Audi TT vs Tesla Model 3

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.

It’s been in Australia since 2019 and despite the arrival of a comprehensively upgraded version in late 2023, the Tesla Model 3’s once gargantuan popularity has been declining in recent years.

A seemingly never-ending influx of pure-electric alternatives, primarily from China, has eroded the mid-size sedan’s positioning as the go-to, best-value EV choice. 

But to its credit Tesla has again evolved the Model 3 proposition with the introduction of this Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive grade in October last year, at the time positioning it as “the longest-range EV in Australia”.

Since then, Tesla has adjusted the model grade name to Premium Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive.

Some additional tweaks, made in response to customer feedback, also illustrates the EV pioneer’s determination to step up in the face of increasingly fierce competition.

So, does this latest Model 3 do enough to earn a spot on your electric vehicle shopping list? We spent a week behind the wheel to find out.