Audi TT Sportback Concept review

The Sportback neatly packages all the best bits of the TT, yet addresses some of its failings. It’s an interesting concept, but the super-stylish A5 is still good to drive with more space.

The Audi TT Sportback Concept wowed crowds when it was unveiled at this year’s Paris Motor Show, presenting a sleek and stylish four-door vision of the brand’s popular sports car. 

Just two months on and we’ve been offered a chance to drive the one-off coupe to gain a feel for what a more spacious TT could look like in the future. Initial impressions are good. The huge 21-inch wheels, wide grille and steeply raked windscreen make the concept look bold and menacing in the metal, while the car’s red paintwork was particularly striking against a drizzly December backdrop in Monaco. 

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Inside, the design has been carried over from the standard TT and is a perfect fit for the swooping Sportback. In the rear, there’s a pair of individual seats, but the sloping roofline cuts into headroom. Of course, the space on offer is a major upgrade over the standard TT, but otherwise – and despite the rear doors – this is no more than a glorified 2+2; the Audi A5 provides much more space. Meanwhile, under the bonnet lies a 394bhp 2.0-litre TFSI petrol engine.

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Although our time in the TT Sportback was brief, it was long enough to get a feel for the well weighted steering and burbling exhaust note. We weren’t able to explore the potentially raucous turbocharged petrol engine to its limits, but it was clear that if an engine like this ever found its way into a roadgoing TT, the results would be spectacular. Yes, as a box-fresh concept, the Sportback has squeaky brakes and poor soundproofing, but you have to look beyond that as Dany Garand, head designer of the current TT Coupe and upcoming Roadster, told us.

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He explained that the Sportback and the Offroad Concept, which debuted at the Beijing Motor Show in April, were both studies to see how far the TT brand could be expanded. “The TT belongs to Audi, but we want to find out how the TT genetics can be stretched without damaging the brand,” he said. “The Sportback is a stretched elastic band, and the Offroad Concept even more so. We want to see how far you can expand the taste of TT.”