Volkswagen Eos Range : THE GERMAN OPEN

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Volkswagen's take on the affordable folding hard top convertible theme makes a lot of sense. Jonathan Crouch reports on their Eos

Volkswagen's Eos is a classy and elegant folding hard top convertible in a market where some competitors are anything but. Pricing that's a little above mainstream family-hatch-based rivals is justified by higher quality, better residuals and an extremely clever metal folding roof.

Convertible cars, for most of us non-lottery winners, are based on bread and butter family hatchbacks like a Ford Focus or a Peugeot 308. From there, it's quite a big price jump to the more prestigious cabriolets you find based on junior executive models like Saab's 9-3 or Audi's A5, but the difference in quality between the two categories is often huge. So what if you could have a convertible with soft-top family hatch pricing and prestigious cabriolet sector quality? Such is the thinking behind Volkswagen's Eos. Though this model does share many Golf bits, it is very much its own car, hence the different name. Eos, in case you were wondering, is the Titan goddess of the dawn who would open the gates of heaven every morning to let her brother Helios, the sun, ride his golden chariot across the sky. With that little nugget, Volkswagen customers can quickly take the intellectual high ground in chance encounters with owners of humbler drop-top Vauxhalls or Fords. More importantly, they'll have bought themselves a car that's a more solid day-to-day proposition when it's freezing cold and chucking it down. The elaborate roofing arrangement of the Eos inevitably adds weight. It's roughly 300kg heavier than equivalent Golf models (and even 100kg heavier than the much larger Passat), so the engines don't have quite the same get-up and go. Only the 2.0T and 3.2 V6 powerplants feel truly fast with 0-60mph times of 7.8 and 7.3s respectively but the 160PS of the top 1.4 TSI petrol turbo version isn't too shabby either (sixty from rest in 8.8s). The 122PS 1.4-litre petrol and 140PS 2.0-litre TDI diesel units are the more sensible choices and if rapid progress isn't on your agenda, they'll prove more than adequate.

"A convertible for the real worldâ€¦."

The ride quality is superb, the shudders and shakes that afflict so many roofless wonders having been banished over all but the worst road imperfections. Sport models get tauter springs but even the standard Eos handles well and there's loads of grip, though this isn't a car you'll often want to drive just for the fun of it. The Eos doesn't feel like a convertible once its roof is in place. It's quiet and a glance skyward reveals a convincing looking ceiling. Roof down, all the engines bar the diesel keep themselves to themselves during the sort of low-speed cruising that lets bystanders get an eyeful of the car's impressive looks. The acid test of any folding metal top car is in how it looks with the roof in place. Many models of this kind have huge and rather ugly rear ends so that they can accommodate typically three large roof pieces. Volkswagen's thinking was to split the top into five sections so that the resulting `sandwich' when down would fit into a much smaller space, promoting both style and luggage capacity. Has it worked? Well yes and no. Not in terms of luggage capacity: there's as little as you would expect to find in this class of car - either 205 or 380-litres of luggage space, depending on whether the roof is down. There is however, more rear seat passenger space than rivals offer with more backseat headroom than you might expect with the roof up: four adults could travel quite comfortably in this car as long as the distance wasn't too long. And the issue of style? Well here, VW's more careful design approach certainly has paid dividends. Though there is a slight chubbiness to the Eos' rear and it's no real looker with the top up, unlike many of its rivals it's back end is definitely more Jennifer Lopez than Johnny Vegas. With the roof down, there's no debate: the Eos aces all of the opposition in the affordable folding hard top class, the clean, wedgy hipline and restrained surfacing giving it a very mature yet elegant look. The roof mechanism is worked by an electro-hydraulic pump with no fewer than eight hydraulic cylinders. That all sounds very complicated but it certainly seems to work smoothly enough, the 25-second opening or closing operation creating an effect that still makes pedestrians stand and stare. There's even the option of doing it remotely via the keyfob. Just make sure that there isn't anyone too close behind when setting the whole thing off. For those occasions when you can't be bothered to take the roof down, Volkswagen has also managed to engineer in a sliding glass sunroof to the top - a unique feature in the class. Mainstream Eos model prices range in the £20,000 to £25,000 bracket but you can pay up to £30,000 or so if you go for the V6 flagship version. For standard variants, that represents a premium of around £1,000 or so over what you'd pay for a comparably-engined Ford Focus CC or Vauxhall Astra Twin-Top - that is if you're comparing list prices. Ford and Vauxhall dealers will be more open to sharpening their pencils of course - but then their products will depreciate much faster. Do all your sums and many will see VW's premium over the mainstream as being well worth paying for a better quality product that offers most of what you get in the next Saab 9-3 Convertible/Audi A5 Cabriolet class up for a £5,000 to £10,000 saving. The Volkswagen Eos engine line-up includes a 1.4-litre TSI turbocharged 122PS entry level unit (also available with 160PS) and the engine out of the Golf GTI, the turbocharged 2.0-litre TSI that's good for 200PS. Pride of place in the petrol-powered line up goes to the 3.2-litre 250PS V6 while diesel customers are catered for with a 140PS 2.0-litre TDI that's good through the gears but less so on the ears. Apart from the safety items we've already mentioned, standard equipment includes alloy wheels, air conditioning and electric windows with this useful one-switch-serves-all feature. The most fuel efficient Eos is the diesel model with its 50mpg combined cycle economy but its noise also makes it the most unsatisfactory of the engines given this convertible car's stylish remit. The 1.4-litre TSI looks a better bet for the cost conscious with 42mpg and 159g/km emissions, even in 160PS form. The Eos feels like a quality product which bodes well for residual values as, of course, does the VW badge on its nose. Insurance groups range between 10 and 17. You can see why someone might buy an Eos. True it could be better to drive - and to look at with the roof up - but then you could say the same for most cars of this kind. Ultimately, the bottom line is that it's a compact cabriolet with the class of a Saab or an Audi at not too much more than you'd pay for a convertible Focus or Astra. As we've said, strong points include rear seat passenger room, an impressive engine range and buoyant residual values. Best of all, there's that brilliantly engineered folding top with its clever sunroof feature meaning you're not needing to constantly put the full top up and down on one of those typically British days where it's sunny one minute and showery the next. A convertible for the real world then. How very German.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Volkswagen Eos range
PRICES: £19,705-£31,540 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 10-17
CO2 EMISSIONS: 148-219g/km
PERFORMANCE: [2.0 T-FSI] Max Speed 144mph / 0-60mph 7.8s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0FSI] (urban) 25.2mpg / (extra urban) 43.5mpg / (combined) 34.4mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Six airbags / ABS / ESP / rollover protection
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height mm 4410/1790/1440