Audi TT Mk3 2014-present
THREE GENERATIONS IN, the Audi TT’s enduring popularity and premium badge mean you’ll need to dig deeper than buyers of the Peugeot and VW – especially if you want comparable performance. The most basic, lowestpowered third-generation TT like the one photographed here costs around £18k. Most are diesels, because company car drivers have been lured by its cheap BiK tax status and 63mpg official fuel figure. Our car is a more fitting petrol, albeit boasting just the 1.8 litres. But there is no shortage of choice in TT world – not just petrols and diesels, manuals and autos, but convertibles and quattro all-wheel-drive models too.
Entry-level Sport spec looks sharp – if slightly undernourished – and gets an interior that blends minimalism, solidity and exquisite detailing: air-con controls integrated with the air vents, dials that click with the precision of expensive watch mechanisms and the brilliant Virtual Cockpit that comes as standard with sat-nav. The S-line upgrade – 19in wheels, LED headlights, brawnier body styling, sports seats – is sought after and thankfully common.
The drive? Well, a vanilla Mk3 TT is a far more engaging thing to chuck over a winding road than its predecessors – and that’s not to damn it with faint praise, because it’s very good – but you need to work our car hard to overcome the lethargy of the 1.8-litre turbo four. It’s strong enough with 178bhp, and Audi claims a 6.9sec sprint from zero to 62mph, but it’d struggle to pull ze skin off ze reispudding.
We’d at least upgrade to the 2.0 TFSI, with a handier 227bhp, and it’s not much pricier at £20k or so. But if you can, get the TTS. Even relatively low milers are dipping below £25k, and they not only look more sporting but have 302bhp of muscle to give the chassis an Insanity training video-style work-out. On track or on a great road, it’s an involving drive. If you want even more then you’re well into the £40k bracket with a TT-RS. No, for us, the TTS is the best all-round buy.