SPY PICS: TT RS caught in public

Australian sports car fanciers will see the new generation of Audi TT RS here in the not too distant future.

Audi Australia spokesperson Anna Burgdorf was unequivocal back in July: the importer would welcome the fire-breathing TT with open arms – if it were available. These spy pics clearly indicate it will be available. The big brake rotors and calipers are obvious tell-tales, and the spy photographer snapping the car claims to have seen RS-spec dampers under the car.

It's speculated that the TT RS will feature a body in white lighter than the body of the four-cylinder TT, which will help the car's power to weight ratio, as will the five-cylinder engine, which is expected to dig deep and find another 30kW over the RS 3. As our European correspondent Michael Taylor noted in April, at 300kW the five-cylinder engine has reached its power and durability ceiling – and would require a larger turbocharger to get there.

Electric turbocharging, which Audi has favoured for its recent engineering concepts, would not be practical in a car as small as the TT, since it requires a 48-Volt electrical system. Audi has already dismissed the likelihood of the 48-Volt system making it into production in the form of the TT, ahead of a larger car with more margin built in.

So this upcoming generation of TT RS could be the ultimate hot-house TT – until Audi finds some other performance tweaks to get past that 300kW threshold.

Audi is saying nothing about when we can expect to see the new car in real-world form, but don't be surprised if it premieres in Geneva 2016 – with an Australian debut possible 12 months after that.