Audi’s high performance compact gets a soft top

Rising temperatures call for a retractable roof, and for the first time in its three-generation history the high performance Audi S3 now has an answer to that call.

The all-new 300PS S3 Cabriolet - the first ever soft-top version of the acclaimed high performance compact - is available to order now priced from £38,910 OTR, and is set to arrive with UK customers from September.

At the same time, the TDI arm of the open-air A3 range has also been bolstered by a muscular 184PS 2.0-litre TDI engine which is notable as the first in the history of the A3 Cabriolet ever to be offered with the option of quattro all-wheel-drive. Providing a highly desirable combination of strong performance and 65mpg-plus economy potential, the A3 Cabriolet 2.0 TDI 184PS joins the range priced from £29,735 OTR, and takes to our roads from October.

Beneath the bonnet of the trailblazing S3 is the acclaimed EU6-compliant 2.0 TFSI engine, linked exclusively here to six-speed S tronic transmission and apportioning its power four ways via the multi-plate clutch-based quattro all-wheel-drive system.

Its substantial 300 PS power peak is available between 5,500 and 6,200rpm and peak torque of 380Nm is on tap from 1,800-5,500rpm, so a 5.4-second 0-62mph sprint and a governed 155mph top speed are well within its grasp. Combined fuel consumption stands at an impressive 39.8mpg, corresponding to CO2 emissions of 165g/km.