Audi TT (Mk3, 2014 - 2023) – engine, gearbox and technical highlights
All TTs bar the RS sport a 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with between 194bhp and 316bhp depending on spec. The TT is also now DSG-only
All TTs bar the RS sport a 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with between 194bhp and 316bhp depending on spec. The TT is also now DSG-only
All TTs offer a single 2-litre in-line four-cylinder engine in two outputs, having dropped the entry-level 1.8 TFSI and 2-litre TDI at the 2018 facelift. Audi also dropped the six-speed manual transmission on all models, replacing it exclusively with a seven-speed dual-clutch.
Opening the range is the front-wheel drive 194bhp 40TSFI, with the more potent 242bhp 45TFSI available in both front-wheel drive and Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive. TT’s are all built on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform, making the all-wheel-drive system front-biased, with a centre differential shuffling power rearwards when slip is detected.
> Audi RS3 review – has the five-pot hot hatch finally found its feet?
The S-Tronic (Audi’s name for DSG) gearbox offers snappy shifts, but does have a habit of slurring through the gears for the sake of smoothness, if not clutch life, around town. While the software controlling these types of transmissions has improved markedly over the last decade, increasingly stringent emissions regulations have forced manufacturers to calibrate them for maximum efficiency, which can make the gearbox feel sluggish when left to its own devices. Knock the lever back into Sport mode and the response does sharpen, but so too does its desire to hold unnecessarily low gears for rather too long.
The TTS makes do with the same basic engine, transmission and all-wheel drive system as lesser TTs, but has a much more potent 316bhp tune derived from the Audi S3.
The flagship TT RS is the only model in the range with a different powertrain, and generates 395bhp and 354lb ft of torque from an in-line five-cylinder turbo engine. Like other TT variants, it has been updated with new exhaust particulate filters and lost some of its wonderful warble in the process, but it still hits incredibly hard and gives the RS a special character.
