VW Golf GTI Cabriolet (2012) first official pictures

This is the new 2012 VW Golf GTI Cabriolet, a 208bhp hot hatch-cum-convertible that Volkswagen will unveil at the 2012 Geneva motor show in March.

Spot on. VW first unveiled the latest Golf Cabriolet at the 2011 Geneva motor show and 12 months on the German car company is revealing its quickest ever open-top Golf.

The ingredients from one of the world’s best hot hatches are present and correct, 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.

VW hasn’t released any kerbweights for the Golf GTI Cabriolet yet, but as the Golf Cabriolet is significantly heavier than the Golf hatch, this open-air GTI is slower than its hatchback sibling.

Both manual and DSG versions are four-tenths slower to 62mph (at 7.3 seconds), and a smidgen 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, should giving your hair an al fresco blow-dry be your thing.

All the GTI styling is present and correct, from the honeycomb grille with its iconic red frame, to the full GTI bodykit and twin exhausts, while inside there's tartan-trimmed seats. Still one of our favourite details on the Golf GTI.

VW says the fabric roof of the Golf Cabriolet ‘was adopted 1:1 for the GTI’. In other words, it’s the same, and takes the same 9.5 seconds to open, and 11 seconds to close, and it can do so at speeds of up to 19mph.

By Ben Pulman