2016 Audi TT Road Test Review

The car in question for this review has become sort of an iconic model since its launch initially in 1998. The Audi TT, currently in its 3rd generation, has always been known all over the world as a very famous sports car from the German car maker. Audi has got this latest generation of the TT into India and we road test it to find out what has actually changed on it. Read our detailed road test review.

Food For Thought: Audi showcased the latest generation TT at the 2014 Detroit Motor Show as the Audi Allroad Shooting Brake Concept car model and later that year as the 3rd Generation TT, at the Geneva Motor Show. Audi builds the TT only at its Hungary plant. This also happens to be the first car to use Laser Beam Welding on its 1st generation model. India saw the 2nd Generation TT and now the 3rd.

Exteriors:

First look at the Audi TT and you instantly notice the taut, muscular and ready-to-pounce look of it. The original iconic basic design is kept very much alive on this latest generation TT by adding in a lot of modern styling to the overall package. Upfront, the face now gets a lot sharper with the single frame hexagonal Audi family grille, with a slim chrome line running outside and glossy black slats running horizontally.

The headlights get a very sharp and angular designing and now feature the Audi Matrix LED technology along with new design day time running lights in them. The front bumper gets large air dams on both the lower edges. The bonnet has a sloped start just above the center grille and flows back with two sharp character lines on either sides that neatly mate with the Matrix headlights.

The side profile on the TT gets highlighted with beefed-up, muscular-looking wheel arches and a sharply dominating waistline that runs across the length of the car, starting at the headlights and ending at the tail light. The roofline slopes down towards the tail, completing the sports coupe styling. The TT, being a two door sports car, gets a largish quarter glass on the C-pillar. The glass on the door gets frameless windows. Wing mirrors look perfectly chiseled in shape and get body color housing. The sides get further highlighted with the super sporty-looking five double-spoke silver alloys mounted on 245/40 R18 93Y tubeless low profile tyres.

To keep things at the sportiest best, the TT comes with a silver color fuel lid which when opened has no inner fuel tank cap in it, so fuel can be directly filled in here. The tail section gets neatly integrated LED tail lamps that have a very unique glow to them. A neat little electrically openable spoiler embeds itself on the bootlid. This spoiler also deploys automatically at high speeds. The TT gets the sequence style dynamic blinking turn light that glows like the Audi R8 and other latest generations Audis.

Being a sports coupe with a sloping roofline, the rear windshield sits at a sharp angle. The rear profile gets highlighted by twin round exhaust pipes that are neatly housed in the lower section of the largish rear bumper diffuser section. The Audi TT is an complete head-turner, with people gathering around it wherever we went, requesting permission to click pictures and selfies. Needless to say, the build quality is top-notch and the TT in the blood-red color that we had, is a total attention magnet.

Interiors:

You don’t even need to enter the cabin of this car to feel the sportiness. Open the door and one view inside is enough to know it all. Seating is at a low height as this is a sports car. Get inside the TT and you will be amazed with how well the sports seats hug you. There is no B-pillar on this car, so the front seat belts feeder are mounted in the seats itself. Needless to say, these seats are fully electrically adjustable. The dashboard is an all-black affair made of some real nice soft material that not only feels premium to the touch, but also helps in sound-damping.

Audi has got in the Virtual Cockpit on to the New TT. This involves a 12.3-inch all digital, full color display screen that works as the instrument cluster that’s actually mounted inside a cockpit-like housing. This is a highly detailed and versatile display unit that has various display settings to choose from. The speedo and RPM digital dials in white glow and red needles floating on them look very pleasing to the eye.

The display also doubles up as the multi-screen display having the Audi MMI, GPS, Vehicle settings, multimedia etc. While in the GPS mode, the speedo and the RPM meter go small in size while the entire screen displays the route map. This latest gen MMI system can be controlled by the smart touch dial placed in the center console. This rotary dial also has a touch pad on it where you can scribble alphabets, numbers etc. in the various modes.

The center dash has the turbine shaped AC vents; these vents have the digital climate control setting on them. These have a very different click on them. This different-looking climate control unit not only looks good, but also is an absolute pleasure to use. The TT comes with a three-spoke flat bottom steering wheel that feels and is very sporty. You get all the control buttons mounted here. Paddle shifters are a part of this steering wheel too.

The audio section on this car is taken care of by a 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen unit. This is an excellent sound system that needs to be experienced to understand its clarity and richness. The seats come in premium leather upholstery. Our test car came in a nice tan color. Front seating is extra sporty with the seats hugging you just perfectly. The rear seats are best meant for kids with not much practicality to seat adults.

There is a lot of minute detailing all around the cabin area with metal inserts, leather wrapping, brushed metal surrounds etc. that make this cabin extremely sporty. The gear shifter is an S-Tronic unit by default. Needless to say that sport pedals are also a part of the equipment list. Everything inside the cabin feels extremely sporty and oozes top class quality on them. The Audi TT comes with a boot capacity of 305-litres that can be further extended by folding down the rear seats if needed.

Engine–Performance-Drive:

The latest generation Audi TT comes powered by a inline 4-cylinder 2.0-litre TFSi Petrol engine that makes 230 PS between 4500-6200 RPM and belts out 370 Nm of peak torque between 1600-4300 RPM. This turbo petrol engine is mated to a 6-speed Dual Clutch S-Tronic automatic transmission. Start the engine using the start/stop button and the powerful engine idles with a very sporty growl.

Shift to the drive mode and the car surges ahead instantly. There is no evident turbo lag at any speeds. The gear shifts go unnoticed. We have always been big fans of this dual clutch transmissions (DSG) and this one’s another gem. The drive quality is amazingly sturdy, remember the TT comes with a Quattro System (All Wheel Drive) and this helps immensely in keeping the TT totally glued to the tarmac. The upshifts and downshifts are very quick and the engine roar increases as the speed builds.

If you feel the auto transmission is still not intriguing, then shifting via the paddle shifters will make you grin. You can toy along the gears at any speeds and the engine will play along. Not in the least forgetting, the Audi Drive Select System that’s in the TT package as well. Using this, the driver can choose between Auto, Comfort, Dynamic, Efficiency and Individual preset modes. The gear shifts, steering feedback, suspension setup and also the engine roar, all changes depending on which mode you choose to drive in.

In the Comfort and Efficiency modes, the gear ratios are shorter to enhance mileage and drive comfort. In the Dynamic mode the engine revs up higher and the gear shifts are the longest. The steering gets harder, thus offering a lot more feedback, the engine roar is louder and the suspension gets a lot stiffer. The Audi TT is an extremely sweet-to-handle car; it gives the driver a lot of confidence while being put in tight corners at high speeds. The Quattro all wheel drive system helps the drive quality and adds a lot of drive-fun factor to the package.

Also keep in mind that the latest generation TT weighs 1,410 kgs, that is around 50 kgs lesser than the outgoing one, all thanks to the Volkswagen Groups MQB Platform and Audi Space Frame. A fast car like this needs good powerful brakes and the Dual Circuit Brake system with diagonal split and ESC with torque vectoring brakes, do an excellent job. In simple words, the brakes on the TT are very reassuring and offer just the right bite. The Audi TT has a top speed of 250 kmph and can do 0 to 100 in 5.3 seconds. Audi claims a overall fuel efficiency of 14.33 kmpl for this one.

Verdict:

The Audi TT is a very well-known car model and with this all new generation Audi has managed to preserve its original lineage while giving an overall modern touch to the car model. The interiors are extremely exciting and so are the exteriors. Innovative features like Audi Virtual Cockpit, are very addictive and the intelligent Matrix lighting work extremely well in real world conditions. The fun factor involved in driving the TT is immensely high and the car can bring a smile to your face for a long long time. Yes, the Audi TT is a head-turner!

2016 Audi TT Photo Gallery:

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Pics by Dr. Anand Narvekar