Let’s be honest with ourselves here for a minute. Deep down, even the most dedicated fans will be forced to admit that if you live in Britain, Ireland or anywhere with a similarly unpredictable climate, a convertible probably isn’t the smartest thing you can spend your money on.

Despite all that, we just can’t get enough of them. This part of the world is one of the biggest markets for drop-tops anywhere on earth. Maybe there’s a slight forbidden fruit element, or maybe we’re all just a bit nuts?

In any case, if you like the idea of a convertible then which is the one to go for? After all, some like theirs big and luxurious, others small are sporty. The Audi A3 Cabriolet, which was facelifted earlier this year with the rest of the A3 range, aims to do both.

The updated soft-top A3 mightn’t immediately make what it’s had nipped and tucked obvious, but then that tends to be the Audi way. What’s new is reshaped LED lights at both the front and rear, plus a wider grille and subtly tweaked bumpers along with new kit inside. Is it any good?

Performance

Ostensibly, the reason anybody wants a cabriolet is for the sporty thrills of wind-in-your-hair motoring, and so a 2.0-litre diesel engine at first might seem like a bit of an odd choice compared to, say, a revvy petrol motor.

Never fear though as with smooth power delivery upon acceleration, the 148bhp diesel in our test car gives the A3 Cab a decent turn of pace without ever being threateningly fast. 0-62mph will take 8.9 seconds and top speed clocks in at 139mph, which isn’t lightning quick but which will surely be enough for the sort of buyer who will want this car.

Indeed, if you do want a bit more go then there is the option of a 1.4-litre petrol with 148bhp or more powerful 187bhp 2.0-litre petrol options, but the 2.0-litre diesel is a good all-round choice and feels suitably peppy while also being extremely usable day-to-day.

Our test car also came with the standard six-speed manual gearbox, although you can of course upgrade to an automatic if you so wish. We reckon most buyers will want the auto, but the manual was impressive nonetheless with a short, snappy shift and solid weighting.

Ride and Handling

The car is tight and controlled, resists body lean well and corners handily with precise steering.

As a rule of thumb, convertibles generally don’t tend to drive as well as their hard-top counterparts since the solid roof provides extra structural rigidity, therefore improving handling. That said, Audi has always been rather good at making sure its soft-tops drive well and that’s certainly true for the A3 Cabriolet, which is one of the best driving cars in its segment. Our test model came with the firmest S-Line suspension option, though you can specify the car with a softer and more comfortable setup if you wish. With the S-Line suspension, the car is tight and controlled, resists body lean well and corners handily with precise steering. Audi’s famous quattro four-wheel drive is an option but even with front-wheel drive there’s more than enough grip in the A3 for most, and you’ll have to stand on it really quite hard before it starts to wallow into understeer territory. Certainly, it’s sporty enough for most, though the trade-off comes at the expense of ride comfort. The sporty suspension and large 19-inch alloys on our test car did make it quite jittery over uneven surfaces, but never to the point of being unbearable. There are sportier options out there, and we reckon that the BMW 2 Series Convertible might just nudge it in terms of fun factor given that it’s rear-wheel drive, but then the A3 is meant to be a compromise between sportiness and everyday usability and is still a great car to drive.

Interior and Equipment

Audi’s famous quattro four-wheel drive was adapted from a small Volkswagen-built army truck called the Iltis.

One of the criticisms people tend to level at Audi’s cars these days is that they tend to look similar, both on the outside and on the inside. At the risk of sounding like a broken record though, the interior of the A3 Cabriolet is as smart, functional and high quality as you’d expect from any other Audi car. The A3 shares much of its underpinnings with the Volkswagen Golf, but the materials in this car are much better, the trimmings that bit plusher and – particularly when kitted out with the handsome diamond-patterned leather seats in our car – it’s very comfortable too. All models come with a pop-up 5.8-inch infotainment display and Audi’s MMI rotary controller, which cuts down on buttons and is also much easier to use on the move than a touchscreen system. Standard equipment in this facelifted model includes a sporty flat-bottomed steering wheel that’s trimming in grippy leather, plus air conditions and DAB radio. The range-topping S-Line trim adds xenon headlights and a subtly sportier body kit as standard, while there’s also plenty of options available. Do be careful what you choose though, as our test model came with nearly £7,000’s worth of extras for things like heated seats, a reversing camera and Audi’s acclaimed Virtual Cockpit digital instrument display. Of course, key to the Cabriolet is its folding fabric roof, which is electrically operated and can be folded at speeds of up to 31mph. It’s also insulated with a triple-ply design to iron out wind and road noise. That soft-top does come at the expense of practicality though, with the rear seats losing out on space to accommodate the roof when it’s stowed and are only suitable for small children or as extra storage space. Speaking of storage space, the A3 Cabriolet has a fairly paltry 320 litres of room in the boot, though that’ll tumble to 275 litres when the roof is folded down.

Cost

The A3 Cabriolet is priced from £26,875 which makes it around £7,500 more expensive than the entry-level A3.

The A3 Cabriolet is priced from £26,875 which makes it around £7,500 more expensive than the entry-level A3 and approximately £1,000 more than the BMW 2 Series Convertible. The S-Line model starts from £31,340 while, fully loaded, our test car was a whopping £41,705. It doesn’t come cheap then, and so for many one of the diesel engines will make sense to try and reduce running costs. Officially, Audi claims the 148bhp diesel can return up to 67.3mpg with 110g/km of CO2, though for us we struggled to get above the mid-50s.

Our Verdict

Stylish, smart and well-equipped, the A3 Cabriolet is also a hoot to drive and, with the 148bhp diesel at least, reasonably efficient to boot. It probably won’t appeal to anybody looking for a full-blown sports car, nor will it take the fancy of anybody who needs something more practical but it has many others in its segment beaten in terms of badge appeal and, as an all-rounder, it can’t be faulted. So long as you’ve got the weather for it…