In the UK, we buy more Audi TT's than any other country in the world.
So, can this all-new third-generation T continue our love affair with this stylish coupe?
Well, let's find out.
OK, so the new Audi TT.
I's ready to be ordered in your dealership now, so let's run through the range to start
with.
There are currently three models you can choose from.
There's this car, the 2.0-litre TFSI petrol turbo, now you can choose that with quattro
and the S tronic dual-clutch gearbox, or, as is the case with this car, front wheel
drive and a six speed manual gearbox.
The 2.0-litre TDI Ultra diesel only comes with the front wheel drive and the manual
gearbox, and that only emits 110g/km.
And then there's the TTS, the top of the range, more powerful version of the 2.0-litre petrol
engine.
That won;t come to the UK until next year and I think the order book opens in November.
OK, so that's the range covered, so what's our first impression?
Well, this is an S-Line model, so the exterior styling is a little bit more racy, and when
it comes to the styling this is unquestionably and obviously this car is a TT, so it's very
much an evolutionary step in terms of the exterior styling.
Much like the MINI or the Porsche 911, the TT now seems to be car that just gently evolves
leaving that familiar TT look.
But if you were slightly disappointed that the exterior isn't more different, then you
will be blown away by the interior because the cabin in this car is simply sensational.
It's got a lovely, very slender beautiful dash design, and the reason that Audi have
been able to do that is that all of the controls, there's no separate sat nav screen, no separate
touchscreen, everything is in this new Audi Virtual Cockpit system here, and that is crystal
clear.
You can change the type of view you have, you can have the speedo and the rev counter
quite big with the sat nav or the trip information in the middle quite small.
Or, you can go and have a much much bigger mapping, ad if you switch to the audi or the
telephone or any of those functions, they appear in that screen.
There are no other screens around the car.
And what's really clever is you can control it by the latest MMI controller down here,
but everything can also be controlled by this fantastic multi-function steering wheel.
So the cockpit is really, really spectacular as you'd expect all the materials are fantastic
and there's lots of really nice touches like the air vents have got like a jet engine turbine
effect in the vents, and the actual controller for the temperature and the vents, the little
digital display is in the middle of the vent, so it's really nice.
Everything you touch is top quality, there's lots of nice inlays, a really nice feel to
all the switchgear and the steering wheel and the gearlever are really really nice.
So what's it like to drive?
That's the first question.
Well, if we start from the ground up, the new TT is based on the VW Group's MQB platform,
so that's the platform used by cars like the Audi A3 and VW Golf so it's obviously a pretty
good starting point.
This still retains that unique TT Audi space frame technology so you've got steel used
low down in the car, but higher up in the car most of the material is aluminium, so
the car's quite light - it's 50kg lighter than the outgoing car, 25% stiffer torsional
rigidity and the centre of gravity is a centimetre lower.
That means the car is quite impressive when you get into a corner.
Obviously this is a front wheel drive version so it does feel very much like a hot hatch,
and not in a bad way, it has that sharp, pointy sort of engaging nature that you'd find in
a good hot hatch like the Golf GTI for instance.
Audi have got progressive steering system on the TT which means the ratio changes as
you apply more or less lock.
It does give the car very very sharp, very pointy, quite accurate steering.
It's quite light but it's nicely weighted and really does give you plenty of feel.
In terms of traction, these Spanish roads in this temperature are quite low grip, so
with the front wheel drive you've got real emphasis on traction and actually it's not
that bad, given how low grip these surfaces are.
So, the traction control works very very smoothly, there is an electronic differential as well,
so the car, overall, is really nice to drive.
It's a pretty big step forward from the old car.
It feels more agile, lighter and the rear end feels livelier as well, just feels a bit
more alive than the old car, which is a good thing.
The six-speed manual gearbox is really nice, the exhaust note as I said is good and the
engine delivers really good, punchy performance same as it does in the other places that it's
used like in the golf GTI.
So all in all, it's a really enjoyable experience but like the TT has always been, it's very
good at just being a very useable, easy car to live with day to day.
The ride is much better in this car than the outgoing car.
You can order magnetic ride as an option on this model.
This car we're driving today doesn't have it, but I have to say although it's hard to
judge on sort of smoother Spanish roads, it doesn't ride that badly, even without the
magnetic ride.
It certainly rides better than the outgoing car.
So what's out first impression of the new TT?
Well, I've only driven it briefly but I'm itching to drive it some more and that's certainly
a good sign.
This car does everything the old car did, just that little bit better.
The boot's a fraction bigger, and it handles sharper, it's got more performance, it's cleaner
than ever before and it rides better than the old car.
And thanks to that stunning cabin, it feels special every time you get behind the wheel.
If you want to see some more Audi action, click on the left hand side to see the RS6
Avant take on a Ducati motorbike.
Or, if you want to see some more coupes, click on the right to see the Peugeot RCZ R take
on the Nissan 370Z Nismo.
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