The Audi TT: an icon of brand history
- Successful for decades: 662,762 units across three generations built over 25 years
- Design inspired by Bauhaus: every shape has a clear function
- Vorsprung durch Technik: New technologies launched with the TT, including Audi magnetic ride, Audi virtual cockpit, and OLED technology
A quarter of a century of TT history: When Audi presented the concept car at the IAA in 1995, public opinion became clear right away: “This car should be mass-produced – exactly as it is!” With the series debut in 1998, the Audi TT wrote design history and was built across three generations as a Coupé and Roadster.
With a vision of “a car for enthusiasts,” Audi presented the Audi TT Coupé as a sports car concept at the IAA in Frankfurt in the fall of 1995. Shortly afterward, the decision was made to mass-produce it. Torsten Wenzel, the exterior designer at Audi who helped introduce the study to series production, recalls: “To us, the greatest praise was when the trade press noted appreciatively that not much had changed from the concept to production model, although we did, of course, have to adapt many details due to the technical specifications for the production version, including the proportions.”
Most noticeable was the integration of a rear side window, which elongated the car’s profile and increased the sports car’s dynamics. For Wenzel, the TT remains “a driving sculpture, with highest-quality surfaces and lines.” The body of the Audi TT appears to be made from one piece, Wenzel says, and the front end without traditional bumper overhangs emphasizes its distinctive shape.
Another design element contributes to the unmistakable silhouette of the Audi TT Coupé: the circle – “the perfect graphic shape,” as Wenzel describes it. Numerous circular elements inspired the sports car’s exterior and interior design. Inspired by Bauhaus, every line in the Audi TT has a purpose, every shape a function. “At Audi Design, we always follow the philosophy of ‘less is more.’ Bringing out the Audi TT Coupé’s unique character by reducing it to the essentials was a challenging and unique undertaking for us designers.”
In 1998, the Coupé rolled off the line at the Győr plant in Hungary. One year after the TT Coupé, Audi unveiled the TT Roadster.
The following two generations held to “reduction to the essentials” as the dominant design principle – made evident, for example, in the minimalist exterior design and the sleek, driver-oriented interior.
The circular motif remained typical of the TT portfolio – for example, in the aluminum fuel tank cap, the round air vents, the gearshift edging, and the distinctive gear knob.
The second generation launches Audi magnetic ride
The second-generation TT was launched in 2006 (Coupé) and 2007 (Roadster) and was based on the platform of the second-generation Audi A3. Adaptive dampers with Audi magnetic ride were used for the first time. Available as an option, this technology continuously adapts the shock absorbers’ characteristics to the profile of the road and the driver’s individual style.
In 2008, the TTS sports model was launched with a 2-liter turbo engine and 272 PS, followed a year later by the TT RS with a 2.5-liter five-cylinder turbo engine with 340 PS and 360 PS in the Audi TT RS plus. In 2008, Audi launched the TT 2.0 TDI quattro – the world’s first production sports car with a diesel engine.
Audi virtual cockpit and OLED debut in the third generation
The third generation of the Audi TT was launched in 2014. For the new TT and TT RS, the designers reinterpreted the unmistakable lines of the original 1998 TT for the modern age. They enriched them with numerous dynamic facets, while the round fuel tank cap with typical TT lettering remained true across the generations. While many profile details also deliberately recalled the first-generation design classic, the third-generation TT offered several technical innovations. For example, this model marked the debut of the Audi virtual cockpit, a fully digital instrument panel with highly detailed displays that replaced analog instruments and the MMI monitor. In 2016, a new era for automotive lighting technology began in the Audi TT RS, when Audi used organic LEDs, known as OLED technology, for the first time. The car also used a 2.5-liter five-cylinder turbo engine, one of the most exciting engines the Audi brand has to offer. With its 400 PS, this engine boasted a sporty sound and, on top of that, was named “International Engine of the Year” nine times in a row. With the special Audi TT RS Coupé iconic edition model, which came in Nardo Gray and was limited to 100 units, Audi combined the design and technology highlights from a quarter of a century of the Audi TT to celebrate the car’s 25th anniversary in 2023.
The final Audi TT is a TTS in Chronos Gray
Cloaked in Chronos Gray, the final Audi TT, a TTS, leaves the plunge pool at the paint shop at the Audi plant in Győr. The car’s journey continues along the assembly line to counting point 8 and through the hands of employees, some of whom have been building the Audi TT for 25 years.
The final TT from Győr is one of 662,762 Audi TTs built over 25 years. It is destined for a special place in Audi’s historic vehicle collection in Ingolstadt.
