2009 Volkswagen Eos Review

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The Volkswagen Eos solves an age-old styling challenge for convertibles. Generally speaking, a convertible with the soft top up does not look as good as a coupe version of the same car. Even classic greats such as the E-type Jaguar looked much sexier as a coupe. Of course, once the top is down all is forgiven, as convertibles then look the way they should.

When the top is up on the Volkswagen Eos it doesn't look anything like a soft-top convertible. Admittedly it's not eye-poppingly attractive or truly sexy, but it's acceptable. In many ways the Eos is a cross between a Jetta or even a Passat and a GTI. That's appropriate, as it's built off a combination of the three cars. Eos shares its 101.5-inch wheelbase (the distance from the center of the front wheels to the center of the rear wheels) with the GTI and Jetta; while, bumper-to-bumper, the Eos measures about eight inches longer than a GTI and about six inches shorter than a Jetta.

The front of the Eos has the unmistakable VW family look with its in-your-face grille surrounded by plenty of chrome. The sleek covered multifaceted headlights blend into the fender and hood while the edge of the hood continues as a flowing unbroken line back to the rear of the car. The windshield has a low sloping rake to it and, in keeping with the coupe look, there are no B-pillars. Even the C-pillar is not too large. It's certainly way smaller than it would be if Eos were a traditional soft-top convertible.

The glass roof gives the Eos a unique look even with the top up. It provides one of the largest openings for a sunroof available in any car as it covers nearly the full width of the roof, even if it does not slide back as far as most sunroofs.

The trunk has a large flat top to it, which is necessary as it has to rise up to accept the whole roof and its mechanism when the top folds down.

Watching the roof fold away is enthralling. In just 25 seconds the top of the roof rises up, the trunk lid opens and the rear window folds up. Then the pieces neatly arrange themselves on top of each other and park themselves in the trunk before the lid closes, hiding everything away from prying eyes and giving the Eos a clean flowing look. It's all done by computer-controlled hydraulics. A remote control on the key fob lets the owner raise or lower the roof while standing away from the car.

An optional feature that could prove invaluable is the Park Distance Control sensor that warns if an object is in the way of the roof or trunk when the mechanism starts to open. (The trunk lid rotates back some distance, and the roof rises a foot or more above the car's closed roofline.)