Category: Convertibles 
Price Range: £19,935 to £26,850
Quality interior, fast-acting roof, stylish-looking, practical.
Slightly uninvolving drive, not cheap, diesel still lacks refinement.
An ideal open-top cruiser for the style-conscious metropolitan car buyer.
Comfort is something that Audi is renowned for, with the A3 Cabrio maintaining that reputation. The ride was compliant on the smooth French roads we tested the car on and we don't think that even the UK's roads will change that too much. Perfect for an open-topped cruiser.
One of the other main things that we looked for, especially after testing the BMW 125i, was space in the back. With an average-sized (5' 10") driver, there was enough room in the back for adults and plenty for kids. This is in spite of a shorter wheelbase than the Beemer and is made possible, in part, to the Z-shaped folding fabric roof, which takes up very little boot space and allows more room in the cabin.
Talking of boot space, at 260 litres it's adequate if not generous (and identical to the BMW), unless you drop the two rear seats to expand it to 674 litres, big enough for larger cases and even sports equipment such as golf bags or skis.
At launch there are two trim levels, Standard and Sport, with S line due to be introduced at the end of 2008. The Standard level comes with 16" wheels, a semi-automatic hood, electric windows, a single-CD/radio unit, remote central locking, manually operated air con and fabric seats.
The Sport trim adds 17" wheels, sports suspension, MP3-compatible CD/radio with uprated speakers, sports seats, electronic climate control, wind deflector, trip computer and a fully automatic acoustic roof that opens in just nine seconds and lowers in 11 at up to 18mph.
There's also a full range of options, including leather seats, two types of sat nav, mobile phone connections, iPod connector and various hi-fi options (including an eight-speaker Bose set-up).
