You probably saw this one coming. Six months after we first set eyes on the third generation TT, Audi has whipped out the angle grinder and taken the roof off.
The TT Roadster is a little more cultured than that, of course. The roof is an electronically folding soft-top, which can open or close in 10 seconds at speeds of up to 31mph. Something that's even handier than it sounds in changeable weather or when trying (and failing) to execute a traffic light roof closure.
It's not just any old rag of fabric, either: the TT comes as standard with Audi's fancy acoustic roof, which keeps out the noise and cold a little better than normal, while Audi is at pains to point out that ‘it features a homogeneous look that conceals the cross bows'. In English, that means it looks nice and taut when closed, though we've yet to actually see a picture of this to make up our own minds...
There's additional underbody strengthening to ensure the roof chop doesn't ruin the ride and handling, while at 1320kg, a basic Roadster is around 90kg heavier than its equivalent Coupe.
The engine range, predictably, is carried over from the hard top. The TT Roadster (blue in the pictures above) comes with a 182bhp 2.0-litre diesel or a 227bhp 2.0-litre petrol, both with a standard six-speed manual gearbox, the latter available with an S-tronic auto and Quattro four-wheel drive if you're feeling frivolous with the options-box ticking.
The TT S Roadster (looking resplendent in yellow) gets a meatier 2.0-litre petrol engine, with 306bhp and Quattro as standard. A TT RS with upwards of 340bhp will almost certainly follow in due course.
Everything bar the roof is the same as the Coupe, which is good news: the latest TT is a bit of a winner, for its brilliantly innovative ‘virtual cockpit' dashboard as much as its reassuringly able dynamics.
Sales will start towards the end of 2014, so if you're first in the queue, you'll likely be driving roof-up for a little while. Expect to pay around £2000 more than the Coupe, prices kicking off at around £31,000. We'll know more next week at Paris when the TT Roadster spins around endlessly on Audi's eye-meltingly bright motor show stand.
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