- Doors and Seats
2 doors, 4 seats
- Engine
2.0T, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
155kW, 350Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (98) 7.1L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto (DCT)
- Warranty
3 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
Performance art
There aren't many watershed car designs but the original Audi TT was one of them. When it was released seven years ago, its hooped-shaped roof, starchily creased flanks and bulbous wheel arches were the talk of car designers - and car admirers - around the world. Some pundits even suggested that the Audi TT is what the 21st century Porsche 911 should have looked like.
It was so inspirational, in fact, that elements of the Audi TT's design have been copied by car makers around the world. Even the next-generation Holden Commodore will have design themes pioneered by the Audi TT (check the wheel arches and the waistline crease).
Which is why the original Audi TT was always going to be a hard act to follow. How does the creator of the most trend-setting car design of the past decade top its first effort?
By barely changing it at all, it seems. At a glance, you could mistake the new Audi TT for the old one.
With the new TT, Audi has taken style as a given and focused its attention instead on how the new TT drives.
The first-generation Audi TT was a textbook case of style over substance. It was a coupe body mounted on Volkswagen Golf underpinnings and it showed. Despite the Bauhaus-inspired appearance, it wasn't a truly great drive.
The original TT may have ended up boasting a strong range of turbo and V6 engines and all-wheel-drive but it lacked finesse. Its tactile messages were gagged by a combination of numb steering, inconsistent handling and a less than composed ride. As sports cars go, there were clearly better choices.
This time, however, Audi has sought to ensure the second-generation TT will challenge the likes of the BMW Z4 Coupe, Mercedes-Benz SLK and Porsche Cayman.
The new model is due on sale in Australia in limited numbers from October this year. Two engines will be available: a turbocharged 2.0-litre, four-cylinder and a 3.2-litre V6. Prices are yet to be confirmed but Drive understands that the turbo will start from $70,000 and the V6 will be priced close to $90,000. Audi Australia is understood to be trying to secure a car for the Sydney motor show in October.
We didn't want to wait, so we arranged a drive of one near Audi's headquarters in Ingolstadt, south west Germany.
While the TT is instantly familiar, Audi's new single-frame grille and more steeply raked headlights (said to be inspired by a tiger) attempt to distinguish it from the original.
However, the most significant aspect of the new TT is under the skin: the way it's built.
At the core of the new TT is a lightweight aluminium spaceframe. The body panels are a mixture of aluminium and steel. This combines to create an improved front-to-rear weight balance (58:42 for the technically minded).
The primary target of the new design was to reduce weight and, at 1430kg, the range-topping 3.2-litre V6 model is 60kg lighter than the car it replaces.
What's more, the weight is concentrated lower than before, meaning the new car has a more favourable centre of gravity, something Audi's head of development, Ulrich Hackenburg, says is the key to improved handling.
Stretching the distance between the front and rear wheels by 39mm (to 2468mm) has created more legroom for front seat occupants and there's extra head and shoulder room, too. This is important because the earlier model (said to feel like you were sitting inside a helmet) was a smidgen too snug.
The wider and more supportive front seats are also mounted lower - which means it's now easier to get in and out without cracking your head on the heavily curved roof - yet the waistline is just as high, so you feel even more cocooned than before once the door is closed.
It's a feeling no other car has and a characteristic that will undoubtedly appeal to current TT owners. The rear seat is really only token accommodation and suitable for small children only, owing to an almost complete lack of legroom.
Everything about the interior is new but at the same time it is instantly familiar to anyone who has spent time in the first-generation TT. Predominantly dark soft-touch plastic combines with brushed aluminium highlights to provide a classy environment that's high on quality.
It is a simple design but highly effective from an ergonomic standpoint. Would you expect anything else from Audi?
Highlights include a terrific flat-bottomed steering wheel, clear and easily read white-on-black instruments housed under a single hood and a centre console angled toward the driver.
Despite the increased length of the rear side windows, over-the-shoulder visibility remains restricted. However, this is made up for in some way by huge exterior mirrors mounted on the doors.
Under the distinctive clamshell bonnet of the range-topping version we tested lurks Audi's familiar 3.2-litre V6 engine, now with direct injection (and a high 11.3:1 compression ratio). The engine is mounted transversely but now slightly lower and further back in the engine bay - both in a bid to improve the new car's centre of gravity and ensure sufficient clearance from the bonnet in line with the latest European pedestrian safety regulations.
The compact four-valve-per-cylinder unit produces 186kW at 6300rpm along with 320Nm of torque on a band of revs between 2800rpm and 3200rpm. These are not startling figures (the Porsche Cayman S delivers 36kW more from an engine of comparable capacity) but with the new TT tipping the scales below the car it replaces, the power-to-weight ratio has improved from 125kW/tonne to 135kW/tonne.
It is a hugely satisfying engine with crisp response, strong low-end pulling power, a broad power band and impeccable refinement. Revisions to the exhaust also see it deliver an even more memorable soundtrack than before.
In Australia, the new TT will also be available with a turbocharged 2.0-litre, four-cylinder direct injection engine. The unit used in the Golf GTI, it musters 150kW and 280Nm of torque.
The defining feature of the new TT's driveline, however, is Audi's updated self-shifting six-speed manual gearbox (known as DSG when fitted to VWs), as fitted to our test car.
Available as an option instead of a conventional six-speed manual, the double-clutch unit is perfectly suited to the V6's flexible nature, with the best of both words: a fully automatic mode in which the shifts are performed with all the subtlety of the latest torque converter gearboxes, or manual capability via the gear lever or paddles behind the steering wheel.
It even provides blips of the throttle on downchanges. Neat. Audi has not yet decided whether Australia will be available with one or both transmissions on TTs sold locally.
With a further developed version of its predecessor's all-wheel-drive system,off-the-line traction remains one of the Audi's greatest assets. The 0-100kmh time is a claimed 5.7 seconds - a good half a second inside the old TT V6's time. Top speed, as before, remains pegged at 250kmh. Unlike the original TT's glued-on rear wing, the new model has a neat pop-up spoiler which rises automatically at 120kmh and can be deployed at lower speeds at the press of a button.
The new TT feels more secure in corners than its predecessor. You're immediately aware that it tracks more faithfully and is more resistant to cross winds at freeway speeds. When you come off the power there are none of the corkscrew antics that affected its predecessor.
On winding roads, the new TT proves more fluid and eager to follow instructions than the first-generation model did. The lines of communication between the driver and car are clearer and more defined.
A large part of this can be put down to the new car's chassis, which has been completely redesigned with increased use of aluminium components and wider wheel tracks (44mm at the front and 53mm at the rear). In combination with the increased wheelbase, the new car's footprint is significantly larger and it feels more connected with the road, allowing the driver to read the conditions with a greater level of confidence.
Body control is generally excellent with less pitch and roll over undulations and mid-corner irregularities. The speed-sensitive power-assisted steering, an electro-hydraulic system based on the one used in the A3, is light around town but weights up nicely and has accurate turn in.
That said, it could do with a touch more feel and greater levels of feedback when you're pushing hard. At the limit, the TT's natural tendency is to understeer. Still, if you're prepared to keep your foot planted and rely on the ability of the four-wheel-drive system to shift power from the front wheels towards the rear in the faction of a second, it can be made to corner in a fantastically neutral manner. It's a process that calls for early braking and delicate steering inputs but it is highly satisfying and elevates the new Audi's dynamic prowess to a level where it can genuinely be regarded as a rival to the Porsche Cayman S.
The new Audi is significantly stiffer and more rigid than its predecessor. Audi has used this to fine-tune the MacPherson strut (front) and multi-link (rear) suspension, which employs stiffer springs and dampers as well as larger diameter anti-roll bars than before.
At low speeds you're aware of the inherent stiffness but it is not as harsh as a BMW Z4 on pockmarked sections of bitumen. Up the pace and the ride becomes nicely composed. Audi's optional Magnetic Ride suspension system lowers the car compared with the standard suspension and at the same time offers continuously adaptive damping, with the stiffness of the TT's magnetically charged oil-filled damper units altered automatically by electronic pulses dependent on road conditions and driving characteristics. It will, for example, firm up the dampers under hard braking to reduce dive. It also has the choice between Normal and Sport settings. Sport mode is clearly intended to cater for those who don't mind an aggressive set-up. It's bearable but not on long journeys.
So, how does the new Audi TT rate? The second-generation TT represents a huge leap forward from its predecessor. But it had to be. The game has moved on and car makers need to do more than simply trigger emotions in people by design.
Sports cars are meant to be driven and, with the new TT, Audi has finally built a car that you actually want to drive. It's just a pity that it looks like the old one. Then again, maybe that's a good thing.
On sale in Australia from October.
Prices and details correct at time of publication.