WE may have to endure some of the poorest weather in Europe but the UK is still a fan of open-top motoring.

Usually when I have a convertible it pours with rain or it arrives in the middle of winter.

This time I got lucky and had a good run of sunny warm weather to let me enjoy Audi's attractive new A3 cabriolet to the full.

The A3 convertible first arrived back in 2008 and has been a success for the brand. This all-new model was introduced in the spring and sits on the same platform as the award-winning A3 saloon, making it longer and wider than the car it replaces.

Not surprisingly this means that there is more room for rear seat passengers and a substantial 20 per cent more room for luggage.

While you will be able to carry more don't expect to get large items in as the hatch opening is still fairly small - stick to soft luggage and you will be ok.

Looks wise this new model is quite similar to the car it replaces but things are very much better at the rear where the former's truncated end has been dumped and replaced by new bodywork which makes it look much neater. It now looks like the new A3 saloon although the high-level brake light is moved to the bootlid.

Audi sticks with a powered canvas roof which opens at the touch of a button. A new design, it opens and closes in 18 seconds and this can be done at speeds of up to 31mph - useful when our weather turns nasty. The new hood is also very good at keeping wind and road noise to a minimum.

The car looks good with the hood up or down and when you climb into the cabin you feel like you are in an ordinary A3. That's no bad thing as you get Audi's superb build quality and an excellent simple dash layout. The only real difference is an extra switch which lowers all four windows at once and the roof button which is situated beside the electronic parking brake.

Buyers can select from a wide choice of models as four power plants and three trim levels are available as well as quattro four-wheel-drive in the flagship version.

Star of the show as far as I am concerned is the 138bhp, 1.4-litre TFSI cylinder-on-demand unit fitted to the test car, which shuts down two cylinders when not needed to save fuel and cut emissions.

It also has stop/start technology - and as the new car is 50kg lighter - it offers good performance and excellent economy. Combined with a silky smooth six-speed manual gearbox it sprints to 62mph in just 9.1 seconds and can go on to 135mph - not that you would want to do that with the top down.

The claimed combined figure is 56.5mpg and I averaged over 50mpg in real world conditions. On a long run I think it would be possible to get well over 60mpg if you watched what you were doing.

Equipment levels are fairly generous and all versions come with alloy wheels, air-conditioning, a DAB radio, Bluetooth, and automatic lights. Sport trim adds larger wheels, sports seats, climate control, sports suspension and noise-reducing insulated roof. Top S Line models add part-leather seats, xenon headlights and daytime running lights along with larger 18-inch alloys.

You obviously pay a price for Audi's premium quality and the test car in Sport trim costs £26,370. As usual if you dip into the options list you can add considerably to the final cost which in the case of the test car was £32.065. This was mainly due to the larger wheels at £595, technology package at £1,795, Xenon light package at £1,100 and white metallic paint at £525.