This convertible version of Audi’s best-selling lower medium A3 comes with the firm’s Cylinder-on-Demand system: an efficiency measure that shuts down two of the engine’s four cylinders when the driver is going easy on the accelerator pedal, which saves fuel. You know it’s happening, too, because a small message appears in between the dials for the period of the shutdown.
Unless they’re covering really big miles, this 1.4 TFSi petrol model is more cost-effective for drivers than the lowest-emitting 1.6 TDI diesel A3 Cabriolet. At 114g/km, it only emits 4g/km more than the diesel and doesn’t suffer the current 3% BIK penalty, so tax is cheaper. An equivalent 1.6 TDI Sport comes out cheaper overall at 53.2ppm next to the petrol’s 57.0ppm, but the latter, though not fast, has a lot more character than a run-of-the-mill small diesel engine in a convertible, so it’s certainly the drivers’ choice.
