Twenty years after the series premiere of the original TT, the third generation of the Audi TT is receiving a comprehensive update. The design icon takes the stage with a sporty and refined exterior design, higher-powered engines and an extended range of standard equipment.
The first generation of the Audi TT made its series premiere in 1998. Three years before, Audi had presented the TT as a concept car – a Coupé – at the IAA in Frankfurt followed by a Roadster at the Tokyo Motor Show. Tremendously successful from the outset, not long after its market launch, the TT Coupé moved to the top of the segment.
The Audi TT stands for driving pleasure, design and attention to detail: aluminium elements in the driver-oriented interior, progressive rim design, a short, ball-shaped gear lever knob, characteristic tank flap and round, dual-branch tailpipes are among the typical features of this compact sports car. The design with its incisive geometric forms has won fans all over the world.
Refined, enhanced, extended
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first Audi TT, the brand is highlighting the sports car character of the new model. Audi has refined the design of the new TT, enhanced its performance and extended the range of standard equipment. Besides the driver-oriented Audi virtual cockpit, the basic version of the new model now features the Audi drive select dynamic handling system, a rain and light sensor, heated exterior mirrors and the multifunction steering wheel plus, allowing the infotainment and voice control system to be controlled entirely using the steering wheel. Also standard are the illuminated USB ports as well as Bluetooth for wireless pairing of devices.
Sporty and expressive: the exterior design
More masculine, more progressive and even sportier than before – the exterior design of the new TT features a three-dimensional Singleframe radiator grille with large side air inlets that emphasise the width even in the basic version.
At the rear, horizontal lines again underscore the width of the new Audi TT and there is no cap underneath the tank flap with its classic TT design, allowing the driver to insert the fuel pump nozzle directly into the opening – a typical sports car feature. Headlights with LED or Matrix LED technology are optionally available, the dynamic indicators a visual highlight.
The new designed, optional S line exterior package underscores the sporty character of the Audi TT even more with its full-length front splitter, vertical air inlets, a radiator grille in titanium black and specific side sills with inserts as well as a sporty rear end. Added is a wider diffuser and vertical air inlets below the rear lights with three horizontal fins each.
The TT Coupé and the TT Roadster are each 4.19 metres in length, with a wheelbase of 2.51 metres allowing for short overhangs. Riding on 17-inch wheels as standard, Audi and Audi Sport optionally offer 18, 19 and 20-inch wheels. Three new colours complete the range of paint finishes with cosmos blue, pulse orange and turbo blue (S line only).
High-powered: the engines
The new TT boasts a range of petrol engines in various performance levels, paired either with the six-speed manual transmission or a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. In both transmission variants, the close-ratio lower gears enable powerful acceleration, while the wide ratio of each transmission’s highest gear keeps the engine speed down. All new engines come with a fuel particulate filter.
Effortlessly sporty: suspension and quattro drive
The new Audi TT offers handling that is both dynamic and precise. With the S line sport package or Audi magnetic ride, the body is lowered by 10 millimetres, while other chassis highlights include progressive steering, four-link rear suspension and Electronic Stabilisation Control (ESC). The wheel-selective torque control is activated in fast cornering and improves handling as required by means of precise brake interventions on the unloaded wheels on the inside of a curve.
Driver-oriented: the cockpit and the assistance systems
The driver-oriented interior retains its clear lines – the slender instrument panel reminiscent an aircraft wing while the round air vents with integrated controls pay homage to jet engines – a classic TT detail.
Sport seats with integrated head restraints are standard on the Audi TT, while S sport seats (standard in the S line sport package) with pneumatically adjustable side bolsters are optionally available. The luggage compartment of the 2+2 seater affords 305 litres of space underneath the stretched tailgate, while the Roadster offers 280 litres.
All important information appears in digital form on the 12.3-inch display of the Audi virtual cockpit, where the driver can choose between the classic view with the speedometer and tachometer in the centre, or the ‘Infotainment’ mode where content such as the navigation map is enlarged. The new sport display is optionally available and provides information on the engine output currently in use, as well as the torque and g-forces.
The MMI terminal on the centre console has just six keys, while the top-of-the-line MMI navigation plus with MMI touch integrates a touchpad on the upper surface of the rotary/push-button control that recognises handwritten input and allows zooming, for example. In addition, the voice control system can be used to convey commands using everyday speech.
Audi connect brings various online services on-board via fast LTE. The Audi smartphone interface connects smartphones with the car and can stream content seamlessly to the Audi virtual cockpit via USB. The new Audi TT is also available with the Bang & Olufsen Sound System, which features a 680 watt amplifier with a total of 14 channels, as well as 12 speakers, including two centre speakers and two bass boxes.
The driver assistance systems embody the TT philosophy, allowing the driver to fully concentrate on the road. The line-up extends from Audi side assist, Audi active lane assist and traffic sign recognition to the park assist with display of the surroundings and a rearview camera.
Classic: TT Roadster with soft top
Like every open-top Audi, the new TT Roadster comes with a soft top in either black or grey that provides a taut fit and excellent sound insulation making it an ‘acoustic top’. Weighing just 39 kilograms, it can be opened or closed at speeds of up to 50km/h in around 10 seconds using the electrical drive.
History
The Audi TT is a design icon. Ever since the premiere of the first concept car in 1995, the Audi TT has stood for driving pleasure, design and attention to detail. When the first Audi TT Coupé came onto the market in late 1998, and the first TT Roadster one year later, the series-production products differed only slightly from the previously displayed show cars – the dream of any designer. The central design motif was the circle: the arcs of the roof, the front and the rear stood in contrast to the strictly horizontal lines.
1995: the Audi TT concept car
At the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt am Main, Audi presented the first Audi TT as a concept sports car with high suitability for everyday use. It took Technical Development and a team of Audi designers very little time to come up with the concept for a sporty coupé. In November 1995, the Roadster version made its premiere as a TTS concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show. The outer lines of the two show cars followed the German design philosophy, and recalled the rounded shapes of the pre-war racing cars and post-war sedans of Auto Union. The interior rested on the principle of “as much as necessary and as little as possible.” With their farsighted concept that epitomised revolutionary automotive design, the TT studies met with an enthusiastic response, but Audi remained noncommittal for many years regarding the possible production of the two model versions, however.
1998: the first generation of the Audi TT
Closely based on the show car, the production model with its formally coherent design idiom has remained a milestone of innovative automotive design to the present day. Its aspiration was clear in the tiniest of details: aluminium elements in the interior, progressive wheel design, a short, spherical gear knob and round tailpipes positioned closely to one another. It was also the first time that Audi adopted the rapid-shifting dual-clutch transmission – the so-called S tronic – in one of its series-production models. Power output ranged from 110kW to 184kW.
2006: the second generation TT
The design of the second generation of the successful sports car was formally more integrated in the Audi design idiom and the driving dynamics were those of a full-grown athlete. The turbocharged four-cylinder engines developed between 118kW and 155kW. Audi extended the lineup with an S version producing 200kW and the Audi TT RS with 250kW. The later TT RS plus version produced 265kW. Ground-breaking technologies such as the Audi Space Frame (ASF) lightweight construction, TFSI engines and the powerful five-cylinder engine played key roles in the car’s success. The second Audi TT was the first sports car to use TDI technology.
2014: the third-generation TT
The third generation of the Audi TT came across as being even sportier, more dynamic and more innovative than its predecessor. One characteristic feature persisted through all generations: the round tank flap with the typical TT logo.