What's the difference?
Do you remember when you first saw an Audi TT? I can go first. It was 1998 and I’d been backpacking through Europe for months and had arrived in Paris just as all my money had run out.
Anyway, as I was beating myself up for spending way too much on a fridge magnet in a souvenir shop (it had a built-in thermometer) when one drove past me.
I saw the Audi badge but before I could work out what it was it turned the corner and was gone.
The mysterious Audi was silver and it looked like it was from the future, but actually it was the original TT, the first one, and being about October ‘98 it would have only just come out.
I would never have believed you if you’d told me at the time that 25 years later I’d be a motoring journalist and that I’d be reviewing the final Audi TT ever.
And here we are with the Audi TT Final Edition. That’s right, Audi has decided to discontinue this sports car after 25 years of production and it’s made this commemorative TT Final Edition that adds unique fettling and some nice features.
So, is the TT Final Edition worth buying? What’s so good about it? And how much more does it cost over a regular TT?
I found out after spending a weekend on some great roads to say goodbye to this icon. Oh, and I still have the fridge magnet.
Nothing could’ve better prepared me for my drive in the 2019 Alfa Romeo 4C than a trip to Sydney’s Luna Park.
There’s a rollercoaster there called Wild Mouse - an old-school, single carriage coaster with no loop-the-loops, no high-tech trickery, and with each ride limited to just with two seats apiece.
The Wild Mouse throws you around with very little regard for your comfort, gently impinging your fear factor by making you consider the physics of what is happening underneath your backside.
It’s an unbridled adrenaline rush, and genuinely scary at times. You get off the ride thinking to yourself, “how the hell did I survive that?”.
The same can be said with this Italian sports car. It’s blisteringly quick, it’s superbly agile, it handles like it has rails attached to its underbody, and it could potentially do brown things to your underpants.
Audi is finally saying hooroo to this model which has made the world stop and stare like I did on that Parisian street all those years ago.
The Final Edition is a fitting tribute to this iconic sports car and I’m glad Audi didn’t go ‘OTT’ and deck it out with gimmicky features.
At the same time the Final Edition’s big rear wing, blacked out badges, wheels and interior colour coding hint that this is not just any ordinary TT and those that know will know.
Farewell Audi TT, we hope something just like you but probably electric appears to stop us in our tracks again.
People might wonder if there’s a reason to buy an Alfa Romeo 4C. It has some great dollar-for-dollar competitors - the Alpine A110 does most of the things the Alfa does, but in a more polished way. And then there’s the Porsche 718 Cayman, which is a considerably more, well, considered option.
But there is no doubt the 4C stands alone, a sort-of cut-price alternative to a Maserati or Ferrari, and nearly as rare to spot on the road as those cars, too. And just like the rollercoaster at Luna Park, it’s the sort of car that’ll leave you wanting another go.