06/05/09

• Price22,040
• We like...Folding roof, quality, drive, style
• We don't...Tiny boot space when roof is down

Classy four-person drop-top now packs a small but powerful petrol turbo motor. Should you buy one? We think soDid you ever play with Meccano as a kid? If you did, you’ll get the same blast of fun from owning a Volkswagen Eos. This car’s party trick is to stow its solid roof within its boot and pop it back out again, whenever you like.

And there’s something very satisfying about the precise, well-oiled contortions it performs to go from roofed to roofless. So satisfying that, we bet, more than a few owners raise and lower the top needlessly – just to watch its glorious detail.

It is an expensive car but the care and thought within its magic roof justify it. As ds the car’s wonderful feeling of sturdiness, whether open or shut. Top closed, the cabin is hushed, draught-free and comfortable for four grown-ups.

It’s handsome and cultured, as shown by the way it can ferry around four grown-ups in respectable comfort, although leg-room is tight, as is head-room whenever the top is closed.

To drive it feels a touch heavy in the way that non-sporty Volkswagens often do. But there’s a pleasing weight to the steering, which also feeds back plenty about what the tyres are up to as you t6ake it through a bend. The car smothers bumps well, too, and there’s little of the body jump and twitter that’s evident in other drop-tops of its size.

And, even without the optional wind deflector in place just behind the front seats, the cabin is a calm and buffeting-free place with the roof down. You can even take it on the motorway and expect your hairdo to stay in place.

The small-capacity, turbo-boosted petrol engine is our test car is new and it’s very good: quiet, punchy from low revs, but always well mannered. It is also very economical for its power and relatively good on CO2 emissions, too. It sits within a big range of models that stretches to a diesel and also a 3.2 V6 petrol but, for us, it’s the one to have for its blend of power and economy.

But the thing that really makes the car is its cabin. Others may be flashier or have more equipment plumbed in as standard but this VW feels built-for-keeps and looks well in a way that few rivals at the price can equal. And it is thoughtfully kitted out, packing a full suite of safety aids including six airbags, while there is also a useful door-mounted push-pull rocker that will raise or lower all four windows at once (there are also switches individually to control each pane of glass. You can also part-open the top as a sunroof.

If you’ve ever wanted a drop-top, this could be it. The only drawback we see in using it as your only car is that the folded roof occupies almost every last bit of boot space, leaving just a slot big enough for a few bags of shopping (see above). That apart, it’s a goodie.

And if you can’t stretch to a new one, there are plenty for sale used, although prices are stiff as yet.

Finally, where did Volkswagen get that name from. Eos? She’s Greek goddess of the dawn, of course.

To view and buy new and second-hand Volkswagen Eos, click on motors.co.uk

 

• Engines1.4 petrol turbo
• Power157bhp
• 0-60 mph8.8secs
• Economy42.2mpg
• CO2g/km159
• Insurance groups12
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags6
• Seats4

Motors.co.uk value verdict: