Audi’s THIRD GENERATION SPELLS END OF THE ROAD AFTER 20 YEARS
YOU are looking at a condemned man. Not me, but the Audi TT.
The word on the street is that when this version ends its life, it won’t be replaced.
Well, it’s had a long life I suppose. It was launched in 1998 and, since then, half a million have been sold.
The TT has never been a hardcore sports car that would have stolen too many sales from Porsche’s Cayman or Boxster, but it’s an easy car to live with and looks great.
We’re now on to generation three of the TT and the car that you see on the page in front of you is a mild facelift of it.
The design of the grille has been changed, new wheels and colours are available and S Line spec cars (like our test version) have slightly bigger bumpers.
A bigger change is to the engines offered – or, rather, one that isn’t.
The diesel has been given the chop for the simple reason that demand has dropped.
Brits bought more diesel TTs than mainland Europeans, but the demonisation of the fuel has made it not worth building. Pity, as the diesel TT was both frugal and pleasant to drive.
This leaves a choice of four petrol engines. The first three are four-cylinder 2.0-litre motors with 197bhp,
242bhp and a 302bhp version fitted to the four-wheel drive TTS only (the less powerful motors are available in 2wd and 4wd versions).
Engine talk brings us to Audi’s daft naming strategy. Our S Line car had the 242bhp motor so fits into the
45 naming bracket for Audis with between 230bhp and 252bhp, making up the full name of Audi TT Coupe TFSI 45 S Line.
This mouthful will cost you
£37,405, or £44,765 if you add as many options as our car carried. Ours had Glacier white paint at £575 and very sexy RS-style wheels at another £795.
These are the items I’d have on my car because they add a lot of style for the money. Inside we have the highlight of Audi’s now five-yearold digital instrument pack, aka Virtual Cockpit.
It’s a wonderful system when you’ve got the navigation function on it at night, but the one drawback is that your passenger can’t see it.
It’s a boon to safety if you can get your companion to manage the infotainment side of things while you concentrate on driving.
The TT is fine to drive. It’s quick and has fantastic road holding and traction with trademark Quattro
4wd, but it hasn’t got the connection with the road you get in the Porsche rivals mentioned earlier.
What the TT offers that they don’t is two rear seats. They’re very small, and useful only for kids, but it’s a game changer if you have a family.
And then there’s the boot. Drop the folding rear seats and you have a massive 712 litres of space.
The TT has never been sporty enough to really appeal to me, so I won’t be going for the Kleenex when it finally goes.
Except for the TT RS, which is fitted with Audi’s famous 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine that has almost
400bhp and produces one of the most dramatic sounds of any modern engine.
That TT I really will miss when
it’s gone to the gallows.