The Skoda Yeti is a small crossover SUV that hit Australian shores in 2011, and over the years developed somewhat of a cult following not least for its and ‘quirky’ and ‘adorably dorky’ look. Then in 2017, Skoda announced that the Yeti would be no more, while introducing the Skoda Karoq as essentially a successor or replacement to the old oddball Yeti.
So how does the new kid on the block compare to its predecessor?
The length of the Karoq is 4382mm, and it spans 1841mm wide and 1603mm tall. It is a small-to-mid sized SUV, with Skoda naming the likes of the Mazda CX-5and Hyundai Tucsons its target rivals.
In comparison to that of the Yeti, with a length of 4223mm, width of 1793, and height of 1691mm, the Skoda Karoq is longer from nose to tail, wider, and slightly lower (owing to its more conventional and sleeker exterior design).
The Karoq also has a longer wheelbase (2638mm as opposed to the Yeti’s 2578mm) giving it an advantage for better interior space.
Inside the car the Karoq has a brilliant flexible seating system known as VarioFlex (which was also offered in the the Yeti). Basically, this is comprised of the three back seats which you can slide forward, and each one can be folded down or removed completely independently (ie. choose to have one, two or all three seat folded). This gives you plenty of flexibility to use the space for passengers and luggage as you need it.
The Karoq has a spacious standard boot size of 479 litres, that grows to a bigger 588 litres (depending on the position of the backrests and rear seats). This is in comparatively bigger to that of the Yeti’s, having 416 litres that turns into 500 litres.
But that’s not all! As mentioned before, you can also fold down the seats, and with all 3 seats down you get a luggage capacity of 1,605 litres. And if you have somewhere safe and dry to store them, take out all the seats and you’ll get a huge van-like capacity of 1810 litres to fill.
And the feeling of spaciousness is also greatly enhanced due to the ingenious implementation of Skoda’s Simply Clever system. The carefully thought out and functional design can be witnessed in all parts of the Karoq’s interior.
In the boot, as well as finding a spot under the boot floor as a space saver for the spare wheel, you can expect to find a removable LED torch, three nets to secure your precious goods, a reversible boot liner (rubber on one side, carpet on the other) and movable shopping bag hooks. You also get an umbrella with its own home.
Throughout the rest of the car, you’ll find a place for everything – phone holders, tablet holders in the rear, sunglasses compartment, cup holders, a spacious Jumbo-box (with Easy Open) storage compartment in the front armrest, bottle storage compartments (both front and rear), not to mention pockets everywhere.
So as you can see, the Skoda Karoq is a worthy successor to the Yeti, not least in size!
