Car review: Audi TT RS Coupé 2.5 TFSI Quattro

The fastest version of Audi’s elegant TT Coupé, the RS, has been given quite a shot in the arm. The new TT RS’s power is up from 360PS to 400, and it can now hit 62mph from rest in just 3.7 seconds, making it the quickest in its class.

The engine is still a single turbo 2.5-litre five-cylinder unit but 26kg has been shaved off its weight, and the car weighs 35kg less than before. The automatic gearbox has been tweaked to provide even faster shifts, and the overall effect makes the new TT RS feel like a scaled-down Audi R8. Externally, it gets a single-frame honeycomb grille, surrounded by an aluminium frame, handsome wheels, a fixed rear wing, new bumpers and standard four-wheel-drive.

On the road, there is one problem but it is solvable — at a cost. On 20-inch wheels, the standard suspension picks up every rut and would become very annoying on long runs. Audi’s optional magnetic ride system completely alleviates this but it is part of a Dynamic Package which costs £2,600 extra.

Prices for the Coupé start at £51,800. It is, of course, all too easy to see prices rocket if enough option boxes have been ticked, and one of the test cars I drove was knocking on the door of £70,000.