Ford Focus CC vs Volkswagen Eos vs Vauxhall Astra TwinTop

After more delays, interruptions and postponements than we care to remember, we were very excited to finally be able to lay our hands on
a right-hand-drive Ford Focus CC. Three years after the launch of the hatchback, the blue oval had caught up with Peugeot, Renault, Vauxhall and Volkswagen by producing a folding hard-top version of its best-seller.

And with spring and the better weather tantalisingly close, we put the Ford up against the newest cars in the class – the Vauxhall Astra TwinTop and Volkswagen Eos.

So was the Focus worth the wait? In a word, no. For starters, everyone we spoke to was unanimous that the Focus CC, despite being designed in partnership with Italian styling house Pininfarina, simply isn’t that good-looking – a crucial drawback for a car that trades on its image and sense of style, and one that put the Ford on the back foot right from the start. The biggest issue is the ungainly and bulky rear end, which is caused by having to stow a two-part roof, rather than the three-piece lids favoured by the Eos and TwinTop.

The mechanism ensures the Focus is cheaper to produce, but it means a longer rear deck is needed, boot space suffers and rear passenger room is cramped, too. The design also means that the A-pillars reach back over the driver’s head, making access tricky.

The bodyshell is commendably stiff, though. The CC drives almost as well as its hatch brother, but as a coupé/cabriolet, it isn’t a well developed product, and in one of the biggest shocks of the year, it came last in this test.

The Vauxhall TwinTop suffers from the same drab cabin design as the standard Astra (the Focus’s wasn’t much more inspiring, either), but build quality is excellent, and the firm’s designers have managed to give the car a smart, cohesive look. The roof folds into a tighter space than the Focus’s and can be lowered on the move at speeds up to 18mph. As with the hatch, the TwinTop might not be that thrilling to drive, but overall, the open-air Astra is competitively priced and a decent package.

However, it didn’t come close to beating our class favourite, Volkswagen’s excellent Eos. It costs over £2,000 more than either rival here, but it’s clear that the extra money VW spent developing the Eos has paid off. Its body shape distances it from the Golf, as does the even more upmarket interior layout, and the roof is brilliant. The three-piece lid folds tightly into a small space, minimising boot intrusion, and the Eos looks good, top up or down.

It had the smartest cabin, good practicality, and while the stiff chassis and firm suspension mean the ride is a little on the hard side, it’s still an enjoyable car to drive. The best to be in – and be seen in – the Eos is our choice for wind-in-the-hair fun in this segment.