Audi TT S

FIRST DRIVE We try fresh coupé in top-spec guise over Isle of Man TT course

- Richard Ingram

NEAR enough 20 years ago to the day, Audi launched the original TT at the 1998 Frankfurt Motor Show. The firm refers to it as an emblem of 20th century automotive design; it was an icon of its time, and still turns heads today.

Over the past two decades Audi has built more than 600,000 TTs. It still has a huge following both in the UK and around the world, so four years after it first hit showrooms, the third-generation car has been given a mid-life refresh.

The changes are predictably light. Save some new Matrix LED headlights, tweaked bumpers and OLED rear lamps on top-spec cars, the new TT is visually identical to the old one. Unless, that is, you opt for one of the three new colours – Turbo Blue, Pulse Orange (shown in our pictures here) or Cosmos Blue.

Inside, the updates are even harder to pick out. There are new inlay options and a set of Super Sports seats fitted to S line variants, but that’s about it.

A new ‘TT 20 Years’ special edition has been launched, however, and this adds Moccasin Brown leather trim. Just 999 examples will be made, and exact UK prices and specs will be announced, along with those for the rest of the range, when the updated car goes on sale in the autumn. First deliveries are expected before the end of the year.