Last week we had the opportunity to join Audi and its engineers at the automaker’s headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, to learn all we could about the brand’s third-generation TT sports car. Below are the 10 most interesting factoids we could unearth, all to satiate your hunger for TT knowledge.
1. There Are No Common Parts
To date, Audi has built a half-million TTs over two generations. While the new third-generation model may look quite similar to its predecessor, there are no shared parts between the second-gen TT and the new model.
2. It’s Wolfgang Egger’s Baby
It’s been a turbulent few months at Audi design. Chief designer Wolfgang Egger was reassigned to Italdesign Giugiaro in December and replaced by Marc Lichte. Lichte’s arrival, however, was too late to have any significant influence over the new TT’s design. What you see is among Egger’s final contributions to Audi as its chief of design.
3. Well, It’s Really Ferdinand Piëch’s Baby
According to our sources, the original TT was supposed to be revealed in concept form as a roadster. But Ferdinand Piëch himself insisted on introducing the sports car as a coupe at the Frankfurt auto show in 1995. Piëch had a sizeable say in the new TT, too, as he scuppered any possibility of altering the coupe’s unique rear-end treatment, demanding that it remain true to the original’s shape.
4. The TT RS Is Coming
There’s no official word yet, but we received a lot of winks and a confirmation that the five-cylinder would fit in the new TT’s engine bay. So why did Audi have a 420-hp turbo four on its show stand in Geneva? To keep its engineers on their toes. The five-cylinder TT RS should make close to 400 horsepower.
5. A Shooting Brake Is Still on the Table
Audi R&D chief Ulrich Hackenberg has said that that there could be a shooting brake variant of the TT. There’s been more further information past that, but it’s a realistic possibility. If such a model would come to fruition, it would take many styling cues from the Allroad Shooting Brake concept that debuted at the Detroit auto show. Of course, the second-generation TT was previewed by a shooting brake concept, too, but this one actually has a chance to be built.
Audi Allroad Shooting Brake Concept
6. The Best MQB Yet
The TT is based on the Volkswagen Group’s MQB architecture, but it is more dynamic and handles better than any other MQB vehicle to date. The floor has been lowered by 0.4 inch, the magnetic drive damping system is optimized to further reduce roll, and the all-wheel-drive system has been re-engineered with a control unit on the rear clutch.
7. There’s Evidence of Weight Savings Everywhere
Torsional stiffness has been improved by 25 percent, and the car is 50 pounds lighter than its predecessor. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the items that have resulted in those savings: Aluminum doors save 38 pounds, new seat structures save 11 pounds, new brakes shave off 11 pounds, using aluminum in the electrical system rather than copper saves six pounds, the engine is eight pounds lighter than its predecessor, wheels are six pounds lighter, the exhaust manifold shaves off five pounds, the Quattro all-wheel-drive system is three pounds lighter than the previous unit, and new materials used in the floor save two pounds.
- Instrumented Test: 2012 Audi TT RS
- Comparison Test: Audi TT RS vs. BMW 1-series M, Infiniti IPL G Coupe
- First Drive: 2015 Audi S3 Sedan
8. The TT and TTS Have Identical Top Speeds
The TTS is governed at 155 mph, the exact same top speed as the standard version. We’re told that without the limiter, though, the TTS could hit 167.
9. The New Infotainment Setup Is for Sports Cars Only
The driver-oriented dashboard of the TT removes the central infotainment display and places a 12.3-inch display in the gauge cluster. We’re told that such a setup wouldn’t be suitable for Audi’s sedans, and that the layout will be restricted to sports cars. Sports cars, we assume, that likely include the next-generation R8.
10. The Headlights Are Inspired By the R18 e-tron Quattro
They may not be lasers like the R18’s, but the signature elements are taken from the Le Mans racer. They’ll likely appear on the next-gen R8, too. The sequential turn signals that Audi refers to as “swiping” are new to the TT, but debuted on the refreshed R8 a year ago.
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