The ‘compact’ 4 x 4 market is already a tough place for car manufacturers to compete. The Honda CR-V, Ford Kuga and Toyota Rav 4 have all successfully blended rugged 4×4 driving with the looks and driving experience that modern drivers want.
But the Skoda Yeti isn’t overshadowed by it’s more established competition. Starting at just £13,750 (GBP) for the entry level 1.2. petrol turbocharged model, the Yeti is significantly cheaper than it’s rivals. The 1.2 petrol and 1.8 petrol versions offer a smooth and refined drive… something that Skoda were no doubt keen to get right targeting this fickle market.
In it’s diesel format the top-spec Skoda Yeti is 4WD 2.0 TDI which comes with a whopping 170BHP, for this performance you’ll be looking to pay at least £21,500. However the cheaper 110 BHP engine offers an elegant drive and actually feels smoother than the 140BHP engine.
The Skoda cleverly engages it’s 4 wheel drive system automatically when the car senses that condition warrant the extra traction and manouevrability of a 4×4. In early tests this automatic switching worked effortlessly and provided a safe and comfortable drive in all conditions.
The Yeti really scores some major points over it’s rivals with a wide variety of options designed to increase the flexibility and functionality of the vehicle. The 3 rear seats fold down to increase luggage space or can be removed completely to free up room for long journeys and driving holidays.
For those that like the look of the car and it’s performance but don’t need the additional performance of a 4×4 there is also an option for 2 wheel drive. The 2 wheel drive versions also offer better fuel economy than their 4wd counterpart.
For those that need more room than a standard estate but don’t want to opt for a 4 x 4, a longstanding favourite of UK road users is the Nissan Qashai which effortlessly blends estate driving with a raised driver profile to increase visibility for drivers. The Qashqai also offers greater fuel economy and performance than a Yeti or any of the other 4×4’s listed.
RW Goldaline writes about a number of issues facing road users. She also writes regularly for tech blogs and you can view more of her work at Sony KDL a website dedicated to the leading range of LCD TVs from Sony
Nowadays, all cars including the one we are talking about here, the Skoda Fabia vRS, have a computerized Engine Management System. This system can be re-programmed to adjust the amount of fuel or oxygen that goes into the engine at a time, the spark plug timing and even engine power at different RPM’s. This process is called remapping a car and it is usually done so that you can get the optimal performance from your vehicle.
The amount of power you can gain depends on your engine type. Seeing that this is the sports version of the Fabia, the performance has already been improved. But, with a little more cash this diesel engine can really push the limits. The Fabia engine already has a very impressive performance and the extra power that is gained from the remapping more often than not will see the owners face light up.
Where you get your remap done from is important but as long as the dealer is recognized it shouldn’t make much of a difference. One of the best car remapping companies, in my opinion, is Angel Tuning and you should definitely consider them when remapping your Fabia. Initially, it gives you 130bhp and 310nm of torque. There are two ways in which you can remap this:-
1. Generic remap: Here, the car can gain anything from 20-40bhp. These are pre-designed remaps sometimes called “off the shelf” remaps.
2. Custom remap: The car gains from 40bhp upwards and is based on your preferences and other modifications that you may have.
What actually happens is, the Engine Control Unit (ECU), the engine’s computer which controls everything from the ignition timing to when the turbo kicks in, has a pre-designed map stored on its system. This map can be re-programmed so as to provide you with the optimum driving experience in your vehicle. It takes approximately 30 minutes to an hour to complete this process. The work that is done does not damage your Fabia in any way as it is entirely software based and thus you only risk your ECU.
After getting your Skoda remapped, if you are not satisfied with the significant increase in performance you can choose to get the mapping un-done so that you are back to your stock car settings. You can continuously remap your car, so, if you are a speed junkie, you should stay updated on the latest remapping software’s available so that you can have the best possible remap on your vehicle at all times.
At this point, you must be wondering why the stock maps installed in your vehicle aren’t already at optimum performance. The reason for this, a law, which states that all new cars must have a dip in the engine power at RPM’s of 2000-3000. This law is was made to reduce harmful emissions from vehicles, although all it does is make people accelerate more in this rev range which leads to increased emissions anyway plus wasted fuel. The Skoda’s performance is also limited from the company itself so that they can release new faster models later by just changing the map on the ECU. They will use this opportunity to charge you 1000’s of pounds more, just like they did when releasing this variant of the Fabia.
One thing that you should consider before actually remapping your car is whether or not this will affect the insurance on your vehicle. In most cases, the insurers won’t be able to tell the difference between a remapped vRS and a stock vRS, but just to be on the safe side you should thoroughly go through the documentation relating to your insurance before remapping your engine.