Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet review

Like your open-top VW with a folding soft top? Then the Golf Cabriolet is for you. Cheaper and more compact than the folding hard-top Eos, it’s the more youthful of the two and even has a hot range-topper, the drop-top GTI. Yes, VW also offers the Beetle Cabriolet in this sector, but you don’t need to second-guess which we think is the cooler, smarter choice. 

The GTI is the smartest of the lot. There’s never been a genuine Golf GTI Cabriolet before: the 1980s MkI had a GTI variant, but only in the UK. This time round, the crack GTI team have given it a full makeover, signposted by GTI red-trimmed radiator grille, bulging GTI bumpers, 17-inch alloys, twin-exit exhausts – yes, even the tartan-trimmed seats make a return.