First impressions: new Audi TT

Sorry for starting on a bum note, but do we have permission to be slightly disappointed with the design of the new TT?

That’s up to you, and we’d understand if that was your gut reaction. On the other hand, as lead exterior designer Jurgen Loffler has just told TG.com, ‘When you’ve come up with a car that looks like the TT, would you rip it up and start again?’ Fair point. At least it hasn’t ballooned in size.

Tell me this isn’t just a light visual reboot…

Relax. The all-new TT is exactly that, and although efficiency is one of the key buzz-words here, Audi insists it’s also highly driver focused and a load of fun. Using the VW’s seemingly endlessly configurable MQB underpinnings – which mixes aluminium and high-tensile steel in the areas of the car that use it best – the new car weighs in at 1230kg, less than the outgoing model. No mean feat.

Lots of technology, too?

Stuffed to the gunwhales with it. The big story is the Virtual Cockpit, which does away with the central screen and allows the driver to spool through and personalise display settings. We’ll report back later with deeper feedback, but first impressions suggest that Audi is onto something pretty seismic here, once you’ve got the hang of it, that is. The resolution on the navigation display is so good you can practically identify the make and model of vehicles in the car parks as you pass by. AND the system learns and remembers the data you input. It’s AI on wheels. In fact the cabin as a whole is so good it’s arguably the focal point and USP of the entire car… If they could give the system Scarlett Johansson’s voice, they’d conquer the world.

So I don’t actually need to drive it, then.

Don’t be daft. The likely big seller, the 2.0-litre, 228bhp TFSi, is a proper little belter. Again, we’ll tell you more later but TG.com has just been for a blat down a seriously tricky bit of Spanish back road – gnarled and nasty, in places, just like the UK’s – and its ride quality and damping prove that the wooden and lumpy Audis of yore are now officially history. Yes, we’d like more steering feel, and the dual-shift S-tronic ’box can feel artificial at times, but it’s rapid, secure and a lot more interactive than you might expect. Audi is sticking to turbo four-pots for emissions and economy reasons, but the engine note is pretty impressive, too.

So far, so good.

Yep. Perhaps surprisingly so. And come back in a couple of hours for our full conclusions…