Yeti completes 3000 mile journey through France and Spain.... (lots of photos inc.)

[Yeti_Man]

As some of you know, this year we took our new 1.8TSi Yeti on holiday with us! 'We' being myself, my long suffering girlfriend of 10 years and our four year old daughter. Thought some of you may be interested to see what we got up to.

Overall we completed 3000 miles travelling around Spain and back through France. The car never missed a beat and was an absolute pleasure to drive throughout.

The basic plan was to spend the first three weeks of August in Altea Hills (in the Costa Blanca) and allow for an additional six days travelling back through France. As it turned out, we enjoyed Altea and its surrounding areas so much we ended up staying for a little longer and pushed up the east coast of Spain and through France (to Calais) in the last two and a bit days!

This is the first time we have taken our own car abroad and despite several worries beforehand, we'd do it all again in a heartbeat!

We started off by driving down to Portsmouth to catch Brittany's 'Pont Aven' ferry to Santander in Northern Spain. The ferry journey took around 23 hours and despite worrying about seasickness etc - it proved I had nothing to worry about - it was pretty smooth, only really getting a little bit rougher through the bay of biscay.

We arrived in Santander the next morning to a lovely warm 28 degrees heat. The plan then was to break the expected 10 hour journey into two by staying over in Zaragoza (literally the half way point on our initial leg of the journey) for the night but we were making such good progress that we decided to keep going to our destination of Altea. Nine and a bit hours later we arrived in Altea; pretty tired having only had two 30 minute breaks enroute but not a single ache in my whole body!

As we would come to find out even more, the Yeti is the perfect long distance, cross country cruiser.

During the three weeks in Spain we covered around 1500 miles; almost daily trips to the surrounding areas of Calpe, Javea, Denia, Oliva, Benissa, Moraira etc as well as some slightly further afield visits to places like Valencia.

Having decided to stay on longer and compress the journey back through France into the remaining two and a half days holiday I wondered if we had done the right thing. We managed it with no problem (even swapping to an earlier ferry at Calais!) and managed to take in a little of France enroute. We did a stop over in Montpellier after visiting Sete for dinner, then the next morning headed towards Clemont Ferrand via the Milau bridge and onto Chartres for the second stop over. Calais via Rouen completed just over 22 hours of driving.

Overall MPG for the trip was just shy of 33mpg - thats from door to door and I think thats pretty good considering the amount of weight we were carrying and the fact that when the roof wasnt back the climate control was keeping us at 20 degrees C when it was anything from 28 - 38 degrees outside. Again, Id have to say that the AC system on the unit is the most able of any car we've owned. Also considering we were actually having to use the revs (pretty rare for the 1.8TSi) up in the mountains as some of the inclines were severe.

So how was the car overall?

Literally perfect (and Im pretty picky with car related things as some member know!) We fitted everything in. It proved to be the quietest, most refined and most comfortable car we have ever driven. The fluid chassis that just feels wrong given the body shape and class of vehicle, the damping seems to be spot on and the car provides the best balance of comfort and dynamics that Ive experienced. It was comfortable throughout and offered superb all round ability; from off roading in the mountains and crossing a flooded section of road (that other cars were unable to do) to pottering around the different towns and villages (its size making it easy to park once there) to wafting back through France at a decent lick. . Its all round ability was certainly the thing that has made us fall for the Yeti in a big way... and I didnt even mention the fun of pushing it around the stunning mountain roads of the Costa Blanca.

EDIT: Actually there was one fault thinking back so it isnt true to say it was totally faultless throughout. One day in the last week we got in the car as usual, started it and drove off. About a few minutes later we realised that the audio for the sat nav wasnt working despite the volume knob being turned up to its usual position. The same was true when selecting MP3's from the SD card and HDD - no audio whatsoever. I switched the Columbus off and restarted it but still the issue was there - no audio from any source. I stopped the car, turned it off and then restarted it and still the same problem. At that point I thought maybe the amp under the passenger seat had died but when we got back into the car later in the day (approx six hours later), the car started and the audio played as normal. Never had the hiccup before and it has never done it again to this day. A true mystery, much like the real Yeti!

Almost ready for the off:

View from the balcony the first morning (Altea Hills):

First trip to the local supermarket - Super car parked next to a Supercar! :p

The pool:

Altea Old Town - the church:

Inside the church:

Altea Old Town:

View from the old Town:

Yeti at home in Altea Hills:

Our favourite place; Calpe:

Harbour restaurant in Calpe:

Mmmmmm, seafood:

Yeti thinking about driving in to cool off:

Yeti in the shade:

The most expensive tank of fuel!

The highest mpg achieved (trip average was 32.8mpg):

Edited 24 September, 2010 by FocusZtec

[EdmundBlackadder]

I was expecting to see the Yeti parked up the aisle or in the pew of the church. If only you could photoshop it in to each place you visited. Good post. I took the Yeti away this year not to an exotic place like yourself but I agree with your comments. A great car for holidays.

[Yeti_Man]

Homeward bound and in need of a serious detailing session!

Edited 24 September, 2010 by FocusZtec

[900000]

Jealous!!! What a trip and thanks for sharing it!

[Allams Skoda]

Excellent photos, I've stolen your 'Yeti at home in Altea hills' photo as I like it.

[Wet Kipper]

First trip to the local supermarket - Super car parked next to a Supercar! :p

what is it about people with fancy cars thinking they can park wherever they like ?

[Wardy]

What an excellent post

Glad you had fun

I do like continental driving. Will have to plot that route and see if I can come up with a holiday proposal! Looked like you visited some really, really nice places too. Have always wanted to see Spain this way.

Also good to see some properly 'purposeful' pics in there - the Yeti certainly got stuck in!

Cheers,

Steve

[BigHusky]

I enjoyed reading your holiday account Your right about the Yeti when driving long distances, you've got the high up view, a hushed engine and forgiving suspension all make it a wonderful drive

As you say unlike larger SUV's it's a doddle to park too.

[hmibennett]

Great post - thanks. We're off to Santander by boat on Sunday and driving back through France - but in the Scout, as the Yeti has only been on order for 5 weeks! The SM will get a trip to France in March, however - assuming I have it by then!

[seo]

EDIT: Actually there was one fault thinking back so it isnt true to say it was totally faultless throughout. One day in the last week we got in the car as usual, started it and drove off. About a few minutes later we realised that the audio for the sat nav wasnt working despite the volume knob being turned up to its usual position. The same was true when selecting MP3's from the SD card and HDD - no audio whatsoever. I switched the Columbus off and restarted it but still the issue was there - no audio from any source. I stopped the car, turned it off and then restarted it and still the same problem. At that point I thought maybe the amp under the passenger seat had died but when we got back into the car later in the day (approx six hours later), the car started and the audio played as normal. Never had the hiccup before and it has never done it again to this day. A true mystery, much like the real Yeti!

I have experienced this 2 or 3 times since november last year. Solved by turning off and on ignition.

Great post with good pictures, ....thanks....

[jlwah]

from me for the report and the pictures

[Captain Scarlet]

Looks like you had an ace time, good pics too.

[Yeti_Man]

What an excellent post

Glad you had fun

I do like continental driving. Will have to plot that route and see if I can come up with a holiday proposal! Looked like you visited some really, really nice places too. Have always wanted to see Spain this way.

Also good to see some properly 'purposeful' pics in there - the Yeti certainly got stuck in!

Cheers,

Steve

Steve - even after weeks of researching places to visit on the trip, when we actually got to them they surpassed our expectations. Overall we really enjoyed Valencia (if you like zoo's then a visit to Bioparc is a must) and visited Calpe pretty much every other day to either eat in the evening or spend the day on one of it's wonderful beaches. Denia was great (and it's pebble beaches probably offered the biggest challenge to the yeti's tractive ability!) as was Javea. Generally the driving abroad, particularly on the motorways, was far superior and less stressful then here on the equivalent uk roads - in Europe, drivers tend to stick to the inside lane unless they are overtaking - just as they 'should' over here. Everything just seems to flow so much nicer over there.

I enjoyed reading your holiday account Your right about the Yeti when driving long distances, you've got the high up view, a hushed engine and forgiving suspension all make it a wonderful drive

As you say unlike larger SUV's it's a doddle to park too.

That pretty much sums it up. Great view, refined and suspension that just seems to filter out the bumps, keeping them from the cabin!

Great post - thanks. We're off to Santander by boat on Sunday and driving back through France - but in the Scout, as the Yeti has only been on order for 5 weeks! The SM will get a trip to France in March, however - assuming I have it by then!

That will be a great comparison for you. I don't think you'll feel short changed doing the journey in the scout - it's what I nearly ended up buying after being pretty impressed with my mk. 2 VRS estate.

I have experienced this 2 or 3 times since november last year. Solved by turning off and on ignition.

Great post with good pictures, ....thanks....

Interesting. Do you have the Columbus sat nav and the 12 speaker upgrade out of interest?

[Freshacre]

What a great, life-affirming travelogue - a privilege to be allowed to read about your adventure. Thanks for sharing it with us - and the YETI's performance, too!

This is the sort of stuff that makes this YETI forum so interesting, and human too!!!!

Cheers. I'm looking forward to your next holiday now!

G

[Llanigraham]

What a wondeful read!!

Making my quite jealous and longing for next summer.

We've just booked next year's trips; 2 weeks at the end of May, beginning of June at a caravan rally not far from St Malo with the CSMA, then we are leaving the 'van at a friend's farm near Nantes until August when we will be back over there as we have been invited to a Festival near Nantes to sing and play Welsh folk music.

[seo]

Interesting. Do you have the Columbus sat nav and the 12 speaker upgrade out of interest?

Yes, and very happy with it.

[Wardy]

On the audio issue Lee, I wonder if a fault might have been logged on that one. A quick scan with VCDS might unearth something to explain it?

Steve

[Yeti_Man]

On the audio issue Lee, I wonder if a fault might have been logged on that one. A quick scan with VCDS might unearth something to explain it?

Steve

Hi Steve, that's an interesting point but I don't have access to Vcds unfortunately :-(

[The Plumber]

Great post Focus, looks like you all had a fantastic holiday including the Monster

Like her new 'war paint'

think you have done a better job than I managed covering Pat in Elan dust

Regards,

TP

[hmibennett]

Re my earlier post, now back from Spain and France. Octavia Scout performed excellently - 2500 trouble-free miles with good mpg (useful, with French garages beginning to run dry at the weekend) but would have loved to have had the Yeti already! Columbus satnav also did pretty well finding slightly obscure French villages although it seemed quite out of date with recent road improvements (around Toulouse, in particular, some of which were certainly at least three years old as they had been completed last time we were there).

One query re the satnav: if you want satnav on but without the radio, is the only way to mute the radio? Or can you actually turn on just the satnav without any other input? I asked my dealer about this soon after I got the Scout and he didn't know.

[rockhopper]

One query re the satnav: if you want satnav on but without the radio, is the only way to mute the radio? Or can you actually turn on just the satnav without any other input? I asked my dealer about this soon after I got the Scout and he didn't know.

Thats right. turning the radio volume down will just give you sat nav instructions and TP announcements. Turning down the volume when in CD/SD/HD pauses play. I frequently used it that way as I don't always want to listen to the radio or music.

Mike

[Agerbundsen]

Re my earlier post, now back from Spain and France. Octavia Scout performed excellently - 2500 trouble-free miles with good mpg (useful, with French garages beginning to run dry at the weekend) but would have loved to have had the Yeti already! Columbus satnav also did pretty well finding slightly obscure French villages although it seemed quite out of date with recent road improvements (around Toulouse, in particular, some of which were certainly at least three years old as they had been completed last time we were there).

One query re the satnav: if you want satnav on but without the radio, is the only way to mute the radio? Or can you actually turn on just the satnav without any other input? I asked my dealer about this soon after I got the Scout and he didn't know.

The radio stays on - even if you turn it al the way down, so there is no sound. You still get traffic reports and any coded warnings - but you can turn those off. The radio also stays on if you switch to Media and listen to music, only no output through the speakers.

[Yeti_Man]

Re my earlier post, now back from Spain and France. Octavia Scout performed excellently - 2500 trouble-free miles with good mpg (useful, with French garages beginning to run dry at the weekend) but would have loved to have had the Yeti already!

Glad to here that you had a trouble free trip. Im off to Germany at the weekend and fear that the petrol situation may have worsened by then even further. Im going to fill up on this side before catching the ferry across to Calais and hope that I can do the required 420 miles to Germany on a single tank.... in a 1.8TSi..... place your bets now folks! :no: :yes:

Hopefully there should be somewhere along the way to fill up, failing that, it looks like I'll be pulling off an hour earlier into Germany and then get back on route once filled.

[JonA]

There is a software update available for the sound system problem.. Old faulty software is 0340, new is SW 0342. The ECU to be updated is the "amplifier" / sound system controller.

[Yeti_Man]

There is a software update available for the sound system problem.. Old faulty software is 0340, new is SW 0342. The ECU to be updated is the "amplifier" / sound system controller.

Hello Jon - are you referring to my original issue of the audio being muted and the sat nav not responding in my previous post? MIne was delivered in April 2010 so Im guessing the update is fairly recent?Thanks.

Edited 20 October, 2010 by FocusZtec