Summer is, allegedly, almost here and despite the risk of a serious head cold I took the opportunity to put the Golf Cabriolet through its paces.

The version I drove this week was equipped with VW’s 2.0-litre oil burner and what a delight it was. Whisper quiet, powerful and economic it proved a perfect fit. The ride turned out to be on the firm side, which is my preferred setting, but the springs remained compliant enough to smooth out all but the worst irregularities.

Handling is excellent with the accurate and well-weighted electro-mechanical steering providing the driver with plenty of information at their fingertips. Turn-in is positive and there’s more than enough grip to ensure an afternoon jaunt into the countryside is more pleasure than pain.

The six-speed manual gearbox is a joy, smooth and accurate, it’s perfectly matched with the light clutch to encourage rapid but effortless progress.

The fabric roof is operated via a small lever situated at the front of the central armrest. Not the first place I thought of looking but, as it turned out, just about the ideal spot for it. Raising and lowering the roof is effortlessly quick - a pretty impressive 9 seconds to lower and 11 to raise in fact - and it does a good job of insulating the occupants from wind and road noise.

There is a wind deflector - optional on S and standard on SE models and above - which has to be manually attached. While it does a pretty good job of sheltering the occupants from the chilly backdrafts and is relatively straightforward to install, it’s manual operation does somewhat get in the way of the occasionally spontaneous nature of drop-top motoring.

Without the wind deflector in place there’s a chilly draft around the thighs but, even at 70mph and in cool spring temperatures, it doesn’t become unbearable.

The cabriolet is unmistakably a Golf and shares many of its styling cues with its hatchback brother but VW have given it a sportier stance with a more heavily raked front windscreen and a stubby boot. With the roof down the Golf looks clean and elegant thanks, in no small part, to the replacement of the 'strawberry basket handle' rollover bar with a new pop-up protection system.

The best way to describe the cabin is sombre. There’s no disputing the quality of the materials either to the gaze or the touch, and everything is screwed together beautifully, but the interior of my test car was, well, dark. The lack of visual flair came as a bit of a surprise, particularly as cabriolets tend to be rather more of a fashion statement than tin-tops.

The seats are comfortable and supportive and the driving position excellent. Visibility, particularly the rear three-quarters, is a little restricted with the roof up but, thanks to VW’s efforts to ensure the heated rear windscreen is as large as possible, is rather good for a cabriolet.

VW claims that the Golf Cabriolet offers the largest interior length in its class but the simple fact is that as soon as you stick two six-footers in the front rear passenger space is compromised. You can still squeeze two fully grown humans in the back, but a squeeze it is and it’s unlikely you’ll find a volunteer who would willingly spend more than a couple of hours in the rear.

Because the roof is stowed away on top of the boot it doesn’t impact on capacity but, what it does do is restrict the size of the opening which is on the small side. It makes loading and unloading awkward and means that the 250-litre boot flatters to deceive a little.

The cabriolet is undoubtedly a Golf and, for many people, that will be all that matters. The good news is that even if your purchase does amount to little more than a leap of faith, there’s very little about this car that will leave you feeling disappointed.

Golf 2.0-litre TDi Cabriolet

PRICE FROM: £22.070

PRICE AS TESTED: £25,990

ENGINE: 2.0-litre TDI

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

POWER: 138bhp

ACCELERATION: 0-62mph 9.9 secs

MAXIMUM SPEED: 129mph

URBAN: 52.3mpg

EXTRA-URBAN: 68.9mpg

COMBINED: 62.8mpg

CO2 EMISSIONS: 119 g/km

For more information about VW’s cars click here.