News: Is Kia going to do a Range Rover rival?

Kia could be about to launch a new range-topping 4x4 that would rival the likes of the VW Touareg, Land Rover Discovery and even the mighty Range Rover. The Cross GT (pictured above) is a concept car for the moment, but it will be shown at the Chicago Motor Show and Kia has a habit of putting its concept cars into production.

News: Renault attmepts to, ahem, Captur our attention

Teasing is usually a very good way to get people's attention. Well, it works in the school playground anyway, and Renault is obviously keen on getting our attention with this teaser image of the new Captur compact crossover.

Renault hasn't dipped its toes in the SUV world since the pretty disastrous debut in 2008 of the Koleos, a car about which the less said, the better. This new Captur should be a beast of a very different feather though, and while the image above may be cropped and monkeyed with, you can easily see the influence of the handsome new Clio shining through.

Oddly, the Captur will share a chassis with one of its most important rivals, the Nissan Juke, and will come to the market with the familiar 1.5 and 1.6 dCi diesel engines and the new three-cylinder turbo 900cc petrol TCe units too.

We'll get more details, and images, of the Captur at the end of this week, and it will get its full public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

News: Peugeot's crucial crossover revealed

Peugeot's crucial new 2008 crossover has broken cover for the first time and it it couldn't be coming at a more significant time for the beleaguered French car maker.

Peugeot's woes over the past 12 months have been well-publicised, and even it's much-anticipated (and critically well received) 208 supermini simply hasn't sold in the numbers Peugeot needs it to. Which makes the 208-based 2008 more important than ever, as compact SUVs are one of the few growth markets in Peugeot's traditional European heartland right now, and is just the right segment to be entering if it wants to break into Asian and American markets in the future.

The 2008's 4.1-metre length pitches it straight against the likes of the Skoda Yeti, Nissan Juke and Opel Mokka, and although the range-topping engine will be the 150bhp 1.6-litre petrol turbo, expect most to be sold with either 1.4 or 1.6-litre HDI diesels.

No official figures yet, but it's safe to assume that there will be at least one sub-120g/km model, and possibly, given the 208's frugal nature, even a sub-100g/km version. Production starts at Mulhouse in France later this year, and the 2008 will also be built in burgeoning markets like Brazil and China.

These photos were not due to be released until the 2008's official debut at the Geneva motor show in March, but French website L'Argus got hold of them and once something's on t'internet, it's leaks ahoy...

News: VW introduces Taigun, but loses profit

Volkswagen adds Taigun but drops profit. Has the financapocalypse finally gotten its dirty fingers into VW?


This is the new Taigun, a concept compact crossover that Volkswagen has just shown at the Sao Paulo motor show in Brazil. Why there? Simply because Brazil's burgeoning economy is one of the boom markets for new cars at the moment, and VW is keen to capitalise on its already strong market position there.

We've been told in recent weeks that VW is working on a new range of crossovers and SUVs, but this is a bit smaller than we expected. Instead of being a Polo-based rival to the likes of the Nissan Juke and Mini Countryman, it's actually built on the same platform as the VW Up, and is smaller again than the Juke.

It is a big bigger than the Up mind, with a 50mm longer wheelbase and a much bigger boot.

It gets a turbocharged version of the Up's 1.0-litre 75bhp petrol engine, boosting power to 100bhp. And will it make production? Almost certainly, in spite of VW saying that it's just a concept for now, and you can expect Skoda, Seat and Audi versions too.

It't not all good news for VW though. The German car giant is due to announce third quarter earnings of around €2.3-billion this week, which sounds great, but is actually a whopping 21% down on the same period last year.

Of course, some of that can be attributed to the fact that the ever-popular Golf is on a run-out now while we await the start of sales for the new MkVII version, but there's no doubt that the European car sales crisis has finally reached the door of VW Towers.

Road Test: Subaru XV 2.0 TDS SE Premium

Price as tested: €34,995

+ Cracking engine, chunky good looks, good to drive, solid build, foul-weather ability, space
– Too-firm ride, pricey, some cheap cabin fittings
= Best new Subaru in ages, but price means it’ll struggle against rivals

You could have forgiven the average car buyer if Subaru had fallen off their radar in the past couple of years. Ever since its rally team, once equally feared and fearless, was pensioned off at the end of 2008, a little of the magic that once haloed the iconoclastic Japanese company had disappeared. Without those iconic blue-and-gold Imprezas bursting through forests with a McRae, a Burns or a Solberg at the wheel, Subaru’s sense of purpose seemed to be gone.

Sequential launches of two rather underwhelming cars didn’t help. The current Impreza hatch and Legacy saloon and estate are fine, or at least fine enough, but too obviously tilted towards Subaru’s largest market in the USA to be of particular interest over here. A shame; the previous generation Legacy had one of the most sympathetically-set-up chassis for Irish conditions that we’d ever experienced.

All that being the case though, Subaru us still capable of turning out a fine car. The Forester SUV is still providing rugged, practical transport to those who have discovered its charms and much of the Toyota GT86 coupe’s dynamic brilliance is down to Subaru, now part-owned by Toyota, being responsible for much of the engineering, being as the GT86 is paired with its own BRZ coupe.

Now, there’s this, the XV; a car that seeks to distill Subaru’s traditional combinations of rugged build, four wheel drive and driver appeal into a package designed to appeal to the Qashqai and yeti buying set.

Right off the bat, it’s off to a better start than either the Impreza (with which it shares most of its underpinnings) or the Legacy because it actually looks good. In fact, it’s the first truly handsome Subaru for a generation or more; chunky, appealing and distinctive, even in the rather washy baby blue paintwork of our test car.

Inside, things are not quite so good. The cabin can best be described as functional, and it lacks many of the soft-touch surfaces or design flourished of its rivals. A Yeti instantly leaves it in the shade for interior ambience, although it’s about on a par with the equally dour Qashqai, and at least both quality of assembly and space are there in abundance. There are also plenty of toys on this range-topping version, with a reversing camera, rain sensing wipers and Blutetooth wireless connection for both phone and music.

Twist the slightly-old-fashioned looking key and the familiar flat-four Boxer Diesel fires into life with a throaty whirr. Its 147bhp and 350Nm of torque seem fine, rather than exceptional figures these days, and its 146g/km Co2 emissions actually beats the Yeti when fitted with four wheel drive, but is trounced by the larger Mazda CX-5. Still, the Boxer is one of the few diesel engines with a true sense of character. It soon shrugs off a low-rpm diesel clatter for a more traditional Subaru woofle, underlaid with all manner of chirps, whistles and cheeps. Different, for sure, if not necessarily to all tastes. It’s easy, accessible performance should please though, as will a decent 6.4-litre per 100km fuel consumption.

Subaru does seem to have forgotten its old magic touch when setting up a car for Irish tarmac, though. The steering is the high point, dynamically speaking. A little numb around the straight-ahead, but becoming ever more garrulous as you apply lock. The XV certainly feels more up-and-at-’em than most of its rivals, and it’s a reasonably entertaining  car to drive. Combine that with Subaru’s traditional all-wheel-drive that gives you a smug feeling of security even as rain-mageddon breaks out all around you, and you have a car seemingly ideal for Ireland and Irish drivers. A pity then that the ride is just too stiff, too ready to jiggle and bobble over rough surfaces. Surely with all that extra ride height a little more suppleness could have been found?

But the XV faces one final, possibly insurmountable, hurdle. Its price. OK, so our test car was the range-topping version and perhaps its €34,995 price tag can be explained purely from that point of view. But to place it just €1,000 cheaper than the entry-level (larger, more practical) Forester seems silly and the fact that an entry-level XV costs €28,495, and with a petrol engine at that, seems closer to daft. In fairness to Subaru Ireland, it’s struggling with an unfavourable exchange rate with the Yen, but the unpalatable truth is that the Yeti or Qashqai beat it for value, as do larger rivals like the Mazda CX-5 and Ford Kuga.

Which is a shame. The XV is engaging to drive and has a personality that’s both distinct and charming. Given Subaru’s reputation for reliability and shrugging off even the very worst weather that the winter (or spring, or summer) can through at you, it would be a tempting prospect. But at that price level, it’s giving itself an uphill struggle for even committed Subaru fans, never mind more casual buyers.


Subaru XV 2.0 TDS Premium
Price: €34,995
Range price: €28,495 to €34,995
Capacity: 1,998cc
Power: 147bhp
Torque: 350Nm
Top speed: 198kmh
0-100kmh: 9.3sec
Economy: 5.6-100km (50.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 146g/km
Tax Band: C. €330 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 86% adult, 90% child, 64% pedestrian, 86% safety assist

Road Test: Mazda CX-5 2.2d Sport

Price as tested: €29,495

+ Steering, performance, economy, refinement, quality
– Dark cabin, jiggly ride, quite pricey
= SkyActiv tech makes it frugal, Mazda engineers make it fun.



There is only one segment of the motoring world that is actually seeing much growth at the moment, and that’s the compact SUV and crossover market. It’s not hard to see why, really. Families, outgrowing hatchbacks but not fancying much the suburban sameness of estates or, worse, MPVs, are flocking in droves (well, as close as we get to droves these days) to the likes of the Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Yeti and Ford Kuga. You get the appealing SUV style you crave, the space and practicality you need but you’re not mugged every time you visit the fuel pump or pay your road tax. Everyone wins.

That being the case, pretty much every car maker is scrambling to get a foothold on the ladder that Nissan effectively invented with the Qashqai. Mazda is the latest to try its hand, but it’s going about the launch of its CX-5 rather differently to most.

For a start, Mazda is making the bold claim that the CX-5 will be the enthusiastic driver’s choice in the segment, but it’s also using the car as the launch vehicle for its new SkyActiv technology.

SkyActiv is a holisitc system that sees vehicle weights trimmed, engines made ever more efficient, transmissions made lighter and with reduced friction and every little tweak and twonk that will help push down emissions and raise fuel efficiency. It’s how Mazda is able to offer the new CX-5 with a large, torquey 2.2-litre 150bhp diesel engine yet also claim best in class Co2 emissions (119g/km, so your road tax will just be €160 for now) and fuel economy (4.6-litres per 100km claimed, or around 60mpg).

Those are impressive figures, but sadly, our necessarily brief test route didn’t allow us to put any strain on them. It’ll just have to wait for now, but in fairness to Mazda, it’s not a firm given to extravagant claims.

Or extravagant anything, really. Mazda has always been admirable for its championing of both driver pleasure and reduced vehicle weights and while that hasn’t done its sales much good of late (the firm posted a global $1.2-billion loss last year) its SkyActiv tech is much to be admired, especially as it majors on driver pleasure while delivering real-world figures that will trounce a needlessly complicated hybrid.

Driver pleasure? Oh yes, the CX-5 is indeed a sweet little thing to drive. The steering is beautifully weighted and feeds back nicely, allowing you to point the nose tight into an apex, sure in the knowledge that grip is there, even on the slippery, rain-slicked Cork roads we tested the car on.

The snick-snick six-speed gearshift helps too, much inspired by the MX-5 roadster in its weighting and motions and generally the CX-5 feels all of a piece, hingeing nicely around the driver as you tackle a twisty road.

On a cruise, it settles down nicely, and that punchy 2.2 diesel engine keeps its noise levels pleasantly low at pretty much all times. It’s a very impressive unit, pulling hard with 380Nm of torque and only betraying a diesely rattle or breathless turbo at very high rpm. If this is the future of SkyActiv, then count us in. Wind and road noise are also well suppressed, although it did give in to an occasional bout of tyre roar, depending on the surface.

You will feel everything on that surface though. Perhaps Mazda is focusing the CX-5 as the driver’s choice simply because it excuses a ride quality that’s very firm and jiggly. Even on a smooth surface, there’s a constant pitter-patter and that may prove an issue for the family market that Mazda wants to attack with the CX-5. Our test car was a Sport model, so perhaps an Executive or Sport SE would be a touch smoother.

Otherwise, on the family front, the news is good. The rear seats are spacious, the boot large and square at 500-litres and the cabin feels beautifully put together and of very high quality, even if it is a touch too dark and lacking in eye-catching detail. We love the ‘Karakuri’ rear seats though which flip down at the tug of a lever in the boot. Very handy in the B&Q car park.

Standard equipment levels are very good, with a touchscreen, Bluetooth, air conditioning and, standard across the range, a city braking system that slams on the brakes if it detects an incoming low-speed collision. If you can’ avoid that collision, the body is largely constructed of high-tensile steel and Mazda is expecting some high marks from EuroNCAP.

As well as SkyActiv, the CX-5 is also the launch point for Mazda’s new ‘Kodo’ design language, which will also be appearing on the new 6 saloon come January. From the front, it’s very effective, with a deep, bold grille, nicely detailed lights and a general air of sportiness. It’s less good around the back, though, where the CX-5 tends to blandness, but the overall style is nice and it bodes well for future models.

A word on pricing. When the 2.0-litre petrol model (which you may be tempted to ignore, but which actually has very reasonable Band B emissions of 139g/km) the CX-5’s entry price point will be €25k. For now though, it’s  €28k for an Executive-spec 2.2 diesel and €29k for the Sport which Mazda reckons will be its top seller. That puts it in a very competitive spot when compared to the likes of the Ford Kuga and VW Tiguan, not to mention the premium brands, which apparently some customers are already trading into CX-5’s from, but it’s a significant amount more than you’d spend on a Nissan Qashqai or a Skoda Yeti. Mazda claims that such vehicles aren’t in the CX-5’s sphere, because of size, price, spec and engines but we reckon that some customers won’t see it that way.

Still, Mazda has made a very effective product for itself here. If the economy figures stack up, then that smooth, punchy 2.2 SkyActiv diesel is a  genuine revelation and the chassis, ride aside, will be seriously pleasing when you get your CX-5 to yourself on a twisty road. Kids will appreciate the spacious rear seats and the SUV style, owners will appreciate the road tax figures and Mazda’s iron-clad reputation for reliability and quality. Fix the ride and brighten up the cabin a bit and we’d call it nigh on perfect.

Addendum: It turns out that our test car was given to us with over-inflated tyres which were running a wrecking ball through Mazda's carefully honed suspension settings. Having sampled some other CX-5s since, with correct PSI settings, we can confirm that it rides firmly, but comfortably. Nice one.



Facts & Figures

Mazda CX-5 2.2d 150 Sport
Price as tested: €29,495
Range price: €25,195 to €34,895
Capacity: 2,191cc
Power: 150bhp
Torque: 380Nm
Top speed: 202kmh
0-100kmh: 9.2sec
Economy: 4.6-100km (61.0mpg)
CO2 emissions: 119g/km
Tax Band: A. €160 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

Road Test: Dacia Duuster 1.5 dCi 4x2 Alternative

Price as tested: €14,990

+ Almost stupidly affordable, surprisingly refined, spacious, comfy
– Feels a generation back, dynamically, lack of standard safety kit
= Refreshing and refreshingly affordable


Yup. €14,990. For a brand new car, that’s not a supermini (as most if not all cars priced around the €14k mark are) but a big(ish) compact SUV with space in the back for the kids (for the adults, come to that) and a big boot. It looks nice (I think so at any rate), drives tolerably well (see below) and, thanks to Dacia Ireland’s headline-grabbing introductory finance offer, will cost you buttons on the monthly repayments. At a stroke, it will bring many hundreds of cash-strapped car buyers back into the new car market, buyers who need the space and the size but, because of tightened finances, would otherwise be shopping in the second hand car market.

It’s called Duster, and it’s not the first car to wear that badge. Back in the eighties and early nineties, when Dacia was still just emerging from Communist overlordship, there was another Duster, a car so bad that the legendary Car magazine pithily summed it up with the phrase “Duster to dust, ashes to ashes, please someone, pass us the matches.” Presumably, things could not be so bad this time around...

Needless to say, as with all deals that look too good to be true, it is, in some ways. But the essential fact of the price, and of Dacia Ireland’s introductory offer that will allow you to finance one for €149 a month (including a €4k deposit and a €6k final ‘bubble’ payment), is undoubtedly true.

So, how is Dacia able to do it for the money? A little history first off. Dacia was for many years the Romanian national car company, producing vehicles under the rule of the much-reviled Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu. In that period, Dacia struck up a relationship with Renault, building a version of the old 12 saloon under licence – many of which can still be seen circulating the streets of Bucharest – a relationship that would eventually lead to Renault buying a majority stake in Dacia. The idea was, and is, that Dacia uses older Renault components whose investment has already been paid for, builds cars out of them in a low-cost environment behind the former Iron Curtain and flogs them to you and I at bargain prices, giving Renault a bulwark against the ever-encroaching Korean brands and the constant danger of the massed ranks of Chinese cheap car makers.

It’s a recipe that has worked rather wonderfully. Dacia and its various models have been well received in Europe and it’s currently the fourth best-selling brand in France. Its launch here has been somewhat delayed (the Duster itself has been on sale in Europe for two years already) but with that price tag, it could prove to be a canny move for Renault Ireland, catching buyers whose car purchasing power has been eroded by recession and cutbacks. Next year, once the Duster is properly on sale (you can test drive and order one right now but Irish-build right-hand-drive cars don’t arrive until January), there will be other Dacias, including the already-beloved Sandero hatchback (thank Top Gear’s James May for that one) and the Lodgy mini MPV. Presumably all at genre-defying prices too but that’s getting ahead of ourselves somewhat. We have the just the Duster to deal with for now.

For your supermini money, you do genuinely get a large family car. Not so tall and wide as to be intimidating in tight car parks and urban manouvres, but large enough to allow one six-footer to sit comfortably behind another and with a spacious 475-litre boot (as long as you stick to the front wheel drive models).

Those expecting a poverty spec cabin will be surprised. The left-hand-drive version we tried had a perfectly pleasant interior, and the good news is that by the time Irish right-hand-drive production reaches these shores in January, the cabin will have been given an upgrade to make its touchy-feely quality even more appealing. You still get electric front windows, fingertip stereo controls (familiar for anyone who’s ever driven a mid-nineties Clio) and Bluetooth connection for your phone, with an aux-in socket for your iPod. All surprisingly sybaritic.

What you don’t get are electric side mirrors (you need to upgrade to the €16,990 Signature model for those, which will set you back roughly an extra €20 a month on the finance plan), alloy wheels, seatbelt pretensioners, air conditioning, a trip computer, rear electric windows or map lights (ditto). More worryingly, Electronic stability control doesn’t even appear as an option, and is only fitted to the range-topping €18,990 Signature 4WD model. Irish buyers tend to be pretty immune to a lack of safety options. Back when ABS brakes were still considered an option, we tended to spend the same cash on sunroofs or nicer alloys. Presumably so, few will notice or miss the inclusion of ESP, at least until they get into difficulties on a wet road, but such has always been the spec-blindness of the Irish car buyer. Quite what we should make of Dacia being happy to chuck in Bluetooth, electric windows and fingertip stereo controls, while leaving such vital safety kit on the pricey shelf is not clear yet. Buyers of course have the choice and the option to upgrade is there, but what price safety?

That range-topping 4WD model comes with, obviously all-wheel-drive, switchable from a simple rotary controller on the dash, and which gives the Duster a decent bit of rough ground, dirt track and ploughed field ability, and it this form it starts to feel a touch like a Land Rover Defender. Not in terms of ultimate off-road capability, of course, but the plain, unadorned cabin, upright driving position and sense of ruggedness are similar. The Duster’s a damn sight more refined on the road though...

Behind the bluff nose of the Duster sits Renault’s tried and tested 1.5 dCi diesel engine in 110bhp form. Fitted to a 2WD Duster, it returns a claimed 5.0-litres per 100km on the combined fuel economy cycle (better than 55mpg, which we got nowhere near on our brief test drive, but then it was in a car with barely-run-in mileage) and emits 130g/km, so will cost you just €225 to tax for the moment. Impressively, the 4WD model’s figures are only slightly poorer, and it’s still in Band B. It comes as standard with a three-year warranty, but you can upgrade to five-year cover.

Surprisingly, it won’t rattle your ears off. The first casualty of cheap car design is usually refinement, but the Duster idles quietly, is only mildly noisy on the motorway and shouts excessively only if you give it the beans in the rather short-geared first or second ratios. On other than main roads, the Duster does its best work shunting between third and fourth in the six-speed gearbox, although its rubbery shift mechanism will discourage you from getting too enthusiastic.

Dynamically, the Duster is hardly what you’d call sharp, but neither does it display the dreadful manners that its bargain bucket price would have you suspect. The steering is light, over-assisted and entirely fake feeling, but the nose does follow its instructions with reasonable faithfulness. There’s lots of body roll, but the trade off for that is a pleasingly pliant ride, and the Duster is quite happy being hustled along country roads, as long as you don’t get too optimistic with the cornering speeds. Mind you, overcook things and the reassuringly firm brakes mean you pull up smart and straight in an emergency stop. Basically, the Duster is happiest when loping along, and it feels entirely pleasant in that role.

So, the ultimate question beckons. Should you buy one? Well, given the fact that it’s around €10,000 less than its direct competitors, you’d be a bit mad not to at least consider it, and it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s packing €10k less when it comes to quality, dynamics or practicality. Yes, the likes of the Skoda Yeti and Nissan Qashqai have a much deeper varnish of sophistication, and come with things like air conditioning and electronic stability control as standard. If you’re happy doing without such things (or you’re equally happy to upgrade to a more expensive Duster that has them, which is still significantly cheaper than its rivals) then it’s a car well worthy of your consideration. It feels not cheap and cheerless but rather rugged and utilitarian, a significant distinction. It’s a simple, practical device, a car ideally suited to the rigours of family use and abuse (that lack of standard ESP notwithstanding) and you certainly won’t care if the kids spill, the dog sheds or the ice cream leaks.

Introducing the Duster at such a startling price is a remarkable calling card for Dacia’s debut. If the Duster proves popular, then Dacia’s more established rivals will have to do some serious pruning of their price lists.



Dacia Duster 1.5 dCI 4x2 Alternative
Price as tested: €14,990
Price range: €14,990 to €18,990
Capacity: 1,461cc
Power: 107bhp
Torque: 240Nm
Top speed: 171kmh
0-100kmh: 11.8sec
Economy: 5.0l-100km (56mpg)
CO2 emissions: 130g/km
Road Tax Band: B €225
Euro NCAP rating: 3-star; 74% adult, 78% child, 28% pedestrian, 29% safety assist

Road Test: Skoda Octavia Scout vs Skoda Yeti 4x4

Prices as tested: €30,045 (Yeti) €32,350 (Octavia)

+ Both are pleasant to drive, well made, useful and rugged
– Octavia’s ageing cabin, Yeti’s small boot
= Either represent all the 4x4 you’ll ever need



It’s become a terrible cliche to remark on just how far the Korean brands, Hyundai and Kia, have come in terms of public perception since their launches in the eighties. But neither have come half as far as Skoda in that same period. Where the Koreans had to overcome a lack of people knowing who the hell they were, Skoda had to overcome genuine derision and ridicule. To go from being the butt of every comedian’s jokes (“How do you get a Lada to do 100mph? Push it off a cliff. How do you get a Skoda to do 100mph? Tie it to the Lada...) to not merely respected to actively desired (there are now waiting lists for Yetis and Superbs) is an even more astonishing journey.

And, along the way, the model range has grown to the point where Skoda now effectively competes with itself in some areas, most notably the confluence between the Yeti 4x4 and the Octavia Scout. Both use the same basic engine, transmission and Haldex-style four-wheel-drive system, and both are very similar in price terms, bar an option or two. But which one of these rough-road Skoda’s should you go for?

The first thing to consider is why are you buying a 4x4? If you need to tackle serious off-road muck, rocks and gradients, then you don’t really want either. Get a Land Rover Defender. If you live in town, then you also require neither. Go for the eminently sensible front-drive versions of either instead. If, however, you live a bit out in the sticks, need to traverse the occasional ploughed field or rough farm track, deal with the kind of appalling road surfaces and inauspicious grip levels that rural Irish roads still throw up, then either is ideal. In fact, driven with a touch of aplomb, both will tackle vastly tougher terrain than you might think possible, but really these are not serious 4x4s, more conventional family cars with a touch of MacGyver-style ruggedness.

Of the two, it’s the Yeti that makes the bigger initial impression. Its newer, funkier shape makes the Octavia, puffed up as it is with matte, bash-proof plastic bumpers and wheelarch extensions, look a touch old. That’s fair enough really, and hardly surprising as the Octavia is quite old now and due for replacement soon. Still, the lower, longer Octavia still looks classy and the Scout styling addenda help it stand out from the crowd.

Underneath, both use pretty much the same engine (the venerable VW Group 2.0 TDI) and the same Haldex 4x4 equipment, but the Scout gives away a full 30bhp to the Yeti, using the 140bhp engine compared to the Yeti’s 170bhp. The surprise is that on the road, there’s actually very little difference between the two, because with 320Nm (Octavia) and 350NM (Yeti) of torque, the overall performance is surprisingly similar. The Yeti sprints from 0-100kmh in a brisk 8.4secs, the Octavia in a slightly more tardy 10.1secs, and those figures are reflected on the road. The Octavia takes a little, but noticeable, longer to wind itself up, but it’s not so far behind the Yeti in day-to-day performance. Both have identical Co2 emissions (155g/km) which means both will cost you the same €330 a year in road tax, while fuel consumption works out at a claimed 5.9-litres per 100km for both cars; an entirely achievable and believable figure, if you drive with reasonable care.

Both are very similar to drive too. You can feel the effect of the Octavia’s higher ride height in relation to the standard Combi estate in the form of extra roll in cornering, but other than that its deportment is just fine. The Yeti corners a touch flatter, in spite of being taller still, but both share the same crisp, friction free steering and, sadly, a ride quality that is just a touch too firm, the Octavia shading the Yeti slightly for bump absorbtion.

With two such evenly matched cars, you might be wondering where a genuine difference can be found, but there is one and it’s found on the inside. The Octavia’s cabin, although handsome and well made, has to give way to the Yeti which is quite simply the equal of any Audi you might care to mention when it comes to cabin quality and layout. The Yeti is simply a lovely place to sit, with its tall, SUV-ish seating position and terrific all-round visibility. The Octavia feels a touch dowdy inside in comparison and doesn’t have the clever flip, fold and remove rear seats of the Yeti. What it does have is a good deal more space. Legroom in the back is clearly superior while the boot (at a whopping 605-litres) makes a mockery of the Yeti’s (405-litres) which is hamstrung by the need to raise its floor up to accommodate the rear diff (front-drive Yetis have a much more practical boot).

However, it’s the Yeti that strikes the killer blow with its price, undercutting the Octavia Scout in Ambition trim by around €2,000. Yes, the Octavia is much more practical in real terms, especially for families (that fabulous boot is just fire-and-forget when it comes to big buggies and bags) the Yet’s combination of funky styling, fab cabin and trimmer price tag gives it the win.

Facts & Figures

Skoda Yeti 4x4 Ambition                        Skoda Octavia Scout
Price as tested: €30,045                          Price as tested: €32,350
Range price: €22,705 to €33,945           Range price: €18,995 to €35,135
Capacity: 1,968cc                                     Capacity: 1,968cc
Power: 170bhp                                          Power: 140bhp
Torque: 350Nm                                         Torque: 320Nm
Top speed: 201kmh                                   Top speed: 199kmh
0-100kmh: 8.4sec                                      0-100kmh: 10.1sec
Economy: 5.9-100km (47.8mpg)              Economy: 5.9-100km (47.8mpg)
CO2 emissions: 155g/km                          CO2 emissions: 155g/km
Tax Band: C. €330 road tax                     Tax Band: C. €330 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-stars                        Euro NCAP rating: 4-star adult,
92% adult, 78% child,                               4-star child, 2-star pedestrian
46% pedestrian,
78% safety assist