2022 Audi TT Coupe

The Audi TT was a style icon of the late nineties and early 2000s, but despite having come along two decades ago, today's model has remained stylish and fresh despite still retaining an unmistakable shape. It's become one of the best small luxury sports cars out there, and its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine is more than capable of providing fun and refinement. With 228 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, it's not the fastest car out there, while its $50,000 price tag can also scare away some. However, it's built brilliantly, looks and feels properly premium, and handles beautifully. Is that enough to keep it at the front of the pack, or are rear-wheel-drive rivals like the Toyota GR Supra and BMW Z4 better alternatives?

That classic, handsome, inimitable design of the exterior has been tweaked and sharpened over the years, evolving with the times as Audi's design language has. As such, it gets LED headlights and taillights, a large Singleframe grille, muscular wheel arches, and a pert rear end. That back view features a full-length brake light and a faux diffuser housing a pair of single-exit exhaust tips on either end. The wheels are 18-inch units as standard with two styles of 19s available, while the signature aluminum-look fuel cap throws just enough retro in with the modern adaptive rear spoiler.

The Audi TT coupe has managed to retain its compact proportions despite putting on a little weight as it's progressed. It's just 165 inches in length and has a wheelbase of 98.6 inches. Height is rather low for this sort of car at 53.3 inches. Width is about average, though, measuring 72.1 inches without the side mirrors, while curb weight is rated at 3,197 pounds. That's just 16 pounds heavier than the 2.0-liter Supra, despite the TT featuring all-wheel-drive.

The only standard color is Ibis White. This year, Pulse Orange, Nano Gray, and Cosmos Blue are dropped from the palette. The metallic colors cost $595 and include Navarra Blue, Chronos Grey, Florett Silver, Glacier White, Mythos Black, and Tango Red. If none of these are to your liking, a custom color can be mixed up through Audi's exclusive special paint program. This isn't cheap, however, and will add $3,900 to the price of the Audi TT. To play it safe, we'd opt for one of the gray options, but that fiery red is difficult to ignore too.

The Audi TT is not the quickest car in its class, with just a 2.0-liter turbo-four propelling all four wheels with the aid of a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch automatic. Compared to six-cylinder rivals from BMW and Toyota, it's below average, recording a 0 to 60 mph time of 5.2 seconds when its rivals achieve the sprint in the high to low four-second bracket. This is due to the fact that the TT only produces 228 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. It's by no means lethargic or slow, but those who want to be really thrilled can opt for the more powerful TTS and TT RS alternatives that we review separately. Despite largely average performance on paper, a top speed of 130 mph is more than enough to get you in trouble, and the TT's great handling and compact dimensions make it plenty of fun. Still, for those who want a hairy-chested sports car experience, a RWD car with 50 percent more power is always going to outdo the plucky TT. Essentially, the TT is great - it's just that others are more exciting.

The regular TT may be a base model so to speak, but its performance is not to be sniffed at. The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine with its IS20 turbocharger responds to the inputs of your right foot very well for a forced induction engine. The vehicle is nippy and can be quite an enjoyable companion when you're looking to jump ahead of the car next to you in traffic and steal a gap. It's great on the highway, too, with a decent power band that allows you to overtake others with ease. However, this engine is limited by the small turbocharger and doesn't reward you for hanging on to revs. Leave it in Dynamic and let the gearbox decide when to change to which of its seven cogs it needs, and you'll have a bit of a noise fest as it aims for 7,000 rpm each time. But take manual control via the paddles and shift up at 5,500, and you'll find this little coupe is plenty of fun. The gearbox itself isn't bad if you leave it to its own automatic devices, it's just that the management of the power band could be better utilized.

Before you let earlier comments about this car's handling lead you to believe that it sticks like it's on rails, let's just clarify: the TT has its limits, and they are easily found. However, they are also higher up than you may expect. There's no doubt that this car's RWD rivals are better balanced and feel more lively in all the right ways, but the all-wheel grip of the TT combines with its short wheelbase very nicely. As a Haldex system and not a proper quattro AWD setup, the front wheels will always get favored and the result can be a bit of understeer. The other side of the coin is that when the car is coaxed into a slide intentionally, all it takes is a little faith, a flat right foot, and a pair of hands that can keep the front wheels aimed straight along the road and the TT will do a great job of pulling itself straight. Fortunately, it's not too difficult to tell when the front tires are giving up despite the sharp steering setup's lack of true feel. In all other respects, from body roll to ride comfort and braking, the TT is well rounded and holds its own.

The official EPA estimates for the Audi TT's gas mileage are 23/30/26 mpg in the city/highway/combined cycles. Thanks to a 14.5-gallon gas tank, you can expect an average range of around 377 miles with mixed driving. Interestingly, the 3.0-liter version of the Supra is only one mpg worse on the city and combined cycles and matches the TT on the highway. With a smaller, 13.7-gallon gas tank, you'll stop more often in the fastest Supra and get further in the slowest one; in fact, the 2.0-liter GR Supra handsomely beats the TT, returning 25/32/28 mpg.

The interior of the 2022 Audi TT goes a long way to helping justify its cost. As always with Audi, it's beautifully designed and mixes modernity with class. Leather and soft-touch plastics are finished to perfection and perfectly balanced while a digital driver info display screen, which handles everything including infotainment images, makes sure that the driver feels in control. Dual-zone climate control keeps your shotgun passenger happy and the TT feels great overall, but the back seats are incredibly useless. These seats make the rear of a Porsche 911 feel like a business class lounge at a top tourist destination.

The TT is a car that claims to be a 2+2, and in typical fashion, that means cramped rear seats. However, these rear seats are so claustrophobic that we aren't even sure a child seat would be safe in them. It's just so small and, assuming you have very skinny legs, that aggressively sloped roof will guarantee an uncomfortable trip, even if you're just spending a few minutes there. In front, things are much better. Even six-footers can get properly comfortable here and the low driving position coupled with the excellent outward visibility means that a first-time driver will feel at home on any road. In addition, the seats balance comfort with support in a way that doesn't require you to have a cushion on long trips or an excessively lean frame to feel secure.

As standard, the TT features S Sport seats trimmed in black Fine Nappa leather with diamond stitching and contrasted by smatterings of aluminum. The same design with Palomino Brown leather is also on offer. If you want a sportier feel in the cabin, leather/Alcantara S sport seats with S line embossing in black with Rock Gray stitching can be equipped for $2,100 as part of the S line Competition package, but this cannot be had with Mythos Black, Florette Silver, Navarra Blue, and Ibis White. Fortunately, the 2022 TT offers more leather throughout the cabin as standard than before, so any option will look fantastic. In terms of the decorative inlays on offer, it's more aluminum here, with a carbon-weave design called Aluminum Drift provided as standard while brushed aluminum costs the same as the top upholstery option because it comes with the S line Competition package.

The Audi TT isn't too bad a luggage hauler if you pack light, boasting a 12 cubic-foot trunk. It's easy to load thanks to a large rear hatch, but the angle of the hatch does mean that you can't double-stack much. Fortunately, the rear seats do fold in a 50/50 split if you want to go away for a long weekend.

In the cabin, you get average sized door pockets with recesses for water bottles, a small storage bin in the center armrest, an acceptable glovebox, and just one cupholder.

As standard, the Audi TT follows the rest of the brand's example by providing the driver with a 12.3-inch configurable full-color display behind the steering wheel. You also get keyless entry and ignition, an auto-dimming rearview mirror with a digital compass, heated 12-way power-adjustable front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control with very nifty controls on the vents for the aforementioned seats, front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, and ambient LED lighting. An adaptive rear spoiler is also standard.

The aforementioned 12.3-inch digital driver info display doubles as an infotainment screen and has a specific mode to make fiddling with music and other media while on the go easier. That other media includes output from the standard MMI Navigation Plus system, as well as Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Bluetooth. You also get a CD player, HD Radio, SiriusXM satellite radio, two USB ports, an aux port, two SD card slots, wireless charging, and a central rotary dial with handwriting recognition. There is also a 680-watt, 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system.

Reliability is something that would never have been associated with any new sports car 10-15 years ago, but these days, quality control is more stringent than ever and German automakers almost always perform well here. The TT is no exception, and neither the 2021 variant nor the 2022 model has been subject to a single recall in the USA, although there is also no dependability review of the Audi TT from J.D. Power.

If something should go wrong, you can take advantage of limited and powertrain warranties for the first four years or 50,000 miles of ownership, whichever comes first. Four years of roadside assistance and 12 years of cover against corrosion are thrown in too.

Due to its relatively high price and sports car billing, neither the IIHS nor the NHTSA has conducted crash-test reviews or provided a safety rating for the Audi TT.

If you're worried about the TT's lack of a US safety score, it's worth remembering that Audi once had a safety issue with the first-generation TT and had to work hard and fast to save the model from public condemnation. Those days are a thing of the past, but the TT still isn't loaded with specs in this department. You get front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, blind-spot monitoring with lane change alert, and airbags. Fortunately, there are a lot of airbags: eight to be exact. These include dual frontal and side-impact airbags, knee airbags, and thorax airbags. The next generation of the TT, should there be one, will undoubtedly offer more driver aids.

The Audi TT is neither ruled by its competitors nor is it ahead of the competition. It's rather low on safety tech, has tiny rear seats, and doesn't offer a long list of convenience features. It's also not the most engaging thing on the planet, with a dull exhaust note, an overworked turbocharger that runs out of puff at high revs, and a tendency to understeer when you don't know what you're doing and going a little too fast. Nevertheless, direct rivals are few and far between, and for those that fear RWD cars or care little for all the finer nuances of a well-sorted chassis, the TT is brilliant. Sure, others may handle better, but the TT is no slouch and is a lot of fun to drive. Furthermore, it's standard with all the features you could really want and still looks absolutely stunning. If you're on the fence, a test drive may sway you either way, but as noncommittal as our answer to the above question may sound, the TT is anything but average and is indeed a great car.

There aren't many configurations to choose from here as there's just one trim, but that makes it easy to decide if you can afford the cost of the Audi TT. The base price of the car is now $50,500 before a $1,045 destination charge. For a fully loaded model, you can still expect to spend over $55k depending on how much customization you like.

Disregarding models such as the TTS and TT RS, which we review separately, there is a single standalone trim for the normal 2022 Audi TT and its full name is the Audi TT 45 TFSI Quattro S tronic. It is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four with 228 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque and drive is directed to all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, enabling it to reach 60 mph in 5.2 seconds and a top speed of 130 mph. LED headlights with automatic high beams, LED taillights with a full-width brake light, and 18-inch alloy wheels are standard, upgradable to 19 inches. Inside, there is an ambient lighting system, 12-way powered and heated front sport seats, Nappa leather upholstery, dual-zone climate control, wireless charging, a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster that doubles as an infotainment screen, navigation, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth streaming, and a 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system.

With so much standard equipment offered, the Audi TT doesn't have a lot that you can enhance it with. Still, you can spec 19-inch wheels in a choice of two designs, one of which is part of the $2,100 S line Competition package, which also includes red brake calipers, lowered sport suspension, a number of gloss black exterior accents, a fixed rear wing, a D-shaped steering wheel, and a bunch of S line badges. Besides this package, the standalone 19-inch wheel alternative, and a range of extra-cost metallic paint colors, no other packages or options are offered for 2022.

Since the 2022 edition of the TT is well-equipped, we wouldn't change a thing. Sure, the S line package with its sporty accents and accessories would be a nice-to-have, but bigger wheels and a less subtle exterior appearance won't necessarily enhance a car like this. If anything, you want as little attention from Supra and Z4 drivers as possible, unless you're lucky enough to line up next to someone with a 2.0-liter motor under the hood. No, we like the standard TT and its long list of standard features. If anything, we'd splash out on some fancy paint, but that's nothing more than another attention-seeking option.

Like the TT, the base version of the Munich-influenced Toyota Supra is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-banger and isn't available with a manual gearbox. However, the Supra is far more affordable with a base price of just $43,190. In addition, the RWD sportster has higher outputs, producing 255 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. The eight-speed auto in this car is also one of the best around, and this engine will happily sing a little higher without making you feel like you've lost acceleration. In the Audi's favor is its cabin, which, despite its age, is still incredibly beautiful, whereas the Supra's use of BMW bits (although clean) looks very bland by contrast. Naturally, the Supra is far more fun to drive and can be exploited by even the novice without an expensive phone call to the insurance company following shortly after. As a sports car, the Supra is better, but as a style icon and a car that just does what you expect without any fuss, the TT has its merits too.

For just ten grand more, you can upgrade to the Audi TTS. It's also got a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine with just four cylinders, but this one comes with the IS38 turbo found in the Golf R and S3. As a result, the TTS produces 288 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque while offering the same fuel economy in comparison. In addition, the TTS stands out a little more thanks to aluminum-look mirror caps, a quad-exit exhaust system, a more aggressive front fascia, and unique interior upgrades. These include a suede steering wheel, red accents, and splashes of carbon fiber. It also gets access to a brand-new Bronze exterior appearance package but its standard features are largely identical to those of the regular TT. The TTS is a standard TT, but more so, and the ability to get to 60 mph in under four and a half seconds makes it properly exciting. Given the choice, we'd rather have the TTS.