The Motor Forum

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 8:58 am Post subject: VW EOS 2.0 TSi

Reluctantly, here goes:

I can't pretend I'm overly-enamoured with the looks or colour. Roof up, the profile of the glasshouse looks poorly integrated into the overall shape.

Good points?

Rides well, and the body control, at least for how it'll be used, is OK. It's quiet and refined, and body flex hasn't been noticeable thus far. And the roof's operation is mechanical ballet. Barring a slightly obstructive sixth, the gearchange is very precise and pleasingly mechanical in feel. And with the sunroof open, the upper part of the rev band emits quite a nice fizz. Good traction, too.

The interior is less impressive. Quite a lot of hard plastics, particularly the dash top, and little purporting to be metal actually is.

The seats are comfortable, but not as supportive as I am used to, and the material is plain nasty.

Roof down, the boot space is bizarre:

Roof up, rearward visibility is amazingly poor, and the width across the bizarrely-shaped mirrors means parking it in the garange is a little tight. The Beast goes in easier, and so did the A8 I had for a week.

The driving experience is pretty joyless, though. The engine is refined, but I find no incentive to rev it out. And at idle it has a bassy resonace at odds with the rest of the car's character. It's fast enough (0-60 is 7.8, I believe), but has a horribly spongy brake pedal, with the first couple of inches of travel doing nothing. The steering is probably the worst I've ever encountered. I have no idea what the front wheels are up to, even though there is a facsimile of weight when loaded up. There are two or three inches of dead travel in the wheel too, which removes any confidence that I would otherwise have in it. Grip, after all, doesn't seem in too short a supply.

I wonder how long I'm going to be stuck with it for...
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Dr. Hfuhruhurr · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:18 am Post subject:

Surprised how poor it sounds given that large parts of it are basically Mk 5 Golf GTI.

Gurney · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:38 am Post subject:

Goes to show the EOS is widely lauded as the best Origami top around but when your benchmark is the best thing Audi have made in yonks......
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Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:54 pm Post subject:

Funnily enough, if it was an unpretentious Golf, I'd have fewer gripes with it. Certainly be lighter than Autocar's 'as tested' at 1610kg. But in trying to be something more glam, its failings seem harder to forgive. And the Golf must have better steering, even in boggo form.
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Eff One · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 2:29 pm Post subject:

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:02 pm Post subject:

Makes me wonder how VW can have got the steering so wrong, or, perhaps more likely, simply not bothered because the target audience isn't supposed to be concerned with such things. I have never driven a car with a front end so distanced from the driver, both by steering and seat of the pants. And like I say, the grip does appear to be there.

Still, it's a new motoring experience, encourages a different driving style, and it will not be with me forever!
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Eff One · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:26 pm Post subject:

The '08 boggo Astra that I had in Scotland a couple of months ago was shockingly bad - absolutely no sense of what the front wheels were doing, either through hands or seat of pants. Even worse than that was the throttle - a nasty combination of lazy response and all-or-nothing delivery - and a vague, stringy gearchange.
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"Racing is life. Everything before and after is just waiting." Steve McQueen

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 4:32 pm Post subject:

Ah. Knew I'd missed something. It hangs onto revs too much when you ease off, too. I'm sure that this is massaging of the engine management for the sake of emissions, but it makes engine braking something of an unknown quantity.
_________________
"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Mark · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:13 pm Post subject:

Mark · Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:15 pm Post subject:

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:29 am Post subject:

I'm not sure it is the flywheel, Mark. It gathers revs well enough, but seems reluctant to shed them.

I've driven quite a few VAG cars, and there have certainly been 'issues', but this car is the worst in respect of steering and braking.

I also reckon that VAG is changing, albeit more slowly than might be desired. RS product is better than it ever has been, with the odd blip. The GTi & R8 are well-regarded, and signs for the future, like that little diesel roadster, are good. It seems bizarrre to me that BMW's M division seems to be going away from its purist ethos, with the likes of the X6M and turbocharged engines.
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Mark · Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:54 am Post subject:

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 11:11 am Post subject:

I remember my Passat (previous model, post facelift) with a fair degree of affection. Never going to be described as the greatest drivers' car, but there was little slack in the controls and no excessive servo assistance. And having a five-pot it at least made some interesting noises.
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

scamper · Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 11:18 am Post subject:

A lot of that, i can agree with driving my colleague's silver tdi version. The steering is too light, and the interior like any mark 5 golf is cheap - put it this way, the cheapest plastics on my impreza look and feel far better than the cheapest in a mark 5 golf.

Skyhook · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:11 pm Post subject:

The most important question is: how are the TLGP's going?

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Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is...

Twelfth Monkey · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:58 pm Post subject:

It's fared better than you might think!
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"Accident Blackspot"? These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly. Throwing themselves into the road to escape all this hideousness.'

Skyhook · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:11 pm Post subject:

It's the driver not the car...

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Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is...

Martin · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:12 pm Post subject:

It might be quite heavy, but it's still got a near 200bhp turbo engine. It's no RS4 when it comes to the TLGP, but it's hardly undernourished!
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SpecB · Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:16 pm Post subject:

Jasper · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:18 am Post subject:

*****Saddo alert******

I think the engine fitted to the Jetta/Eos is 170bhp version of the GTi's full fat engine.
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Dr. Hfuhruhurr · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:23 am Post subject:

BeN · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:09 pm Post subject:

I saw one today, with body damage along the left door and rear panel.

Poor guy. Other than that, the car looked fresh off the showroom.
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Not the same since 2008

Jasper · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:45 pm Post subject:

TimR · Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:35 pm Post subject:

You're not as sad as you thought

simonp · Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:57 pm Post subject:

I was behind one of these yesterday and we were both stuck behind a Volvo estate of some sort. It was a nice road where, if it'd been just me, I'd have been past the Volvo at some point, but overtaking the 2 would've been dicey. Eventually though we get to a nice straight uphill bit and Eos man overtakes Volvo man with me tucked right up behind him. He then pulls in and I sail past quite easily, despite the fact I can tell he still has his toe down.

Childish, but fun!