What will it be: The 2019 Audi S5 Cabriolet could be the convertible variant within the company’s compact-luxury platform. It’s only offered in two trims: Premium Plus and Prestige. Standard features include crash-mitigation functions like Audi side assist and Audi pre sense rear, along with rear-cross traffic assist and vehicle-exit assist.

Key Competitors: Mercedes-AMG C43 Cabriolet; BMW 440i convertible

Base Price: $63,275 As-Tested Price: $75,000

Highlights: The 2019 S5 cab includes a new 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 making 354 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque by having an eight-speed automatic transmission. With an all new one-touch open button, the S5 cabriolet offers the wind inside your hair faster versus previous model. All-wheel drive is standard.

The 2019 Audi S5 Cabriolet also comes in Premium Plus and Prestige trims.

Our Opinion: The S5 Cabriolet features a method of sneaking up on you. To begin with blush, the experience isn't much different from that regarding the A5, which happens to be in no way a bad thing: The A5 is itself a remarkably competent open-air cruiser that packs quite a number of tech, but never lets it restrict the driving experience. The latest, aggressively styled bodywork Audi rolled out recently makes more sense here, with this musclier incarnation within the model, but nevertheless, if you're stingy with the pedal travel, it's an easy, easy driver…identical to the A5.

So should the S5 cabrio's $75,000 sticker leaves you stunned, realize that you're in a growing crowd; it caught Wes Raynal off-guard, too, and he questioned if the S5 and its particular two extra cylinders added enough oomph to warrant the value.

Maybe he just didn't hit it difficult enough, though. 354 hp on tap ain't nothing; it's 102 a lot more than the regular A5 cabrio, that is sufficient to give a dramatically different experience in comparison to the four-cylinder car…at the very least in relation to acceleration (noticeably more immediate versus the four-cylinder car). This sucker is quick.

Yet the additional power is actually all handled utilizing these characteristic Audi smoothness and solidity which it never feels wild. Sound good? Well, maybe in your case. I guess I’d been left craving more — less power, but more expressiveness. The quattro all-wheel drive made for perfect, repeatable launches time after time. The V6 purr was hardly assertive. If there's something lacking here, it's warmth or personality.

For me, the issue isn't a whole lot whether you will enjoy your money's worth with the S5 cabriolet. It's perhaps the feel it efforts to provide are some things enthusiasts actually want in a performance-oriented convertible. Ultimately, this S5 does everything you'd desire a performance drop-top to complete — except, perhaps, stir the emotions.

Viewed objectively, for your solid, tech-forward, open-air experience, you can't do significantly better. In my money (and assuming I can do without the two rear seats), I'd go the less rational route and require a Jaguar F-Type or perhaps a Chevrolet Corvette. Are both less polished, maybe, than this Audi, but both feel a fantastic measure more alive.

–Graham Kozak, features editor

A 20-speaker Bang & Olufsen subwoofer is offered with 3D sound and a couple of subwoofers.

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On Sale: Now

Base Price: $63,275

As Tested Price: $75,000

Powertrain: 3.0-liter DOHC turbocharged V6, AWD, eight-speed automatic

Output: 354 hp @ 5,400-6,400 rpm; 369 lb-ft @ 1,370-4,500 rpm

Curb Weight: 4,211 lb

Fuel Economy: 20/29/23 mpg(EPA City/Hwy/Combined)

Options: Prestige Package ($4,400) S Sport Package ($2,500), Driver assistance package ($1,800), 19-inch wheel package ($800), carbon atlas inlays ($500)

Pros: The S5’s 354-hp V6 is more than enough to get up the already-competent A5 Cabriolet

Cons: There are definitely more affordable and emotion-driven tips on how to have an overabundance drop-top fun