Audi TT RS Fast Fleet test – living with Ingolstadt's five-cylinder sports car

It’s the seriousness of it that’s taken me by surprise. It’s been about a decade since I last drove a TT RS and in my head I had it filed as ‘a posh TT’ – the one people choose if their pockets are deep enough and they want Audi’s smallest coupe with all the bells and whistles and an engine that sounds expensive.

So I hadn’t expected to drop down into seats that favour high, snug bolsters over squidgy padding. Or to grasp the steering wheel and find not plush leather but instead that curious, beyond-dry feeling of Alcantara. Or to look in the side mirrors and see the ends of the fixed rear wing clearly in view. Or, most significantly, to drive away and discover a firm ride – actually, make that a very firm ride – that has the car, and therefore its occupants, jiggling up and down in tune with every little imperfection of the road.

> Audi R8 V8 (2007 - 2015) review – the Porsche 911’s equal is a bargain super sports car

They’re the kind of cues that almost make you want to check over your shoulder to see if there’s a half cage and a helmet net in the rear. (There isn’t: just two tiny rear seats is all you’ll find­. Perhaps this one’s in ‘Touring’ spec.) They’re also cues that make me think I may have misjudged the TT RS. Might Audi have been targeting a different audience to the one I thought? Is this thing actually a pukka driver’s car? I reckon it’s time for me to cast aside my preconceptions and start gathering opinions about this car afresh.

The Mk3 TT was launched back in 2014, with the RS variant arriving two years later. A facelift followed in 2019 – although actually it was the rear of the car that changed most significantly, with a busier back bumper the biggest clue. The model has been off sale for a couple of years now with production coming to a close in 2023, and there's no direct replacement on the cards.

22

As in the RS3, this 2.5-litre turbocharged unit produces 396bhp, here from 5850 to 7000rpm. Maximum torque is down by 15lb ft to 354lb ft, but it’s spread thick and even from 1950rpm right through to 5850rpm. These brawny outputs are fed through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to all four wheels (of course), permitting a claimed 0-62mph time of 3.7sec – although we’ve recorded a 3.5sec with a pre-facelift car.

Naturally, our TT has a few extras. It’s in top-level Vorsprung spec, which added £10,000 exactly when it was new and brings 20-inch wheels (up from the standard 19s), Magnetic Ride, an RS Sports Exhaust system, Matrix LED headlights and a black styling pack. Also options are the Tango Red Metallic paint (£575), red brake calipers (£345) and an extended RS styling pack (£1125), which brings red outer side panels on the seats, red trim on the transmission tunnel, red rings in the air vents and red stripes on the seat belts. The grand total? £71,495.

It’s already clear that this will be one properly rapid car when it can be fully unleashed. I’m hoping the rest of the package can keep up and deliver on the promise of those early signs. The chance to find out can’t come soon enough.