8 May 2015
What a super car!
They wouldn’t be the first to draw styling comparisons between Audi’s latest TT and the R8 supercar, but while we were positioning the sporty little number to photograph near Auckland’s Skytower, one passing middle-aged tourist couple strolling by asked if they could also run off a few pics, with Mrs Tourist getting hubby to snap her standing by the car. It was no skin off our nose, so of course we obliged.
As they wandered away, they thanked us, saying the folks back home would be envious that they got to see one of the first new Audi R8s around. We didn’t have the heart to point out their mistake and tell them this was no $300k supercar, but a sporty, racy little red super car called a TT with a price tag in the early nineties! $91,800 to be exact.
While the TT has always been a brilliant exercise in styling, the new third generation 2015 TT has become a far more serious sports car than before. Serious insofar as the brilliant MQB platform (the same chassis that underpins the latest Volkswagen Golf) provides great handling, there’s brisk performance and an all-round engaging driving experience.
Powered by a 169kW/370Nm 2.0 litre turbo–charged TFSI engine driving the front wheels through a six speed S-Tronic double clutch transmission, the TT sprints from standstill to our open road speed limit in just 5.3 seconds and is claimed to consume 6.5L/100km of high octane juice.
Not just a pretty face
But it’s not only show and go; there’s a ton of technology too. The new dash and interior rates as one of the most impressive we’ve seen, and certainly the most impressive to come from Audi whose brilliantly crafted interiors are always classy, but usually relatively conservative.
The huge 12.3 inch colour screen directly in front of the driver where you’d usually find some plain old dials, is pure brilliance. Audi call this a “Virtual Cockpit”, which describes it perfectly. It can be configured to suit the individual driver’s preference for analogue or digital gauge displays and houses the satellite navigation screen, right there in front of you. So no big tablet-looking screen thing that we’ve become accustomed to seeing, sitting uncomfortably centre-stage atop dashboards in most modern cars.
The other trick point of difference is the air vent controls. These are a work of art in themselves, not just from a visual perspective, but they’re a great piece of engineering brilliance, with the vents themselves incorporating the switchgear. Simple, but effective once you’ve figured them out.
Like before, the TT isn’t the roomiest, particularly in the back seats, which, to be perfectly frank are a bit of a waste of time. Like many 2+2 sports cars, there’s only room for little people back there, and this is hardly the ideal car for a family with a couple of kids, so it’s doubtful those tiddly rear seats will ever be sat in.
High class hatchback
But fold the seats down, and the TT turns into a very practical hatchback with more street cred, style and class than your average two-box humdrum offering.
Build quality is strikingly high class. Fit and finish, and all materials are of the highest quality and the new TT is refined, comfortable and quiet on the road, while still managing to exhibit the dynamic qualities expected of a proper sports car.
It’s every bit at home cruising down the motorway at open road speeds as it is being pushed hard through some twisty back road, or turning heads in the swish and swanky parts of town. A feat very few cars can genuinely lay claim to.
Standard gear includes 18 inch alloys, LED daytime running lamps, xenon headlights, soft and comfortable leather trim, electric seats, heated mirrors and all the usual Bluetooth and media connectivity we’ve come to expect.
We were surprised to find there’s no reversing camera, something we’ve come to expect in cars around a quarter the price, but being of relatively small dimensions, it’s not a major problem, but it’s absence is something we can’t quite forgive.
For an additional $5,000, at $96,800 there’s the option of a TT Roadster and a 228kW/380Nm TTS priced at $122,900. Like the TT, the TTS Roadster also commands a $5k premium, retailing for $127,900.