This is the new 2012 VW Golf GTI Cabriolet that Volkswagen will unveil at the upcoming Geneva motor show in March. The new model, shown in pictures above and below, is a 208bhp hot hatch-cum-convertible and is essentially what you get when you mix a Golf GTI and a Golf Cabriolet.

VW first unveiled the latest Golf Cabriolet at the Geneva motor show last year and now, a year on, the German car company is revealing its quickest ever open-top Golf with a turbocharged and direct injection 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine producing 208bhp and 206lb ft. It drives the front wheels via either a six-speed manual or six-speed dual-clutch DSG gearbox and Volkswagen’s locking differential-aping electronic XDS.

Both manual and DSG versions are four-tenths slower to 62mph (at 7.3 seconds), and a little dirtier, the manual returning 37.1mpg and 177g/km to the GTI hatchback’s 170g/km CO2 and 38.7mpg, while the DSG version manages 36.7mpg and 180g/km to the DSG GTI hatch’s 173g/km and 38.2mpg. All the top speeds are just under 150mph.

All the GTI styling is included in this Cabriolet with the honeycomb grille and iconic red frame, full GTI bodykit and twin exhausts. The interior offers tartan trimmed seats. The roof fabric is the same as the GTI and takes 9.5 seconds to open and 11 to close which it can do at speeds of 19mph.

Source: Car Magazine