2008 Audi TT Coupe

An Icon Remade

The TT has been recast with a different look and more-powerful engines. Will it captivate as the original did?

Exterior

While the original TT’s design garnered enormous praise, a few critics groused over its VW-derived underpinnings or cute-and-cuddly personality. The new model does look more purposeful, but without losing the TT’s iconic shape.

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This TT is more than five inches longer and about three inches wider, and it’s more aerodynamic. Naturally, its front is adorned with the yawning grille that’s the calling card of all new Audis.

Wheel arches bulge more than before and accommodate wheels that run from standard 16-inch or 17-inch alloys (in 2.0 and 3.2 quattro models, respectively) to optional 18-inch and 19-inch wheels that add even more visual heft. High-intensity Xenon headlamps are standard on the 3.2 model; adaptive lights that pivot to illuminate curves are an option.

Significantly, the TT’s structure combines steel with the strong yet light aluminum space frame similar to the one that Audi pioneered on its full-size A8 sedan in the early ’90s. Two-thirds of the body shell’s weight is aluminum, and the TT ends up weighing about 200 pounds less than the outgoing model, despite its expanded size.

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Where the previous car’s rear end essentially mirrored the front, the new one is notably reshaped — the rear deck lid is shorter; the roof and cabin pulled further back. The tail features large, dual exhaust pipes (separated left and right on the 3.2 quattro), a central fog light and the TT’s signature aluminum gas cap.

When the original TT was involved in some high-speed — and highly publicized — Autobahn crashes, a rear spoiler was added to quell worries over instability. This time around, a subtle spoiler rises automatically from the rear deck at 75 mph and tucks back in below 50 mph. It can also be raised via a console switch.