Many gearheads love summer driving and it’s probably one of the best reasons to get a soft-top. So that when the sun’s high and there’s open road to cover, you can simply get the top down and enjoy the breeze. Audi seems to be beefing up its fleet recently and they seem to be doing a pretty good job dishing out cars to hit every conceivable market. The Audi A3 Cabriolet is their offering for those looking for a soft-top compact.

The new Cabriolet gets the same engine line of the A3 and A3 Sportback which includes the 157.81hp 1.8 TFSI gasoline, the 197.26 2.0 TFSI gasoline, the 103.56 1.9 TDI and the 138.08 hp 2.0 TDI with common rail piezo fuel injection. To make the choices more interesting, Audi can mate the engine to either a five- or six-speed manual (depending on the trim) and for all models (save for the 1.9 TDI), the S-tronic twin-clutch tranny.

Standard are 16-inch alloy wheels, power windows and mirrors, a Chorus radio with single CD drive, climate control and semi-automatic hood operation. Other options for upgrades (like 17-inch rims) depend on trim levels and extras.

Granted that Audi isn’t exactly your common person daily drive, there is some premium to the badge. The A3 Cabrio comes in 2 trim levels (Sport and S) with MSRPs ranging from £20,750 to £27,060.

Source: Audi

The base Audi A3, which currently sports a 1.6L, will ditch it for a 1.4L turbo. While the engine got smaller, it will still dish out 125 hp, 10 more than the 1.6L. Those added horses will make the A3 accelerate a but faster, hitting 100k/h in 9.6 seconds, a second quicker than the old one.

As for fuel economy, the A3 will still get 36.5mpg (US figures). The Volkswagen Group has been pushing its forced induction engine strategy of late. We’ll be seeing just a bit more of these smaller engine displacement engines with turbos replacing other engine models.

Source: Motor Authority