Audi TT - long-term review

Ah, the mid-to-late-Nineties, a time when public discourse focused on… the optimism of what a new millennium might bring! But also… the unbridled fear of what a new millennium might bring! Specifically, the very real fear that every computer on planet Earth would reset our entire way of life! Good times. 

There was a partial reset, mind and… yep, you can see this coming a mile off. The reveal of the TT Coupe concept in 1995 heralded a new chapter for the brand mit der four rings. Before this handsome two-door strutted into view, Audis were generally very worthy, very respectable cars, but not exactly desirable. 

All that would change when US designer Freeman Thomas – under the guidance of then-Audi design boss Peter Schreyer – unveiled a car that followed the… yep, you can see this coming a mile off. The new TT was full-on ‘Bauhaus’: less is more, form following function. You know the drill. 

Such was the reception to this car – “rapturous”, Audi explains – and so clean were its lines and form, it was greenlit for production and went on sale pretty much unchanged from the concept. Successful car for Audi, too: across the car’s eight-year lifespan, 178,765 Coupes were sold across the globe, along with 90,773 TT Roadsters. Over 56k Mk1s found their way into UK ownership. 

But cold hard numbers don’t explain the impact it had on the rest of the range, and on Audi’s image. And here in 2023 – 25 years later – there’s no denying this thing still looks fantastic. What we have here is a 1999 1.8-litre turbo TT (so named after the Isle of Man race, remember) with 222bhp and just over 200lb ft of torque sent to the front wheels via a six-speed manual. Like the lines this car carries, it’s a very simple setup. 

And it drives… simply. There’s more give to its suspension setup versus its hulking 2023 sibling, TT Mk1 breathing with the road a little more, its ride a little more forgiving. Though it does feel… floaty, a little vague, a little turbo-laggy. There’s a sense of it not fully being dialled in, of being more of a boulevardier rather than a point-to-point champion, and that’s… really very fine, actually. As a cruiser, it’s spot on. 

The Mk3? It feels very dialled in compared to TTs of old. The steering is leagues more direct, the suspension leagues stiffer (to the detriment of its ride quality, we must add). But the sense of simplicity remains, both in design and its overall demeanour. Yes, it looks a lot angrier in expression versus the optimistic eyes of its Mk1 predecessor, but the clean, uncluttered lines remain. 

We’ve obviously got a soft spot for old Nineties coupes, and a used Mk1 TT would make for a cracking buy. We reckon this Mk3 will age just as gracefully before Audi resets the model line completely for the new age of electricity, and the optimism/fear that brings with it…