Features

There will be a lot of debate about the way the new one looks. Gaze upon these photos and form your own judgment. We'll have a word with the designers in a few minutes. It's more assertive for sure, with an even squatter stance and a set of headlights like Clint Eastwood gazing into a desert sun.

You wouldn't mess with it. But is it actually better looking? Maybe I'm on my own here, but I loved the disciplined simplicity of the old one, and the symmetry - if a roadster scooted past it was a job to tell if it was going forwards or backwards.

The new one has complicated new-Audi surfacing, negative surfaces as well as positive ones, extra lines and all sorts of business. It has the big Audi grille, albeit squatter than before. The C-pillars melt into the tail, rather than meeting with a crisp crease. But that much we could have predicted.

What we didn't predict was the sports car tech. No one did. Full credit to Audi for such impressive tight-lippery in the leaky nod-and-a-wink world of modern car-launch PR. So, what's the real deal?

Well, the big news is that the new TT's body is largely made out of an aluminium frame and panels. The material saves some 90kg compared with the heft if they'd used steel. That doesn't mean it's a full 90kg lighter than before, as it's bigger and stiffer but even so, it's about 50kg down.

What this means is it's usefully lighter than the Golf or A3 with the equivalent powertrain. There are no great surprises in the engines, but no disappointments either. The kick-off is a 2.0 FSI turbo, the one from the A3 and Golf GTI, good for 200bhp.

This one comes with front-drive for the moment, which might go against Audi's Quattro-dominated grain, but does serve to emphasise the lightness. It gets to 62mph in a scant 6.6 seconds with the six-speed manual, or just 6.4 for the one with DSG. That's almost half-a-second quicker than said hatchbacks.

The top one is the 250bhp 3.2 V6. Terrific engine that, full of torque and sweet deep song and rapid throttle response. This comes with Quattro, so it won't be scrabbling for traction. Its figures are a 0-62 dash in 5.9 or 5.7secs depending on whether you shift the gears yourself or have DSG to do it.

No, wait a minute, my mistake. As of now, Audi isn't calling it DSG but S-Tronic. Same dual-clutch power-shifted mechanism, just a different name. Why do they insist on confusing us like that? VW says it isn't changing, so this looks like more Wolfsburg versus Ingolstadt marketing bitchery.