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Volkswagen Eos (2006 - 2011)

GIVE ME SUNSHINE (some text hidden) --NONE--

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

Introductionword count: 132

Volkswagen may have been late to the coupe-convertible party but the car they eventually developed, the Eos, is one of the very best of its type. It's not cheap and used examples are in strong demand. With no weak models in the line up and strong reliability, it's hard to go wrong. These days when Volkswagen sets out to develop a new car, they don't tend to cut corners. Aware that they charge a premium price for their wares, a certain level of superior perceived quality needs to be built in and the Eos coupe-convertible was no exception. Ostensibly a Golf convertible for a more demanding age, the Eos combined good looks and a decent drive, racking up very respectable sales. Here's what to look for when searching for a used example.

Modelsword count: 16

Models Covered: (2dr coupe-convertible, 1.6FSI, 2.0 FSI, 2.0T FSI, 3.2 V6 petrol, 2.0TDI diesel [base, Sport])

Historyword count: 239

Perhaps Volkswagen was a little shamed by the fact that the Golf Convertible which sold from 1998 to 2003 turned out to be something of a half-baked job. Essentially a Golf Mk III - a car model that dated from 1992 - with a Golf MK IV nose grafted onto it to hoodwink customers, it was developed in a time when Volkswagen thought all it had to do was put its badge on the bonnet to guarantee sales. Those days are long gone and post-millennial Volkswagen is a company that is aware that Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot and Renault are not concerns to take lightly. Hence the depth of engineering that has clearly been lavished on the Eos. Arriving in dealerships in June 2006, the Eos has ticked over some respectable numbers for Volkswagen. Had it been launched three years earlier it would undoubtedly have been market leader by now but elbowing aside cars like the Peugeot 307CC, Renault Megane CC, Astra TwinTop and Focus CC isn't a simple task. Positioning the Eos as the upmarket branch of a two pronged attack that targets the budget end with the Beetle Cabriolet has been an interesting tactic. Late in 2007, a 1.4-litre TSI turbocharged petrol engine was introduced to replace the erstwhile entry-level engine, the 1.6 FSI. The Bluemotion Technology model was launched in 2010, based on the 120bhp 1.4-litre unit but using regenerative braking and stop/start technology to improve economy.

What You Getword count: 337

The acid test of any car of this ilk is how it looks with the roof in place, as many have curiously distended posteriors. There is a slight chubbiness to the Eos' rear but it's definitely more Jennifer Lopez than Johnny Vegas. With the hood 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. To this eye at least, it's the best looking Volkswagen since the Corrado. Volkswagen had another trick up their sleeve with this roof. Not content with the normal concertina tin top, they have also managed to engineer a system that incorporates a sliding glass sunroof Although Volkswagen has used a number of generic parts beneath the surface, they've done a very canny job of giving the Eos its own identity. It must have been financially tempting to slap in a Golf fascia and have done with it. The Golf unit is attractive, functional and cost effective to produce but instead, the Eos gets a different shape dashboard into which existing switches and dials are slotted. The door mouldings and rear seats are also unique to the Eos. As an option, original buyers could select electrically activated easy-entry seats that memorise the driver and front passenger's seating positions and return the seats to this setting when the rear seat passengers have entered or exited the car. Another option was the rear latching system for the boot which closes the final few millimetres effortlessly. The boot itself is one of the more capacious for a car of this ilk, holding 205 litres with the roof cartridge in place and 380 litres when the car is in hard top mode. Standard equipment includes ESP, pop-up rollover bars, twin front and side airbags, plus specially designed thorax airbags. Sixteen inch alloy wheels are fitted to all models (bar the 3.2 V6 which gets 17" rims) and there's also air conditioning and electric windows.

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Pictures (high res disabled)

Statistics (subset of data only)

Min

Max

Insurance group:

23

30

CO2 (g/km):

125

174

Urban Mpg:

27.7

48.7

Extra Urban Mpg:

47.9

67.3

Combined Mpg:

37.7

58.9

Weight (kg):

1526

1614

Scoring (subset of scores)

Category: Convertibles

Performance
70%
Handling
70%
Comfort
80%
Space
80%
Styling, Build, Value, Equipment, Depreciation, Handling, Insurance and Total scores are available with our full data feed.

This is an excerpt from our full review.
To access the full content library please contact us on 0330 0020 227 or click here

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