Fire up the.... Skoda Roomster

IT'S roomy, reliable, really rather nice to drive and a bargain to boot. Yep, the Skoda Yeti's got all the bases covered when it comes to family cars.

So superb is Skoda's chunky off-road crossover that it was one of a select few cars shortlisted for the not-at-all prestigious Life On Cars car of the year award, as you might have read on here last month. It's perfect for lugging things and dogs about from your home to the countryside, and thanks to Skoda still being from the bargain-basement end of the VW Group's range it's surprisingly good value compared to its rivals.

The only problem for the Czech carmaker is that's just the description you would have given less than two years to the Roomster, a similarly-sized Skoda you'd be forgiven for thinking has been completely eclipsed by the younger Yeti.

Sure, the older offering doesn't give you the same feeling of quality you'd get in the Yeti when it comes to the quality of the interior, with the gearknob on the version I tried being particularly plasticky. But it's still something designed under the watch of sturdiness-obsessed Volkswagen, and what you lack in colour coordination and excitement is easily made up by its feeling of unremitting toughness.

Nor it as commanding as the Yeti or as sporty as Peugeot's much newer 3008 to drive, but it still feels like a car - and emphatically not a people carrier, van or off-roader - from behind the wheel. The Roomster's party trick was always to feel Westminster Abbey spacious in the rear and yet cocooned and cosy in the front, and once you've taken one on even the briefest of drives you'll instantly understand the logic behind that initially odd styling.

But here's the killer; while the Roomster's not as good as its newer, similarly-sized sister, it's also a good two grand cheaper across the range, while offering a distinctively different look and even more space inside, where it matters.

Unless you're completely won over by the Yeti it's a Skoda to overlook at your peril.

As published in The Champion on January 12, 2011

UPDATE: Life On Cars is launching the not-at-all tenuously titled Prepare to fire up the... section next week, giving you a glimpse at some of 2011's big hitters long before they hit the showrooms. Watch this space...