Scout or Yeti?

[woofy]

We love our Tiguan 103 (now Oettinger125) TDI we bought almost 3yrs back...even mostly over the park brake.
Almost bought the Scout but nonsliding rear seats cramped me 6' 2" with infant / kids seats, wasnt 5 star crash rated at the time and potential resale hit.

We came from a string of Subarus; the then new Forester felt cheap & nasty (which has carried over to the new Outback) and the petrol outgoing Outback lacked torque, power and refinement, was under sprung & under damped and had the same-ish interior packaging as the Scout. I couldn't be convinced even with 'free' leather and $10k less on road deal.

The Tiguan is a tight for 2 small kids & german shepard touring but the rear seat slides is GREAT! Still no roof boot as anticipated. Super stable on loose surfaces if a bit bland (sooo stable) if you like to play with your car a bit. Mind, 1st gear in the manual is too short for day to day town work...I'd seriously consider the new 7sp DSG.

The Yeti sounds interesting but smaller still???

If you want a more car like motor, go the Scout, if you like the taller package the Tig is brilliant (never mind the electronic park brake...the auto off has benifites) and with such similar DNA the Yeti will no doubt mirror but with a little more quirky character.

Any one of them will make a fantastic & versitile all road motor.

I could be wrong, but I looked at the Tiguan and the later the Octy, and my memory is that sliding rear seats or not, the Octy had more legroom regardless....The Tiguan is pretty small inside.

[Michelle]

Well, test drove both the Scout and Yeti today....and still can't decide.

It's very tough. I really wish I could get a straight answer about the wading depth. I've asked and they could only tell me the ground clearance, despite asking head office apparently. I've googled for ages and still can only come up with unoffical figures of around 30cm. It's really giving me the pip to put it mildly.

Anyways, things about the Yeti:

Seats do not fold flat
A retractable ocky strap holds the seats from flopping forward - that's the best they can come up with?
There is a 'step down' on the floor once you move the seats forward from the boot level, about 5cm lower
Small overall, but not as squashy as the Tiguan felt
Good height for head room
Easy to climb in and out
Demo model has VERY small tyres, they look wrong. They are the same size as the hatch parked beside it!
Not as weird looking in the flesh

And the Scout:
Seats fold almost flat, nice and solid
Seats wedge themselves down and don't flop around
Has the most outstanding rear center consol I have ever seen (and I've seen at least 3! lol). Seriously, it splits into 3 bits, parts slide out and up and it has a wading pool and blow up palm tree. Lol.
Surprisingly, better fuel economy than the Yeti
Heaps of room in boot for all my stuff
Comes with a sunroof in the premium model, would have to see if it's possible to get without. Not keen on melanomas.

Both drive well, no problems there for me. Both nice inside. Both have indicators on the left hand side, but dosen't take long to get used to it. I have the impression the Yeti is trying too hard to be too different, to be noticed. The Scout is probably going to be upgraded in a year or two I suspect as it seems a bit 'mumsy'. But perhaps that's the market they are aiming at.

So....next step is to see what price I can get for both with the options I would like and see what happens. I guess I'm leaning slightly to the Scout because it has the room I need without moving seats.

I just wish the Scout looked like the original Rav!

p.s. forgot, the Scout has little storage bins as part of the front seats. Handy.

[K1W1]

I really wish I could get a straight answer about the wading depth.

If wading depth really is a consideration I suspect that you are looking at the wrong type of vehicle to start with. Both of these are simply slightly taller passenger cars built on passenger car chassis with passenger car air intake and waterproofing systems. In reality the effective wading depth of the Yeti will most likely be the same or at most 1 or 2 cm more than the Scout. I wouldn't be wanting to take either of these vehicles through any water much deeper than door sill depth except in an emergency they aren't designed for it.
BTW: There is at least one video on Youtube of a Yeti crossing a stream on a beach at around door sill depth.

p.s. forgot, the Scout has little storage bins as part of the front seats. Handy.

Same seats and bin layout as the rest of the Octavias. Those little seat pockets on mine carry my door keys on the drivers side and a small packet of tissues on the girls side. Don't forget the bin under the passenger seat or the one in front of the drivers right knee or the two in the centre of the dash board plus the cooled one under the armrest and the cooled glove compartment.

[Michelle]

No, I'm not looking at the wrong vehicle. I want to know the wading depth because I need to know just how deep it can go before I turn the car around. It's not about WANTING to push it through half a meter of water or go looking for water. It's about an aspect of the specifications I want to know and the manufacturers are not making available. That has more to do with them not wanting to be sued by some fool who drowns their car than not knowing.

The wading depth is really only telling me how deep it can go before the water hits some electronic part or air intake. That's all I need to know. That's not to say I'm going to put the car through 30cm if that's the wading depth. But I will know that's the depth if I have to make a decision on whether to cross or turn around. And that would depend entirely on whether I was trying to get home, or just wanting to go into town to pick up some bread.

I spent a bit of time last night checking around some of the more obscure links and most seem to be saying 30cm. That seems reasonable.

I will still push the dealer for the official figure though. I might even try ringing Skoda direct. Or maybe even Skoda UK.

[woofy]

I was about to say email Skoda HQ, they are usually fast with answers and the oz guys will just be talking to them anyway.

[pologti18t]

Just checked via google - from the guys at BRISKODA.NET

YETI

"Just checked the manual and the wading depth is basically up to the sill so not very deep at all.

"Hi,
I did some research recently and also checked with Skoda on this. The official water wading depth is around 300 mm (1ft), however they said that the maximum it can take is around 400 mm at dead slow speed, and engine revs above 2000 rpm. The exhaust is at around 380 mm , so there it would get submerged at this level.
The air intake is at the front, at the upper edge of the front grill (roughly around 650 mm), but a large wave break can cause water entry due to the splash.
Additionally, there are a lot of electrics which are placed at around 450 mm (alternator etc), which would get submerged and can get damaged.
So the safe depth is around 300-350 mm, anything more than this will required special precaution.

Regards,
"


SCOUT

"Here's the official Skoda line on Scout wading... The rule of 50

At 40 kph 10cm = 50
At 30 kph 20cm = 50
At 20 kph 30cm = 50
At 10 kph 40cm Max depth

Pretty good think! Must see how this compares to other soft roaders
"

For the RAV4
"FWIW Toyota quote this for the RAV4, which was the loser to the Scout for me recently:

Wading depth (mm) : Speed under 10km/h 500
Wading depth (mm) : Speed under 30km/h 300

So it is a little better.
"

[K1W1]

For consistency you should probably convert the above thread to all mm or all cm.

[Michelle]

Thanks Poloti18t, that is what I had found, pretty much around 30cm. I just downloaded the Yeti manual and it doesn't give a figure. I'll find the Scout manual shortly and see if that is any more helpful.

I will email Skoda HQ, Woofy, that's a good idea. We'll see what they have to say.

[Michelle]

IBN, did you end up figuring out how to mount the driving lights? It looks like I can't get spotlights because there is no nudge bar to mount them on, and I can't see where else they could go.

Stupid Skoda. It's really quiet annoying.

[K1W1]

You could always mount them on a roof bar.

I'm sure a local manufacturer will come out with a nudge bar at some stage. Maybe you should talk to ARB or somebody similar and see if they have any plans.

[brad]

Plenty of ways to mount lights without using a nudge bar. Number plate mounts or even something custom made.

Search driving light bracket or mount on eBay or in google.

I was going to point you to a thread about some custom mounts on a Gen4 Liberty but it's so old that the links to the photos have died - sorry.

As someone else has asked...... Are you sure you are looking at the right car for you?

[pologti18t]

IBN, did you end up figuring out how to mount the driving lights? It looks like I can't get spotlights because there is no nudge bar to mount them on, and I can't see where else they could go.

Stupid Skoda. It's really quiet annoying.

Michelle. I think the answer is to option the Bixenon headlights. That should provide sufficient lighting.

[brad]

Michelle. I think the answer is to option the Bixenon headlights. That should provide sufficient lighting.

He's frightened he'll put a rock through them. Doesn't seem to realise they are plastic lenses or know about lightskins & similar products.

As i implied earlier, the other option would be convert the halogens to HID. 35w in the projectors & 55w in the high beams. It will cost about $500 for 2 decent quality kits. Get 2500k temp bulbs & it will look like factory halogen

[Michelle]

Polotig18t, I think you are right. I spoke to the dealer and they've offered me a car with Xenons to try first. I will see how they go. Seems Skoda has limited understanding of the needs for drivers on rural roads in Australia.

It may end up being the only recourse as mounting lights without having any 'authorised' fitting will invalidate insurance if they can find a way to link it, and we all know who good they are finding those little 'outs'. Then there's the airbag sensors to consider as well. I was hoping the dealer would say they are able to fit a set once they looked into it but computer says nooo apparently. : o(

If I was a cynical type I would say it's a nice manoeuvre from Skoda to force people into a $2000 odd option for Xenons when a $200 set of spotties would more than suffice.

Still, if wishes were horses beggars would ride I guess. The Scout is still looking good and they are keen to sell (although not as keen as Toyota is to give me a Rav!) so contrary to my original thoughts, I may get a good price in the end. I've got prices for both the Yeti and Scout with all the options I want so am going to compare everything to the other vehicles I've looked at and see what I can come up with. Got a pretty large spreadsheet happening now!

[pologti18t]

As i implied earlier, the other option would be convert the halogens to HID. 35w in the projectors & 55w in the high beams. It will cost about $500 for 2 decent quality kits. Get 2500k temp bulbs & it will look like factory halogen

No way, totally illegal.
Just get the factory option ones.