'new' Yeti - which, let's be honest, isn't really new. It's more like some caramel was added to an already impressive flan to make it more compelling. Facelift, then, would be the right word - a mild, and mostly cosmetic, one, at that.
When I first saw the 'caramelised' Yeti in pictures during its 2013 reveal, the first thought that crossed my mind was that it'd become more domestic - that Skoda had taken away from the individuality and quirkiness of its design. The single-unit head-lamp cluster wasn't as brash and exciting as the model it replaced, and the 'appeal' was somewhat lacking.
Now that I've spent a couple of days driving it through varied road conditions and involving winding roads around some very picturesque landscapes that our country has to offer, it doesn't take even a blink of an eye for me to assert that it remains a bloody good car to drive. But I still miss the odd styling. I still think they should've retained the weirdness of the previous model in some way.
The Yeti was always a very confident car. Its behavior around any kind of twisty tarmac - fast, flowing bends, or first-gear hairpins - was an alien concept in the SUV world and the chassis setup was extremely balanced. As with many European cars, the suspension was slightly stiff, but it wasn't ever uncomfortable or gave a hint of breaking into bits. In its revised form, the Yeti maintains most of its character traits - it's extremely good around corners and the steering is beautifully direct. The suspension, however, felt slightly more unyielding and, at times, made me have a very animated expression on my face when going over undulations at speed. The ride could've been more forgiving, I think.
I drove the two-wheel drive variant on the first day, scheduled to drive the all-wheel trim on the following day. Sadly - no, it was actually quite awesome as the weather was inspiring and made the hills come alive! - Sonamarg was experiencing heavy rains and most of the journalists couldn't get their shoots done owing to this weather. Everyone decided to stick to their respective cars so that the photo-and-video shoots could be done properly. That was a bummer - not having sampled the 4x4 that is.
Speaking of the 4WD model - the refreshed Yeti has the same mechanicals as the outgoing model and the same 4x4 Haldex system, only a bit revised. The fifth generation Haldex system, which has been revised, and the electro-hydraulic clutch actuator uses a centrifugal overflow valve design that eliminates the need for an accumulator, solenoid valve and filter. I've driven the Yeti 4WD on more than a couple of occasions and going by how that performed, I expect the latest one to be quite fine too. It may not be good enough to deal with serious off-roading, but it's going to be pretty competent in most of the conditions that our roads may offer. That said, I wish that the ground clearance was a bit more, though - at 180mm, it does tend to scrape its belly when going over some sharp speed bumps or slightly deeper potholes.
We spotted a hill that had a moderate and gradual incline and we decided to take the Yeti down to take some pictures. That done, I rushed to the driving seat to give my camera person, Sachin, some driving shots. Barely a metre in, and I was stuck. Big time! Rocking the car to help make a track didn't do any good and shutting the traction control off also was of no use. So we did things the traditional way - call people to give a push. Four guys came in, but the Yeti didn't so much as even show a hint of movement. Two more kind locals joined in, but it didn't budge an inch. Finally, it took 15 men pushing the car from both side, and one excited monkey (that'd be me) at the wheel to get it out of the slush. Turns out, 15 man-power equals 110 horsepower.
Being on topic, 110 horsepower is the amount of power the two-wheel drive Yeti makes from its slightly detuned version of the same 2-litre engine that powers the four-wheel trim. In its all-wheel drive form, it makes 138bhp and 320Nm of rotational force. The 2-litre diesel power plant is a 4-cylinder, 16 valve unit that gets an electronic diesel control unit developed by Bosch. There's no automatic option and the two-wheel model gets a 5-speed manual transmission while the 4WD gets a 6-speed 'box.
On the inside, the Yeti gets a mildly refreshed dash and a new steering wheel. And... hmmm... well, not much else, really. I own a Skoda - it's got that sprightly 1.8-litre turbo petrol engine, and a very weird name. You must've guessed correctly which car I'm talking about, no? So, there's no advanced connectivity option in the car I have, and with the newer models coming in from Skoda, I always hope that they add more gizmos to rival the masters of this game - Hyundai.
Yeti gets some decent kit - airbags, ABS, traction control, and a good deal of other features - the most useful and important being Bluetooth. But what really pinches me is the omission of USB or Aux-In etc. Instead, there's one master port which doesn't come in much use unless you buy an add-on unit that will cater to whatever device you may have. And Skoda would offer that as an accessory, so you have to shell out more money for it. So much for plugging in a USB and playing songs of your choice, or charging your phone! It's an unnecessary hassle; a very annoying omission. Otherwise, the quality of interior is proper top stuff.
The Yeti was always quite expensive, and this revised one would be pricier still. But that doesn't matter because Skoda doesn't expect to sell Yeti in great numbers. So if you're buying one, you sure know your cars. Or you're just a rich bloke who wants to buy an alternative to established sedans in the segment. Either way, you'd have some good fun driving this.
