2014 Audi A3 Cabriolet 40TFSi review : Bare Charm

The Style

Audis are usually designed with restraint, with the volume being bound by flowing lines and subtle creases. The A3 Cabriolet is no exception. It is essentially the A3 Sedan with its roof chopped off and a shortened wheelbase. Though it manages to exude much more panache and character than its sedan sibling.

Up front, it’s the familiar Audi A3 fascia, where the “Singleframe” grille takes center stage, and is flanked by the bi-xenon headlamps with LED piping around them. All LED option isn’t available in India, and fog lamps are conspicuous by their absence.

The sides have minimal drama, apart from the prominent shoulder line, and the rear, just like the A3 has those slim tail lamps, which are slightly pinched inwards. Dual exhaust tips and a  subtle diffuser to round things off.

And finally, the toplessness 

But let’s come to the convertible bit shall we? Soft tops just look better in our opinion and we’re glad that the A3 Cabriolet comes with one. That mechanized canvas top descends inside its cave in the boot in precisely 16.2 seconds. And what’s more, you can blow the top at speeds up to 50 km/h, which means no more pulling over or crawling to complete the procedure. Rain cometh? Pick it up in 20.1 seconds flat.

With the top down, the A3 Cabriolet looks quite desirable, at least in and around Indian settings. The windscreen frame is done up in a nice brushed aluminum finish, a la R8 Spyder, giving it a nice contrast color theme, along with the beige interiors. The S-Line trim is standard here, and adds those 16 inch 5 spoke rims and a few embellishments inside. Raise the top, and the A3 looks proportionate enough, with the black canvas adding a dollop of two-tone shading to the coloration.

 Next page for interior, features, our verdict and huge image gallery>>>