![]() Unlike in the coupe version, you can't get the LC's 3.5-litre V6 hybrid powertrain here nor the car's optional four-wheel steering.īut the LC Convertible handles quite neatly for such a heavy car in any case. The LC is now a more refined car than it was when launched in 2017, having had its runflat tyres traded for better rubber and its suspension retuned for a more supple ride and more poised handling. If you want a luxury, two-seater cruiser, you'll find an awful lot to like here. Whether that might be enough to tempt you to part with close-to £100,000 for a Lexus LC, which became available in convertible form in 2020, will no doubt come down to whether you like its alternative looks and character, and whether you wouldn't prefer one of the more sporting convertibles that your money might buy. The first big-money convertible on this list is a car dripping in esoteric concept-car design appeal, with a superbly inviting luxury interior and a 457bhp atmospheric V8 engine. And given that open really does mean open with this car and doesn’t with most of its rivals, that’s no mean feat. Most importanly, the car opens up the vivacious Mini driving experience to the elements without compromising it. It comes in Cooper, Cooper S and Cooper Works forms, the last of those topping 200-horsepower for those who want open-top motoring speed and fun. The Mini Convertible feels like a much better-engineered car than it needs to be, one of integrity and attention to detail, improved significantly over the car it replaces. Against that background, BMW could have got away with ‘phoning one in’ with this car - but, to its credit, it never has. There is evidence that people will pay close to £20,000 in this class for cars that are slow, unresponsive and impractical and feel flimsy and imprecise on the road – provided they come with a roof that lets the sunshine in. The engine range takes in a surprisingly broad selection of diesel options (of both four- and six cylinders) and also includes four- and six-cylinder petrols, although we'd recommend the six-pot options for refinement and smoothness better-suited to the role of a cruiser. Then there's the range-topping AMG E53 4Matic+ with its 429bhp hybrid powertrain, which mixes speed and a discreet sort of involvment with efficiency and good-manners very effectively indeed. Its ride is comfortable and quiet, its character genteel and long-striding but it needn't be slow or exciting. The car's got all the technological refinements and luxury cabin lures of other E-Class bodystyles, and feels genuinely rich and enveloping to travel in. The best of them is the middle-sized one, the E-Class Cabriolet, which offers proper four-seater space and usability, and somehow confers greater stature than the smaller C-, without trespassing to the price levels of the open and SL. That fact also makes Mercedes' cruiser cabriolets well-equipped to do well in this chart, and they are, by and large, machines of a mature, secure, self-possessed and luxurious charm which are great at enriching a roof-down journey without necessarily enticing you to breakneck speeds. Mercedes' cars are seldom at their best when targetting driver appeal that's why it took an out-of-house performance department like AMG (now brought in-house, of course) to really inject some dynamism into its offerings. Put simply, this is a 'want-one' kind of car. No need to make a head versus heart decision here then. ![]() ![]() That range of engine and drivetrain options is a key part of the car's strength every bit as important as its solidly built and appealing interior or its catwalk-model looks. The entry-level engine can be had with front-wheel drive, while the rest are 'quattro' all-paw only. The engine range kicks off with a 194bhp 2.0-litre option but ranges upwards to include 242-, 302- (TT S) and 394bhp (TT RS) choices. The Audi’s fluid handling and zesty petrol TFSI motor make it fast enough and reasonable fun when you want it to be, even in entry-level form. ![]() Keen drivers might find the Roadster a little too easy and unchallenging to drive, but it's that undemanding ease of use that makes the car appeal to those who only want a dash of seasoning with their choice of wheels. The Audi TT has, since birth, played the classy, stylish, usable, extra-special everyday driver better than the out-and-out driver's car and it continues to now even in convertible form. Our cabrio class champ is a car that perfectly typifies why convertibles and sports cars are typically quite different things. 2016 Audi TT Roadster 1.8 TFSI Sport first drive. ![]() Audi TT Roadster 45 TFSI S line quattro 2019 UK first drive.Interesting convertibles that didn't go to plan. ![]()
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