The 2019 Audi TT RS Gets Some New Colors and Air Scoops, Starts at $67,895

From Car and Driver

• The Audi TT RS is getting minor updates for the 2019 model year, including new colors and visual tweaks.

• It's mechanically identical, with a turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine, all-wheel drive, and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

• The updated 2019 TT RS starts at $67,895, $2020 more than the 2018 model.

UPDATE 4/10/19: Audi has officially announced the refreshed 2019 TT RS for the U.S. market and has provided additional specs, pricing, and launch information for the tweaked five-cylinder sports car. We have updated our story accordingly.

Despite talking up its upcoming e-tron unendingly, Audi would like to remind our gasoline-powered society that it still builds the only brand-new five-cylinder sports car in the entire world. Even better: For 2019, its hairy little TT RS has bulked up.

That bulk equates to pretty-boy muscles and nothing that will make the 394-hp TT RS accelerate or corner any faster (the five-cylinder was previously rated at 400 horsepower but Audi has changed how it reports U.S. power figures)—not that we were asking for more. In C/D's most recent test, the 2018 TT RS shot to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, clawed to the pavement at 1.05 g, and destroyed an equally high-priced Porsche Cayman S while making superior music from its 2.5-liter turbo inline-five.

All the 2019 changes are entirely visual, such as wider outer air intakes that aren't actually wider. The separate brake-cooling duct now blends into the black trim as one gaping piece, while Audi cut new holes into the inner portion. With the Black Optic package, Audi will now black out the four rings and the model badge on the front and rear. Matrix LED headlights (those camera-controlled, fully adaptive units made less adaptive for the U.S. market) are a new option. Redesigned rocker panels with contrasting black trim adorn the side, where you can also spot the rear wing's new end flaps.

Viewed from the rear three-quarter, the latest TT RS appears to be having a Honda Civic Si moment, what with extraneous fender air vents and a mildly tweaked bumper. Three flashier exterior colors join the palette: Turbo Blue, Tango Red Metallic, and our favorite, Kyalami Green. Finally, the side mirrors can be ordered in body color or covered in carbon fiber as opposed to just silver or gloss black.

Inside, an upgraded RS Design package brightens the all-black cabin with red or blue accents within the air vents and on the seatbelts, floor mats, and (for more money) on the seat frames and center console. The gear selector for the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission continues to trick onlookers into believing it's a stick, which is not a real thing on this TT RS. The roadster is very real, but it's still not coming here.

Pricing rises $2020 to a new base price of $67,895, and Audi says the 2019 TT RS goes on sale shortly.

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