Audi TT upgraded for 2019

The iconic Audi TT has gained more power, better equipment and a limited-edition model to celebrate its 20th birthday in style.

Aping the short-lived Audi Sport R8 V10 RWS, the Audi TT 20 Years will be a limited run of just 999 cars, and Audi has confirmed it will also use individual sequenced identification numbers, rather than the R8’s disappointing ‘1 of 999’ badges.

The limited-edition Audi TT 20 Years will come with a 180kW version of the dual-injection, turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, exclusively with the multi-plate clutch version of Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive.

The rest of the upgraded Audi TT range will offer a choice of the 180kW motor or the entry-level 145kW version of the same petrol-powered engine across the front axle of both the coupe and roadster body styles.

In Europe, the Audi TT uses petrol particulate filters to help meet WLTP emissions tests, with the 40 TFSI delivering 137g/km of CO2 and the 45 TFSI (including the TT 20 Years) emitting a minimum of 10g/km more.

Both engines mate to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, with the 40 TFSI reaching 100km/h in 6.6 seconds and the 45 TFSI slipping past the barrier in 5.9sec.

All-wheel drive is optional on both models, while the early gears get shorter ratios to help with the acceleration.

Available in Europe in the first quarter of next year, and probably three to six months later in Australia, the upgraded TT will run Audi’s Drive Select system as standard, changing the engine, transmission, steering and skid-control behaviours.

They’ll also run the Virtual Cockpit digital instrument cluster, along with voice control, illuminated USB connections and Bluetooth.

The Audi TT Roadster concept first appeared to dropped jaws at the 1995 Tokyo motor show, but it made its production debut in 1998.

Inside the 20 Years limited-edition TT, there will be a modern interpretation of the cult-hit “baseball glove” leather seats, with a moccasin-brown Nappa leather seat cover and decorative leather and stitching.

It runs 19-inch alloy wheels, unique exhaust tips, OLED matrix rear lights and you can have it any colour you like as long as it’s grey, with either ‘Arrow grey’ or ‘Nano grey’ as its exclusive paint codes.

Outside, the latest Audi TT has had an update to make the grille more sculpted and three-dimensional, with LED headlights standard and Matrix LEDs as an option.

As usual, the normal range can also come with an S Line package that drops the ride height by 10mm.

Audi is understood to have canned plans for its next-generation Audi TT to spawn an entire family of models and, contrary to some reports, we understand it will morph into a single, family-friendlier five-door body style.