The Audi TT RS ‘iconic edition’ is a five-cylinder celebration of the TT

This is the new Audi TT RS ‘iconic edition’, a turbocharged coupe that apparently celebrates one of Audi’s finest ever designs and its ‘less is more’ philosophy.

Which of course explains why the new car’s got a motorsport-inspired aero kit bolted onto every visible flank and comes with a fixed carbon rear wing. Perhaps we don’t understand ‘Bauhaus’ after all.

We do understand the award-winning five-cylinder under the bonnet though. That 2.5-litre unit won the International Engine of the Year award nine times on the trot. It’s been gradually updated over the years and in today’s iteration produces a very healthy 395bhp and 354lb ft of torque.

And aside from its great turn of speed (0-62mph in just 3.7s via a seven-speed S tronic ‘box and Audi’s permanent all-wheel-drive setup, the name escapes us for the moment), sounds fantastic thanks to a 1-2-4-5-3 firing order.

There’s adaptive damping at play here too, the iconic edition featuring the RS sport suspension plus setup, and all the major parameters are of course adjustable via the drive dynamics system.

So, to that bodykit. Honed in a wind tunnel, the ‘Aerokit’ is comprised of a new front apron featuring side flics, a splitter, and blades in the front air intakes. Along the sides there are gloss black skirts, while at the back there’s an RS-specific diffuser, a pair of exhaust pipes and a fixed rear carbon wing. We’re assured the new kit provides more grip and better handling in ‘fast corners’.

Each car features Nardo Grey paintwork, LED headlights and gloss black detailing around the body. It sits on 20in wheels, gets partially frosted windows, two-tone sports seats, honeycomb stitching and lots of Alcantara and leather. Naturally there’s a massive stereo and lots of mood lighting.

“The TT was inspired by the Bauhaus and its universal design philosophy of 'less is more’,” says Audi design boss Marc Lichte of the original 1998 groundbreaker. “The maximum reduction – the omission of everything unnecessary and insignificant – was so radical and so courageous that the TT, in its simplicity, quickly achieved the highest attribute of good design: to be timeless."

Perhaps then, the ‘less is more’ philosophy applies to production rather than design. Audi is building just 100 of these iconic edition TT RS Coupes, and despite being one of the biggest markets for the TT, only 11 are coming to the UK, each priced at £87,650.