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Skoda Yeti: A car that is definitely not abominable

Motoring review feature with Leigh Robinson

One of the best cars that has been around in the last 10 years has been the Skoda Yeti. It was practical, stylish and the favourite of motoring experts. Even Jeremy Clarkson got a helicopter to land on its roof!

Sadly Skoda had to keep up with the times and the Yeti was replaced a couple of years ago by the Karoq, a superb piece of equipment, and having driven it for 750 miles up and down the country I couldn’t find a single fault. Speedy, comfortable and attractive.

There are ten different models with prices ranging from £21,000 to £28,000. There are petrol and diesel engines, you can choose between front and four-wheel drive and there are six trims with either a manual gearbox or the seven speed automatic box.

There are five engines which are either diesel or petrol, giving you between 36mpg through to 60mpg and there is a two year warranty.

The Skoda Karoq’s entry-level is the 1.0 TSI 110 petrol engine while the more powerful 1.5 TSI 150 petrol is regarded as the pick of the range with 148bhp and 0-60mph in 8.5 seconds. At the top of the range is the 2.0 TSI 190 petrol, which gets four-wheel drive as standard and is available only in Sportline trim with 0-62mph in seven seconds.

There are two 2.0-litre diesels with either 114bhp (2.0 TDI 116) and 148bhp (2.0 TDI 150) with the 150 being just about as fast as the petrol model and that’s the car I had for my marathon trip – the Sportline model.

The Skoda Karoq’s entry-level SE trim comes with an 8.0in touchscreen infotainment system as standard, plus clear graphics and a simple operating system. There is no sat nav but there is the Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone mirroring, so you can use Google Maps to help you home.

All of the other trims do have in-built sat-nav, while top-of-the-range Edition trim has a larger 9.2in system that can be controlled by hand gestures which is also optional on SE L and Sportline models. As standard, the stereo has eight speakers with excellent sound quality. All models have rear parking sensors, with SE Drive models and above gaining front sensors and a rear-view camera.