2016 Audi TT: First Drive
What is it: 2016 Audi TT two-seat sports coupe or convertible
Price: Starting at $43,850 for coupe, $47,350 for the ragtop; TTS will start around $52,850.
Competitors: BMW Z4, Porsche Boxster, Mercedes-Bens SLK-Class
Alternatives: Cadillac ATS Coupe, Jaguar F-Type
Pros: A better chassis, with more potential for fun; a surprisingly advanced cockpit
Cons: Some new interior bits that are ergonomically challenged
Would I Buy It With My Own Money? I would, in roadster form — the better to show onlookers how awesome the virtual cockpit is.
As the saying goes, good things come in small packages. And in the case of the 2016 Audi TT, great things come in small packages. All-new from the ground up and brandishing a slew of pioneering technology, the third-generation Audi TT can finally be considered a true sports car, not just a style icon.
The TT hasn’t always been great, particularly as a driver’s car. In its previous two iterations, it felt less like a sports car than a Volkswagen Golf hiding under an upside-down bathtub. Having moved to the VW’s flexible MQB modular chassis, which Audi claims allows many types of cars to be built and tuned in more unique ways, the TT has come into its own for 2016, not only making a huge leap in “premiumness,” but also exhibiting a newfound eagerness to play. It’s as if the larger, faster Audi R8 supercar swooped in and gave its little brother pointers on how to dance, how to play sports, and how to get laid.
Available once again in coupe and roadster form, the TT is new from the tires to its roof, though the look is decidedly familiar. Details have been sharpened —vertical LED elements in the headlamps recall the R18 racecar; body lines were allegedly drawn with “speed strokes” rather than slow circles, etc. — but the TT grows no larger than its predecessor and remains pretty much round from most angles, rendering its overall look more evolutionary than revolutionary. Wheels sizes are up as well to 18-inch standard, 19s optional, and huge optional 20-inchers slated on the upcoming, coupe-only TTS.
With its relative singularity of purpose as a driver-focused machine, the TT represents a logical place to debut Audi’s new “virtual cockpit” technology, which eliminates traditional controls and combines all displays into a 12.3-inch screen in front of the driver. Should you want to look for radio stations or input navigation information, such can be done via steering wheel buttons, voice activated controls, or a dial capped by a touch-pad for hand-written character input. The display, which required an entirely new, incredibly powerful computer system to run, serves up crystal clear graphics, including brilliant Google Map images.
From the passenger’ seat, as you might expect, the lack of center screen and traditional controls is at first a little odd, and things gets even more odd if the driver, presumably engaged in the act of driving, asks said passenger to turn on some music or input a destination. Even when using the MMI knob, the act of looking behind the steering wheel when scrolling through station lists or inputting navigation data feels somewhere between voyeuristic and intrusive, like fiddling with someone else’s iPhone…while they’re using it.
Audi’s defense: this is a driver-focused car and the driver will be the one doing the fiddling most of the time. For what it’s worth, as the technology makes its way across the lineup — which Audi says will happen as its vehicles are redesigned — the more passenger-focused vehicles like its sedans and crossovers will get a traditional center screen display to compliment the huge virtual cockpit screen. Watch for it to appear next on the new Q7 and A4.
Also rethought are the TT’s climate controls, which are now integrated into the jet-like vents themselves with temp and fan speed adjusted via dials in the center, and air direction controlled by the knurled metallic rings. The roadster is blessed with a ski pass-through and neck-level heating vents in the seats. In other ways, the cabin hasn’t changed much — it still offers a surprising amount of headroom for front passengers under its dome-like roof, but the rear seats are vestigial at best. Materials are as marvelous as ever, especially the tray of faceted aluminum trim lining the center console.
Despite its general adorableness, the TT feels strident and athletic, eager to cajole all 220 turbocharged horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque produced by the 2.0-liter four-cylinder under its hood. Once summoned, the power is sent to all four wheels all of the time, with a rear-axle power bias when the standard Audi Drive Select system is set to “Dynamic.” With the aid of a standard six-speed, paddle-shifted dual clutch automatic transmission, the 3,186-lb. coupe can hit 60 mph in 5.3 seconds, with the 3,384-lb. roadster taking 0.3 seconds longer. The 280-hp, 292-lb-ft TTS should lob another 0.7 seconds from the coupe’s time when it arrives about two months from now.
What truly defines a sports car is what happens when you turn the steering wheel, which in this case is a gorgeous, metal-spoked flat-bottom thing that serves up quick and wonderfully linear response. Particularly satisfying is the steering’s balance of heft and feedback in Dynamic mode, particularly at higher speeds. The overt pushiness that has characterized previous TTs has been replaced by more neutral at-the-limit handling, while the suspension transmits sufficient road texture to the driver without a punishing spleens and rattling fillings. The TTS will also offer magnetic shocks that stiffen or soften automatically depending on driving conditions.
Gripes? A too-soft brake pedal, seats too wide for aggressive cornering (the TTS will offer adjustable bolsters) and a passenger door handle that’s too far forward to grasp when the driver is channeling his or her inner Mario Andretti. Dynamically, that’s about it. Considering all we’ve driven so far is the base model—we should get some seat time in the even sportier TTS soon—this remarkably sporty package has us salivating not just at the prospect of the TTS, but of the even sportier TT-RS that will inevitably appear in coming years.
The 2016 Audi TT is going on sale right as you read this at a starting price of $43,850 for coupes and $47,350 for the ragtop; the TTS will start around $52,850, according to Audi. As stylish as ever and blessed with a radically reimagined cabin, the TT is a sports car for the modern man.