Its ride is comfortable and quiet, its character genteel and long-striding but it needn't be slow or exciting. The car's got all the technological refinements and luxury cabin lures of other E-Class bodystyles, and feels genuinely rich and enveloping to travel in. The best of them is the middle-sized one, the E-Class Cabriolet, which offers proper four-seater space and usability, and somehow confers greater stature than the smaller C-, without trespassing to the price levels of the open and SL. That fact also makes Mercedes' cruiser cabriolets well-equipped to do well in this chart, and they are, by and large, machines of a mature, secure, self-possessed and luxurious charm which are great at enriching a roof-down journey without necessarily enticing you to breakneck speeds.
Mercedes' cars are seldom at their best when targetting driver appeal that's why it took an out-of-house performance department like AMG (now brought in-house, of course) to really inject some dynamism into its offerings. Put simply, this is a 'want-one' kind of car. No need to make a head versus heart decision here then. That range of engine and drivetrain options is a key part of the car's strength every bit as important as its solidly built and appealing interior or its catwalk-model looks. The entry-level engine can be had with front-wheel drive, while the rest are 'quattro' all-paw only. The engine range kicks off with a 194bhp 2.0-litre option but ranges upwards to include 242-, 302- (TT S) and 394bhp (TT RS) choices. The Audi’s fluid handling and zesty petrol TFSI motor make it fast enough and reasonable fun when you want it to be, even in entry-level form.
Keen drivers might find the Roadster a little too easy and unchallenging to drive, but it's that undemanding ease of use that makes the car appeal to those who only want a dash of seasoning with their choice of wheels. The Audi TT has, since birth, played the classy, stylish, usable, extra-special everyday driver better than the out-and-out driver's car and it continues to now even in convertible form. Our cabrio class champ is a car that perfectly typifies why convertibles and sports cars are typically quite different things.