Audi TT RS Review 2024

If you want a blisteringly fast, capable coupe (or roadster) with a characterful exhaust note and an interior that’s in a different league to most, if not all, its rivals then you’ll not be disappointed. If you’re after a sports car with delicate, precision and driver focus then the Audi TT RS may just fit the bill. 

Chances are you’ll have had other Audi models before you find yourself signing the order form for the Audi TT RS, and the likelihood is you’ll be more than happy with it, but if you’re swapping out of a Porsche 718 Cayman or Porsche Boxster, or a Lotus, then you may find the Audi TT RS a little bit inert. 

The Audi TT RS’s practicality undoubtedly helps its case, this a sports car that has genuinely useful space inside, but at its price point it’s up against some very talented competition, and where it matters, driving it, the Audi TT RS just isn’t quite as appealing as them.  

Audi offers three different Audi TT RS models in two different body styles. All are powered by the same 2.5-litre turbocharged in-line five-cylinder engine, with its mighty 400PS output mated to a seven-speed paddle-shifted automatic and quattro four-wheel drive. 

The body styles include the Coupe and the Roadster, the Coupe being the best all-rounder, as it has a pair of very small seats and a good-sized boot, the Roadster losing these for the ability to open it up to the sky above. The Coupe’s also truest to the TT’s iconic look and shape, too. 

Model choices, with either Coupe or Roadster include the base level Audi TT RS followed by the TT RS Audi Sport Addition with the Audi TT RS Vorsprung model topping that line up. It makes most sense as the simplest Audi TT RS model, as climbing up to the Vorsprung adds significantly to the price, where it’s even more difficult to justify against its rivals. 

There are plenty of sports car choices that you can line up against the Audi TT RS, in all different flavours. Something like the Mercedes-AMG SLC 43 or a BMW Z4 would be decent rivals to the Audi TT RS Roadster, as would any of Porsche’s 718 Boxster models, though for similar or more power you’ll need the 4.0-litre GTS and GT4 models.

The Coupe’s rivals are broadly similar, Porsche 718 Cayman opposed to the Porsche 718 Boxster, and you could also include cars like the Alpine A110, Toyota Supra, ancient Nissan 350Z Nismo and things like the Lotus Exige, too. 

We’ve said it elsewhere, but when it comes to interiors Audi is right at the top of the class. Indeed, for fit and finish it’s way ahead of its most obvious, direct, competition, and is actually of a quality and finish to rival some bespoke luxury car firms. Everything, from the action of the switches, to the way things like the air vents inside move, all feels very slick, which is a good part of the Audi TT RS’s appeal. 

Being the range-topping model too, means that there’s some more sporting materials and surfaces inside, be it brushed metal on the pedals, to the Alcantara on the gearstick and both perforated and smooth, soft leather with contrasting colour stitching used throughout. 

Everywhere you look it pleases, similarly, it’s all wonderfully tactile, too. Overall, the Audi TT RS’s interior an absolute delight, which is arguably reason alone to consider it over some of its rivals.  

As befitting a range-topping model you’ll find the option to tick extras for the infotainment as relatively few on the Audi configurator. There’s Audi’s neat Virtual Cockpit, the large screen replacing conventional instruments, and doubling up as the main screen for all the infotainment. 

There’s no additional screen in the middle between the driver and passenger. That does make it a little bit busy to navigate, and leaves it all down to the driver, too, despite the central push button MMI controller. As standard all come with MMI Navigation plus, smartphone interface with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, DAB and an ‘Audi Phone Box’ which boosts your phone’s reception, with a wireless charging area, too.

With the standard Audi TT RS and Audi Sport Edition you can add the Comfort and Sound pack, it gaining keyless go, a rear-view parking camera and a Bang & Olufsen Sound System. It’s standard on the Vorsprung model. It’s all very neat, but the lack of a centre screen is a bit limiting if, say, your passenger wants to change something like the radio station, or put a destination into the sat nav.

There’s plenty of space for two adults inside, and while the Coupe offers a pair of seats behind the driver and passenger, it’d be a particularly cruel individual who expected anyone to sit in them for anything but the shortest of journeys. The Audi TT RS measures 4201mm long, 1966mm wide (including mirrors) and 1344m tall so head room is very tight, and even with the front seats moved forward, there’s precious little leg and foot room. 

A baby seat will go in at a push, then, but if you really need to carry your littlest, you’ll be better clicking the baby seat into the ISOFIX mounts in the front passenger seat. The Roadster does without the rear seats, altogether, and loses the Coupe’s hatchback boot opening, too. 

Open that hatchback boot in the Coupe and you really have got a useful load space, measuring 305 litres, which is comparable to many family hatchbacks. It’s even more spacious if you fold down the seat backs, it offering 712 litres of capacity, and creating a long load space that you’ll be able to get several sets of golf clubs in, or, more likely in these days of velo-obsessed adults, a bike, though you’ll have to take the front wheel off. 

The hatchback opening makes dropping bigger items in relatively easy, too, once you’ve lifted them up over the high sill. The Roadster makes do with just 280 litres in comparison, but that’s still relatively generous in this class, and, usefully, the Roadster’s boot space isn’t negatively impacted when you drop the roof. Oddment storage is decent enough inside, with door bins, a glovebox and lidded storage area in front of the gearstick, as well as a centre cup holder and lidded armrest area between the seats. 

As 400PS cars go, the Audi TT RS is really rather useful, but, then, you can also have the same engine and transmission fitted in the Audi RS 3 Sportback if you’re after even more practicality, if without the sharp style of the Audi TT. 

There's a single engine in the Audi TT RS range, but it’s a cracking one, being a five-cylinder turbocharged unit, that’s very significant and authentic in Audi’s history as the original Audi Quattro featured such an engine. The output of the engine today wouldn’t have disgraced those famous rally cars, either, likewise the seven-speed paddle-shifted automatic transmission would likely have helped, too. 

It’s a characterful engine, that not only offers the Audi TT RS its party-trick acceleration, but sounds rather fine when it’s doing so. Lots of low-rev urgency help make the Audi TT RS feel everywhere, at any engine speed, quick, though it really flies when it’s at the top of its rev range. The transmission is quick, though, as with all fast Audis, the paddle-shifters on the back of the steering wheel are apologetically small, their action more button-like than a satisfying click, one of the few disappointments in the Audi TT RS’s interior. 

There’s the opportunity to speed up the engine’s response via Drive Select, sharpening up the throttle and gearshifts, while reminding you that you’ve done so by adding some more sporting dials to the Virtual Cockpit. It really is a great engine, it just a shame it’s not mated to a chassis that’s a little bit more playful when exploiting its prodigious power and torque.  

There’s some expectation of sounds from a sports car, that actually play part of the reason for buying one. Here the Audi TT RS doesn’t disappoint, either, with a throaty off-beat sound emanating from the in-line five-cylinder engine when you’re enjoying its ample performance. It’s better enjoyed via the Sports Exhaust, this a costly option on the entry Audi TT RS, but is fitted as standard on the Audi Sport Edition and Vorsprung. 

There’s some tyre noise at speed in all, but few, if any rivals, don’t all suffer from the same problem, it's a manifestation of large tyre contact patches, similarly huge alloy wheels and suspension that’s designed to cope with the power available to the driver. Ride comfort, in spite of this, remains impressive.

There’s very little wind noise at speed in the Coupe, the Roadster being a bit more noisy thanks to its fabric roof. Drop the roof at speeds up to 30mph, in 10 seconds, and you do get to enjoy that exhaust note more, an electrically operated wind deflector helping reduce buffeting inside the Roadster’s cabin. 

The Audi TT RS itself hasn’t been crash tested, but Euro NCAP has done so with one of its lesser relations, so the scores are applicable here. It gained a four-star rating, one off the maximum, which is acceptable in a sports car, with smaller dimensions and lack of some of Audi’s more sophisticated, active safety equipment. 

All Audi TT RS models come with LED headlights and daytime running lights, high beam assist and light and rain sensors. There’s a parking assist pack in all trims and cruise control with speed limiter and active lane assist. There are driver and passenger front and side airbags, stability and traction control system and ABS brakes, while optionally there’s the possibility to have camera-based road sign recognition and Audi Side Assist – these coming as standard with the Vorsprung. 

All come with a first aid kit, tyre pressure monitoring and a tool kit with a warning triangle. The Roadster features fixed roll-over protection bars behind the rear seats, too. ISOFIX child seat mounts are included in the two rear seats – with top tether mounts in the Coupe, the passenger seat also having an ISOFIX mount. 

The Audi TT performed well in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index with an average reliability score of 9.5 out of 10 although owners were less happy about the cost of repairs, it scored 7.7 as a result, Audi as a brand finished 21st out of 30 manufacturers. Room for improvement then.

With the sort of performance on offer insuring it will inevitably be greater than one of its lesser TT relations, but you’re not about to be surprised by that. It’ll be in group 38 and above, depending on model. 

Again, consumables, like tyres, brake pads and fluids will all cost more than standard TTs, but the Audi TT RS remains covered by Audi’s standard three year warranty, with the option to extend that to four years/75,000 miles for £430 or five years/90,000 miles for £1000. 

CO2 emissions of 208-209g/km for the Coupe and 214-215g/km in the Audi TT RS Roadster put all versions in a band at the upper end of the VED spectrum. As it costs over £40,000 that does mean an annual payment of £1630 for the first five years of ownership, dropping to £475 after that.  

There's three models available, the Audi TT RS, Audi TT RS Audi Sport Edition and the Audi TT RS Vorsprung. 

The Audi TT RS needs the Comfort and Sound Package, as well as the Sports Exhaust, which adds to the cost, though, otherwise it’s very well specified as standard. 

The Audi TT RS Audi Sport Edition gains that Sports Exhaust, but needs the Comfort and Sound pack adding, then you’ve got pretty much the perfect TT RS, as long as you’re sold on the Black Exterior styling pack it adds, and the larger 20-inch wheels. 

Audi TT RS Vorsprung models get all of the above, as well as Audi’s Magnetic Damper system, the Comfort and Sound pack and things like Park Assist and Side Assist as standard.