Robert Barry spent a wet and windy week in the newly facelifted Volkswagen Eos.

The law of Murphy dictates that whenever I get to drive a convertible of any type the weather will turn nasty and most of the test period will be spent with the top up.

Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened when the new VW Eos arrived at the beginning of December, the rains arrived and most of the test period was spent with the folding top up rather than down. However the Eos has a tilt and slide glass sunroof function and this allowed some partial open air motoring without the risk of being caught short in a downpour.

It’s a shame really, because the Eos is quite fun to drive once the fully automatic roof has folded itself down and hidden away in the boot. With the windows up, buffeting inside the cabin of the Eos (up to 80km/h) is minimal, particularly when the wind block device at the top of the windscreen rail is clicked open manually.

Over 80km/h things in the cabin start getting a bit unruly and this is not a car you would drive up and down the motorway at speed too often for too long, and certainly not without a hat and coat on or you may have to turn the heated seats on.

There is some scuttle shake and top-down you can feel the body flexing a little while on the move, but it was certainly no worse than some other convertibles I have driven

The 2-litre turbocharged engine which it shares with the VW Golf GTI has a pleasing exhaust note as you accelerate, and the 6-speed DSG dual clutch transmission seems to have improved its low speed manners. The gearbox seems to be a lot smoother when accelerating away from standstill and less prone to indecisive shifting.

Unlike the GTI, the Eos is designed for comfort rather than speed, particularly around a corner as the body roll is quite pronounced when pressing on. This car is more suited to cruising metropolitan cafes than having a thrash around your favourite back country road.  
You don’t buy an Eos for its ability to carry passengers or cargo, two small-ish adults will fit into the back seat, while the boot will accommodate 380 litres with the roof up which is reduced to 205 litres when folded down. When the roof is down the boot aperture is fairly narrow and will only let you slide laptop bags or briefcases through.
Specification is quite generous, as mentioned earlier the Eos provides heated seats, Bluetooth telephony, automatic headlamps, parking sensors, rain sensors, green-tinted heat-insulating windows and everything than can be is covered in leather.
The biggest disappointment for me about the new Eos is its new look. In an effort to realign the car with the rest of the VW range it has lost its unique front and rear design treatment, which I felt gave the Eos its own unique style and character and just differentiated it from the pack.
Now Eos now shares the similar and bland horizontal front grille and headlamps and rectangular tail lamps as the rest of the VW passenger car range and while this freshens the car – to my eyes it’s just another VW. Whatever happened to vive la difference?

Specifications:

Body type 2-door convertible
Drive Front-wheel-drive
Engine Type Inline 4-cylinder turbocharged
Engine Capacity 1998cc
Max power 155kW/6200rpm
Max torque 280Nm/5200rpm
Fuel Consumption 7.5l/100km
C02 emission 174g/km
0 to 100kph 7.8 secs
Front suspension McPherson strut
Rear suspension Multi link
Roof Rack No
ABS Brakes Yes
Air Bags 6
ESP Yes
Air Conditioning Climate
Lap/diagonal belts 4
Satellite Navigation Optional
Electric seats Optional
Burglar Alarm Yes 
Panic Button No
Boot release N/a
Cargo Cover N/a
Boot Capacity 380/205l
Wheel type 17-inch Alloy
Spare Tyre Space saver
Price       $60,250