Audi TT (Mk3, 2014 - 2023) review – curtain call for the coupe/roadster icon

When the Audi TT burst onto the scene in the late ’90s, its Bauhaus style and instant-icon design made much of the mainstream car market look and feel stale overnight. A brand-builder to usher in modern, premium-era Audi, it’s been a stalwart of the company’s range ever since.

While each generation of the TT has been memorable from a design point of view, its driving experience has been less so. Audi has spent considerable time and effort on improving that reputation over the TT’s quarter-century tenure, and it’s an area where the car has certainly progressed in this third generation, launched in 2014.

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The TT, and its TTS and TT RS performance variants, all received a light refresh in 2019, yet their fundamentals remain. Instantly recognisable in silhouette, the TT’s rounded arches and clean surfacing still define its aesthetic, and inside the striking cabin it remains the benchmark in the class.

Does the TT still have a place three generations and two decades after the original, or does it represent a moment in time Audi has held onto for a few years too many? 

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Audi TT: in detail

• > Engine, gearbox and technical highlights > All TTs bar the RS share a 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with between 194bhp and 242bhp depending on spec. The TT is also now DSG-only. 
• > Performance and 0-60 time > That combo of transmission and EA888 four-cylinder turbo engine makes all TTs quick, with even the lowliest model hitting 62mph in 6.6sec.
• > Ride and handling > The TT is a very grippy car, with a tendency toward understeer in most driving scenarios. Multiple drive modes allow dampers, steering, throttle and transmission maps to be tweaked individually.
• > MPG and running costs > The Audi TT isn’t a cheap car to buy but does deliver useful savings in fuel economy and road tax, depending on variant.
• > Interior and tech > A highlight of all TTs, but the Mk3 remains a superb example of design restraint and clever material use.
• > Design > The TT’s unique shape has evolved in this third generation, yet remains instantly recognisable.

Prices, specs and rivals  

Audi’s current TT range is made up of three different powertrain choices, not including the more powerful TTS and TT RS models. All standard TTs make do with a 2-litre turbocharged petrol engine available in 194bhp and 242bhp forms (badged as 40TFSI and 45TFSI versions respectively), and come as standard with a dual-clutch S-tronic transmission. The more powerful of the two versions was available in both front- and quattro all-wheel drive, and now solely in the latter.

These powertrain options are then available in five different trim specifications regardless of engine choice, the choice running to Sport, Sport Edition, S-Line, Black Edition and fully-loaded Vorsprung. Pricing for the most basic Audi TT 40 TFSI Sport starts at around £36,000, rising to a hefty £48,000-plus for the 45 TFSI Vorsprung. The TT Roadster is available in the same spread of versions for an extra £1750 and includes an electrically retracting fabric roof as standard. Audi’s 296bhp TTS kicks off (just) below £50,000, with the TT RS a serious £60,000+.

All models come with niceties such as the now well-established Virtual Cockpit dial pack, leather trim and 18-inch alloys. As is increasingly the case in the wider industry, Audi no longer generally offers a huge array of options, instead bundling different levels of equipment into the five trim levels.

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Few direct coupe and roadster rivals to the TT remain. More serious sports car rivals include Porsche’s remarkably talented yet aurally unsatisfying 718 Cayman, the delectable Mazda MX-5 and muscular Toyota Supra coupe (plus its soft-top BMW Z4 twin) - not forgetting the brilliant but virtually sold-out Toyota GR86. There’s also BMW’s M240i xDrive Coupe, and Mazda’s loveable MX-5 convertible and folding hardtop RF variant.

As the TT ends production, it leaves a hole in the automotive market. The TT was, in many ways, the pinnacle of the mainstream coupe. Considered objectively as a sports car, it was a 60 per cent car: 60 percent as fun as a ‘real’ traditional sports car, and 60 per cent as practical as a traditional hot hatch while not being quite as well-rounded a product as either. 

Considered with the benefit of hindsight over its four-decade-straddling run, it’s been a car with a remarkable breadth and depth of talents. In late-model TTS spec, it’s a genuinely enjoyable drive, it’s packed a great deal of design-value desirability into a platform with humble origins, and it’s easily slotted into many people’s lives and enlivened them just a little. It’ll be missed.