Audi TT coupe review

The Audi TT Coupe has now been on sale for more than 20 years. It’s been a great success for Audi, thanks to its sporty looks and handling, plus its everyday usability. This isn't a hardcore sports car or one that forces you to leave all your luggage behind. That helps it stand out against rivals like the Alpine A110 and Porsche 718 Cayman, both of which are somewhat more focused. The Ford Mustang is larger and more expensive to run, while the Toyota GR 86 is great fun but doesn't feel as upmarket as the Audi.

The Audi TT’s ability to blend top level sports-car driving dynamics together with an array of daily usability gives it a large amount of appeal across a broad spectrum of buyers. Part of this appeal is a reasonable amount of interior and boot space, alongside a chassis that is easy to live with for town driving or long-distance motorway cruising.

The Audi TT was facelifted in early 2019 with tweaked styling, a simplified engine range and changes to the standard equipment. The engine range now consists of a trio of turbocharged petrols including the 195bhp 2.0-litre 40 TFSI model with a seven-speed automatic gearbox sprinting from 0-62mph in 6.6 seconds. The more powerful 2.0-litre 45 TFSI is available with Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system that reduces the 0-62mph time to 5.1 seconds.

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The third variation wears the TTS badge, using a 316bhp version of the 2.0-litre TFSI petrol engine, together with quattro all-wheel drive, to give truly Porsche rivalling performance figures – 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds is possible, with help from the sharp S tronic automatic gearbox.

In 2018, the 2.0-litre diesel version of the TT Coupe was discontinued.

Meanwhile, if you fancy supercar-baiting performance in a compact package, the TT RS can get from 0-62mph in under four seconds and thanks to its 2.5-litre five-cylinder petrol engine - we've reviewed it separately.

The Audi TT’s interior is one of the best in its class. Its minimalist design incorporates clever circular air vents that have climate control temperatures displayed within them, as well as Audi’s Virtual Cockpit’ digital instrument setup, which does away with traditional analogue dials and replaces them with a TFT screen. This display can show all manner of information, including sat nav maps and directions, so you never have to glance far from the road ahead.

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You can technically describe the TT as a four-seater, but it's really a '2+2', with rear seats only really big enough for small children, emergency use or carrying a few soft bags. Handily, those seats fold down, making the large boot even more practical.

Audi has a middling reputation with owners, coming 23rd out of 29 manufacturers in our 2021 Driver Power survey but the TT feels supremely well engineered and built.

We'd expect this Audi TT to become collectable in the next few years, with the news that the next-generation TT is to become an electric four-door coupe.