More National/World Business

• Albuquerque looks to future with only one newspaper
• N.M. online journalists, bloggers predict how news will morph on the Web
• Eclipse Aviation chief says Russia ripe for new factory

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Albuquerque Old Town
• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

You want clever? Volkswagen has clever.

It comes in the 2007 Eos, the German manufacturer's new hard top convertible. In less than 30 seconds, it converts from a steel top coupe to an open-air cruiser.

But guess what? For those days when you don't want to drop the whole top, it also has built-in slide-open glass sunroof. So you get three ways to enjoy the car, all for the same price.

For Volkswagen, the Eos is a departure from the past, when VW convertibles invariably tilted toward the funky school of automobile design _ from the old Bug convertibles of the 1960s and 1970s to the modern but still offbeat Cabriolet, Cabrio and New Beetle models.

There was only one exception to the funk. That was the gorgeous Karmann-Ghia ragtop, also from the 1960s and 1970s, which actually was enshrined in art museums.

The new Eos _ named for the Greek goddess of dawn _ has more in common with the Karmann-Ghia than the others, in the sense that it has slick styling. Top up or top down, it has flowing lines that make it look as if it were designed in a wind tunnel.

It also has marvelously tidy dimensions, which makes it easy to park and maneuver in traffic. At 14 feet 6 inches, it's eight inches longer than a VW Rabbit and six inches shorter than the new BMW 3-Series convertible. It's about a foot and a half longer than a Pontiac Solstice, but the Solstice is a two-seater.

The Eos has room for two in the back seat, as long as they are children or adults less than five feet seven inches tall. Headroom is restricted but knee room is adequate if you move the front seats forward a bit.

In fact, no doubt owing to the fact that the Eos has front-wheel drive, the back seat is slightly more accommodating than the one in the steel top 2007 BMW 3-Series convertible, which has rear drive.

Otherwise, the two cars are not comparable. The BMW is a high-performance car with a starting price just shy of $44,000. The tested Eos, which has no high-performance pretensions, had a sticker price of $30,620, which was for the 2.0T version with a six-speed manual gearbox and no options.

There are five versions of the EOS, with the base car starting at $28,750. The top-of-the line model has a 250-horsepower 3.2-liter V6 engine with a six-speed automatic transmission. It has a $37,610 starting price and, with a full load of options, can be bumped north of $40,000.

The tested 2.0T had a 2-liter four-cylinder engine linked to a six-speed manual gearbox. With a turbocharger, it spins out 200 horsepower, which is enough to chalk up a zero-to-60 mile an hour acceleration time of about seven seconds, which makes it competitive in the stoplight sprints.

If you opt for the automatic, you get a direct-shift gearbox (DSG), which costs an additional $1,175. The DSG is a manual transmission with dual clutches, but no clutch pedal, that allow automatic or manual shifting.

Though not an enthusiast's car, the Eos has competent handling, a decent ride that gets choppy only on rough surfaces, a manual shift linkage that is occasionally balky depending on the engine revs, and a progressive clutch that makes the car easy to drive smoothly. There's enough power to drive at city speeds in fifth gear.

Inside, the design of the dash, console and doors is simple and modern, with a look of class, though not luxury. On the test car, the trim had the look of aluminum; wood-grain also is available.

Though the test car was not top-of-the-line, it had the sort of equipment that would satisfy most customers. The upholstery is a perforated vinyl, which of course gets sticky in hot weather, but it was no worse than most leather seat coverings.

The front seats are nicely shaped to fit the torso. On the test car, the driver's seat had a multitude of power adjustments and the manually-operated right-front seat easily slides forward to allow access to the back seat.

Standard equipment included combined side-curtain and side air bags for the front seats, traction and stability control, antilock brakes, tire-pressure monitoring, front seatbelt tensioners, dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, remote locking, heated and motorized outside mirrors, cruise control, power windows, manual tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, 16-inch alloy wheels, and an audio system with CD player.

Also included in the standard equipment is a wind blocker that mounts over the rear seat and stores in the trunk. But it's mostly not needed and takes up valuable luggage space. The only time you'd want to use it is for high-speed interstate traveling with the top down and two people aboard. For leisurely cruising on a summer day, it's not worth the bother.

As with any steel top convertible, the Eos comes up short on trunk space. With the top up, you get about 11 cubic feet of volume, divided horizontally. With the top down, the available space shrinks to seven cubic feet.