They say the Volkswagen Eos isn’t just a converted hatch but a specially made car bigger than a Golf. We aren’t sure it beats a cheaper Focus CC.

• Comfort

  The seats are excellent. And of course it's cramped in the back, but not as bad as the hatch-derived opposition, so maybe VW does have a point there. The glass roof slides to make a sunroof if you don't want to blast your passengers.

  

• Performance

  The mid-range 2.0 turbos (petrol and diesel) hit the spot and come in various power guises including 140bhp, 160bhp and 210bhp (for the 2.0-litre TSI).

  

• Cool

  VW has a certain brand equity, but hardly enough to out-cool a Focus CC. Which isn't cool anyway, come to think of it.

  

• Quality

  VW has a knack of making seats and instruments look well-crafted, but the Eos's quality impression is undermined by the shaky body and some scrappy plastics in the lower dash. Roof reliability hasn't been perfect either.

  

• Handling

  You get the usual reassuring VW steering and trustworthy cornering, but there's not much precision and when the roof is down it's worse because the body twists and the front end shakes.

  

• Practicality

  Like all CCs the boot space suffers when the roof is down, despite the huge complexity of the Eos's effort.

  

• Running costs

  Variable service intervals mean if you go gently it'll pay off in costs. Fuel costs aren't bad and depreciation on an Eos is still gentle.