There’s one problem with the Volkswagen Eos, and it’s apparent every time someone new comes over to look at the car. “Oh, it’s a Volkswagen E-O-S.”
No, I’m sorry, it’s Eos, the Greek goddess of dawn and wind. After years of cars called Golf and Polo, people have been conditioned into thinking the VWs names are rather literal.
But not this car. For a start its one of the best looking convertibles on the road, helped in no part by the fact that even with the hard top roof up it’s a good looking car. And because it’s not a Merc or BMW, more people can actually afford one.
You can have your Eos with a 2.0 litre turbo, but this one is the top end 3.2 litre V6 with DSG gearbox.
It’s good that you can drop the roof because then you can hear the engine better. It growls away under acceleration and sounds more like a little V8 than a V6. That’s thanks largely to the sporty exhaust note from the twin pipes. It’s the same 3.2 litre V6 you get in other VW products, with 184kW, but in the Eos it sounds so much better.
The roof operation itself is a fascinating thing to watch – first the big sunroof slides back into the rear section of the roof, all sorts of flaps and hatches open at the rear of the car, and it all folds away. Once the roof is folded away though there’s very little boot space left, only a small square-ish hole under the hard cover that tells the electronics whether the boot is full or not.
On some such convertibles you get a fold out screen, but in the Eos it’s a hard box structure that folds out and down. You have to watch out though, because there are spaces on each side that look as if they can take luggage, but the warning signs tell you that’s where part of the roof goes.
The Eos drives very much like the Golf, which isn’t a surprise, as it’s about the same size and has the same wheelbase, but the chassis is actually based on that of a Passat. That means a good driving experience, with plenty of grip, but thanks to the lack of a roof there’s a little scuttle shake over rough roads – no much, but enough to remind you that even though this car was designed from the outset as a convertible a topless roof means either a little flex or a lot of extra metal stiffening. VW has got it just about right.
The car is available as a six speed manual or a six speed DSG, and this one has the DSG dual clutch gearbox. There’s one problem with the DSG system though, and that’s the way the clutch engages when you move off from rest. It can be jerky, and I found that when reversing up a steep hill the clutch would slip and let the engine revs rise – don’t worry, it’s meant to do that apparently. Other than that there are no hassles with the DSG, which changes gear smoothly and quickly.
Volkswagen claims a 0-100km/h time of 7.3 seconds for the Eos, which feels about right. The instant gear changes from the DSG gearbox help here of course, although like all of VW’s and Audi’s twin clutch boxes can be fooled when you want to go, say, down a gear, when the system has already pre-selected a higher gear. Then the system has to reselect the new gear and there’s a pause in the power delivery. Other than that, the DSG does work well, although you get the feeling that in a sportier car than the Eos you’d want to have a manual gearbox.
As you would expect from a VW cabrio there’s a lot of spec in the Eos, especially safety wise, including ABS with Brake Assist, ESP, electronic diff lock, active roll-over protection system, driver and front passenger airbags, with combined front side and head airbags. If you need to carry a child in the front seat the front passenger airbag can be deactivated.
You also get 17-inch alloys with 235/45 tyres, leather handbrake lever and gearshift boot, leather multifunction steering wheel with DSG paddles, LED tail lights, rain-sensing wiper control, RCD500 6-disc CD/tuner and eight loudspeakers, rear parking aid, remote central locking with vehicle immobiliser, tilt sensor and interior perimeter monitoring, active bi-xenon headlights, Climatronic 2-zone air-conditioning, cruise control, electric front seat adjustment, electric folding hardtop, and integrated tilt/slide sunroof.
At NZ$61,990 the Eos 3.2 V6 falls between the likes of the Peugeot 308CC and the rather highly priced Mercedes Benz CLK. But the Eos has the classic looks that the Peugeot lacks, the roof is definitely cleverer, and the Eos is much quicker than the Peugeot. You can also buy the 2.0 litre turbo Eos for a more achievable NZ$53,990 – exactly the same as the 308CC.
If it were up to me, the choice would be the Eos, even if people don’t know what to call it.
