Got fifty large to spare? Here’s a fun way to spend it: the 2014 Volkswagen Eos Highline, a sleek compact convertible with a five-piece solid top — but we’ll talk more about the convertible aspects later. Shamelessly impractical, this two-door coupe is the sort of gift a successful businesswoman gives herself for turning forty and divorcing. Short on both storage and passenger space, it doesn’t compromise on making her travels very enjoyable otherwise.

That no-compromise attitude has made the Eos a perennial if peripheral success since its introduction eight years ago. It comes in two trims. The less expensive Comfortline starts $39,975. Pshaw! Our tester was the Highline, fraulein.

More on the issue of space: at Eos is 4,422 mm long and 1,791 mm wide is compact but not insubstantial. (It’s over 400 mm longer than Nissan Micra.) The Eos seats four, but the legroom in the back makes economy class on Air Canada seem voluminous. As you’d expect with a coupe, the space went to the lucky folks up front. We’ll detail many of the luxuries they reap because, despite being fun to drive, this is frankly an expensive car and you’ll only want it for its many grace notes.

In sport mode, it’s a tighter feeling ride, though the sport suspension was always comfortable, regardless of how much I pushed the Eos. Agile without getting jittery.

The driver enjoys a wide array of information on the instrument cluster. It doesn’t offer a boy-racer’s excess of dials and gizmos, but is more than adequate to keep your ride fully informed, entertaining and comfortable.

A broad low-hung hood allows a commanding view from the very comfortable Vienna leather sport seat, which bends twelve ways from Sontag. Everyone, even a space-starved backseat passenger, gets to enjoy the leather seats, which were sensibly cream coloured — or “corn silk beige”. The lightness doesn’t attract the sun in the summer. Mind, you could always lower the roof if you’re hot — but we’ll discuss the convertible aspects more, later.

Speaking of colour, the exterior was even harder to describe. I was picking our daughter up from the airport, unsure how to explain the colour over the phone — “Greenish black? Blackish grey?” — symptoms of a Crayola-deprived childhood. Turns out it was Indium grey metallic.

KESSY, keyless access with start-stop button, means pampering before the driver even gets in. Simply having the key on your person is enough to yank the locked door open. (And one thing I always love on VWs: you tilt the logo on the trunk to unlock it. Again, it’s the grace notes.) This being a two-door, rear access and egress are never elegant, especially with the roof up.

2014 Volkswagen Eos Highline, dashboard. Click image to enlarge

The tester included the Technology Package, a $2,625 increase to the already pricy base, $47,550. Nonetheless it’s a good package: RNS 510 Navigation; CD player (only pays a single CD at a time, but who listens to CDs anymore anyway?); touchscreen and 30-GB hard drive; Dynaudio 600-watt digital sound package with ten speakers.

The ride is surprisingly quiet for a convertible, but all the more reason to enjoy those ten speakers. The touchscreen is easy to get used to and passengers, especially teenagers, will avail themselves of its many offerings, including satellite radio. But let’s get back to the driver now while the teens are still asleep.

Beneath the hood is a peppy 2.0L four-cylinder turbo engine which kicks out an impressive 200 hp at 5,100­–6,000 rpm and 207 ft-lb of torque at 1,700–5,000 rpm. So even amid all the pampering the Eos provides, a single stomp on the accelerator will remind you of its German lineage. This is a sports car in topsiders, dinner jacket and tennis-pro tan.

The six-speed automatic transmission offers the more adventurous driver sport mode and paddle-shifting Direkt-schalt-getriebe. Direct translation: direct shift gearbox. Loose? “Houston, we have lift-off,” my friend announced, as we launched past blurred views on a scenic country road. In sport mode, it’s a tighter feeling ride, though the sport suspension was always comfortable, regardless of how much I pushed the Eos. Agile without getting jittery.

Again for the adventurous, you can turn off traction control button, which sits temptingly by the shifter. On dirt roads we still got plenty of grip but also some terrifically enjoyable sway. The Eos holds the road well with a low stance – ground clearance is just 141 mm.

The steering is quite good, as it should be given the price and manufacturer. The steering wheel has a satisfying feel and is sized just right. Tilt and telescopically adjustable, it lets you mould the ideal positioning like a bespoke shirt.

The mirrors offer excellent views. That’s important given the minuteness of the rear window, no doubt a necessary inconvenience for easy storage of the roof.

2014 Volkswagen Eos Highline engine bay, seating. Click image to enlarge

And what a pretty machine it is! Even with the roof up, the Eos is a tastefully attractive car, conservatively reserved until it comes down. The only flashy beacon before that grand opening is the distinctive LED daytime running lights. The body lines are simple and clean with rounded edges. The trunk lid’s edge is so round it’s a challenge to shut from the outside. So there’s an inner grip, which you pull down, as though beginning a chin-up. (Grace Notes: 15, Accountants: love.)

Beyond the soon-to-be-discussed convertible aspects, the Eos’s significant base price includes several luxuries and scores of conveniences:

• The bi-xenon headlights are adaptive: they light where you’re turning towards, not just what’s in front of you.
• The lights’ coming-home function keep things lit after you’ve left the car.
• The auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror saves you from being temporarily blinded by approaching drivers at night.
• Automatic rain sensors begin clearing the windshield as soon the wetness hits.
• HomeLink is the popular and dependable garage door opening technology.
• With minimal intervention necessary, you’re always comfortable amid the ‘Climatronic’ dual-zone electronic climate control.

2014 Volkswagen Eos Highline dashboard, centre stack, . Click image to enlarge

Speaking of climate, the electronic compass may prove useful in a snowstorm, otherwise it constantly provides information you rarely need in regular driving life, complicating things unnecessarily. (Of course lots of cars north of the economy market have compasses. The more money we make, the more we all need constant reassurance our lives are moving in the right direction.) An always-smooth ride grips well on 18-inch alloy wheels with all-season tires. You’ll still want winter tires, especially if you’re going to use the skiing amenities after that snowstorm.

I’m sorry, did he just say skiing amenities?

Yes, there’s a lockable ski door providing access to the trunk through the backseat bench; the base Eos package even comes with a ski bag. These two features say a lot about the intended audience — but she’d better travel light. There’s very little room for storage of other ski equipment. Plus, even with the roof up (which it will be in winter unless you live in Victoria) bright badges recommend you not store anything atop the peripheral space in the trunk. And drive carefully. Remember we discussed the low ground clearance? That and the front-wheel drive could affect your ability to even reach the ski hill.

The Eos’s estimated fuel economy, approved by Natural Resources Canada, is 9.5 L/100 km in the city and 6.7 on the highway. In six days, I drove the Eos 775 km, the majority on highways, and ended up purchasing 61.7 litres of premium to refuel the tank. That breaks down to 7.96 L/100 km, not as good as the government numbers brazenly promise but frankly better than I’d expected. I didn’t take it easy on the Eos, though I was always moving with the flow of traffic and never once used the A/C. But what if it got hot?

Maybe it’s finally time to talk about the convertible aspects, especially after all that math with decimals in the previous paragraph.

2014 Volkswagen Eos Highline trunk, roof storage warning, gauges. Click image to enlarge

It’s fun to watch the roof appearing and disappearing a la Transformers. The whole experience would be enhanced with dramatic classical music, easily programmed into the sound system. It takes around twenty seconds and you need to continue engaging the lever until it’s complete. If you don’t, you’ll be alerted onscreen. Indeed, throughout the roof’s transmogrification up or down, a play-by-play commentary is on the screen. Radar indicates if you’re too close to a wall, beeping, flashing and halting the process until you move. Then the screens reports when the transformation is finished and the roof is stored or reset.

Overall

4

Comfort

     

4/5

Performance

     

4/5

Fuel Economy

     

3/5

Interior

     

4.5/5

Exterior Styling

     

4.5/5

Once the roof’s down, the reason for that price becomes a little clearer. You own the sky. The grip of the ride is suddenly twice as thrilling. Even the backseat passengers feel like there’s more room. The ten speakers warble a bit at speed but, while you can pamper yourself for turning forty and suffering math equations including decimals, there’s not much you can do about physics. This is a really fun car. For the money, I’m not convinced it’s great value for more than a very specific audience, but my wife and kids loved it.

Pricing: 2014 Volkswagen Eos Highline
Base Price: $47,550
Options: Technology Package (RNS 510 Navigation, Single CD player, Touchscreen and 30GB hard drive, Dynaudio 600-watt digital sound package with 10 speakers) –  $2,625
Freight & PDI: $1,395
A/C Tax: $100
Price as Tested: $51,670

Competitors
Fiat 500c
Ford Mustang Convertible
Mini Convertible
Volkswagen Beetle Convertible

Crash Test Results:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)