Sports seats designed specifically for the M6 are heavily sculpted to hold passengers in place, but soft Merino leather included as standard means they remain comfortable even on long trips. The suspension can be set to three different modes – the softest of which is supple and deals well with poor surfaces. Even in the firmest mode it never feels unbearably uncomfortable. Leave the roof up and the cabin is almost as quiet as the Coupe – at motorway speeds having a conversation with passengers in the rear is easily possible. The M6 is a car that's been designed to be useable every day, with an explosive turn of pace when the opportunity presents itself.

The build quality is superb, especially on the interior, but this is a car that's been designed for those who will want to exploit the performance on offer. It's likely that it will be used on track at some point during its life so parts such as brake pads and tyres will have to deal with more wear and tear than most cars. Given proper maintenance though it should be just as reliable as less-powerful BMWs.

With the roof up there's 350 litres of boot space – lower it (a process that takes 19 seconds) and that falls to 300 litres, 13 litres less than the Jaguar XKConvertible. The rear seats can accommodate two full size adults at a squeeze, or can double up as extra luggage space and there's a sizeable glove box for your valuables in the front. Thanks to a larger 80-litre fuel tank than its V10-powered predecessor, and fuel-consumption improved by 30 per cent the M6 Convertible can travel a useful 480-miles between fill-ups.

Priced at just under £100,000, the M6 Convertible costs around £5,000 more than the Coupe, but approximately £4,500 less than its closest rival, the Jaguar XKR-S Convertible. Considering the 407bhp 650i Convertible M Sport costs less than £80,000, the M6 is a lot of money for not much more, but the performance is truly astonishing. Standard equipment includes dual-zone climate control, a head-up display and sat-nav with a 10.2-inch colour screen. Carbon ceramic brakes and 20-inch alloys (instead of the standard 19-inch wheels) can be ordered as an option.

Thanks to stop-start, direct fuel-injection, variable valve timing and the turbochargers the new M6 uses around 30 per cent less fuel that its predecessor, despite a 52bhp advantage. Drive enthusiastically though and the fuel consumption can drop as low as single figures, repair bills and servicing will not be cheap either. You can expect lose around 50 per cent of its value over three years, too
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The same 207bhp 2.0-litre TSI petrol engine found in the GTI hatchback powers the GTI Cabriolet. The extra weight of the folding roof mechanism and all-important body strengthening dents performance, but it can still sprint from 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds - it even sounds good. The excellent driving position and delightfully weighted controls provide a very rewarding drive, feeling well suited to almost any type of journey. It's not as manic as the MINI JCW Convertible, but still provides plenty of excitement on a twisty road.

All GTI models come with sports suspension as standard, which provides a firmer ride than but it remains comfortable enough for everyday use. The seats are very supportive and are beautifully finished in traditional red and black tartan cloth. There is a faint but noticeable amount of wind-noise at motorway speeds, but it's a small price to pay for the wind-in-the-hair thrills that a convertible offers. Volkswagen is well known for its class-leading interiors - the GTI Cabriolet's feels both sporty and upmarket.

The GTI Cabriolet is based on the latest Golf hatchback, which has an excellent reliability and safety record. Build quality is also very high. While there are no visible roll hoops, it is fitted with a pop-up system which activates if the car detects it's about to roll over. Electronic stability and anti-skid control are fitted as standard, plus there are front, side head/thorax and driver's knee airbags.

Occupants have plenty of room inside the GTI cabriolet, even with the roof up. The lack of rear doors makes climbing into the rears quite tricky however, especially for taller passengers, who will also feel quite exposed when the roof is down. With the wind deflector fitted, buffeting is heavily reduced but just like the standard Golf Cabriolet, it fits over the back seats turning the GTI cabriolet into a two-seater. The electric roof takes 11.5 seconds to close and 9.5 seconds to open. The boot is a reasonable size at 250 litres whether the roof is up or down, and the rear seats fold flat allowing owners to carry longer items. The glovebox and door bins are also useful size.

The Golf Cabriolet is priced around £4,000 more than the hatchback, which seems quite expensive. Nevertheless, resale values of VWs are generally higher than most makes, so you'll get some of the value back when you sell the car on. The GTI Cabriolet is well equipped with 18-inch alloy wheels, a leather sports steering wheel, tartan cloth trim, cruise control and parking sensors fitted as standard.

Considering the performance on offer and the extra 138kg of weight over the hatchback, the GTI Cabriolet's official fuel consumption of 37.2mpg and 36.7 for the DSG automatic, are quite impressive. Emissions of 177g/km put the six-speed manual in Road Tax Band I. Servicing costs should be very manageable as it heavily based on VW's standard family hatchback.

The Vauxhall Astra VXR is just about as extreme as a hot-hatch gets. It produces 276bhp from its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, which allows it to accelerate from 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds. When it comes to twisty roads, the VXR feels incredibly at home. There is a huge amount of grip – so much so that it's difficult to trouble the Astra at legal road speeds – and there's a good amount of feedback through the steering wheel. All of those aspects help to cement the Astra VXR's place as a car for people who enjoy driving quickly. 

As a focused hot-hatch the VXR was never going to have supple, comfortable suspension. Instead it gets an extremely firm set up that is great for handling but not so good for soaking up bumpy and rough roads. The seats are comfortable but spend anything over an hour in them and you’ll begin to feel a few aches. It should be said though, that the VXR's ride compares well with other models in this class like the VW Scirocco R and Renaultsport Megane 265. There's also the option to firm up the suspension even further with a Sport and a VXR mode. 

Vauxhall have been moving up in public opinion surveys concerning the reliability of their cars so we’re expecting the Astra VXR to perform well. All of the parts used have been tried and tested elsewhere in the Vauxhall line-up and have been jointly engineered between teams in England and Germany. The VXR hasn’t been tested for crash safety by Euro NCAP but the Astra GTC on which it is based has, and received a five-star rating in the process. 

Despite its compact shape and swooping lines the VXR remains a fairly practical car. With all the seats in place it has 380 litres of boot space but this figure can be increased to 1,165 litres by folding the rear seats down. Seating passengers is a bit more of an issue as access to the back seats is a little difficult in this three-door-only model. 

The Astra VXR is more expensive than the Renaultsport Megane 265 and Ford Focus ST but less expensive than the Volkswagen Scirocco R. Equipment levels are relatively generous, with electric windows, air-conditioning, DAB radio, FlexRide and a limited slip-differential to improve cornering, all included in the price. An optional Aero pack costs £995 and Vauxhall believes that 85 per cent of buyers will specify it on their VXR. 

With stop/start as standard Vauxhall has done its best to keep running costs low on the VXR. Fuel economy is quoted as 34.9mpg but on our test drive we found that figures of 25mpg were more accurate. CO2 emissions of 189g/km will mean a fairly hefty road tax bill too. With this kind of performance it's reasonable to expect insurance to be expensive and you might find yourself shelling out for new front tyres quite regularly too.