The Golf GTI Cabriolet will open its fabric roof to the public at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show next week. Tartan seat show-offs will be able to reveal the GTI's interior to a greater audience with the introduction of the GTI Cabriolet, the most powerful production Golf Cabriolet ever.

Sharing the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with its hatchback relative, the 210hp Cabriolet reaches 62mph in 7.3 seconds - some 0.4 seconds slower than the hatch. The number that really counts here though is the top-down time, the fabric roof folding away in just 9.5 seconds - at speeds up to 18mph.

The Golf Cabriolet's already good looks are enhanced by the GTI addenda, with honeycomb black grilles edged in red, GTI badging, 17-inch Monza alloy wheels, smoked taillights and chrome finished exhausts completing the makeover. Roll-over protection is provided courtesy of an automatically deploying roll bar.

Available in both standard manual and DSG automatic forms, the Golf Cabriolet GTI will be in UK showrooms in the second half of the year. Pricing will be confirmed nearer the on-sale date, but figure on a premium of around £3,000-£4,000 over the £25,310 three-door GTI's starting price.

Kyle Fortune - 29 Feb 2012