Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class vs Audi TT

What's the difference?

The broadening of the CLA’s scope in this third-gen version puts it a step ahead of key rivals and raises the compact sedan’s prominence in the three-pointed star’s local line-up. Its combination of quality design, performance and efficiency is compelling. And we’ll drive the battery-electric version as soon as it lands.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

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. 

In an impressive feat of aero fine-tuning Mercedes-Benz design and engineering teams have managed to make an already slippery car even more efficient with this new CLA dropping the car’s drag-coefficient from 0.23 to an amazing 0.21.

The sloping, coupe-style profile remains as a CLA signature, complete with frameless doors, flush door handles and aero wheels. 

Hybrid variants sport a conventional radiator grille decorated with a Mercedes-Benz star pattern in chrome and illuminated around its perimeter, while the EVs feature a fully illuminated LED grille display.

And in a move perilously close to branding overkill, the three-pointed star motif is carried into the headlights and tail-lights.

For Latin buffs the interior treatment is minimus extremus, the multi-screen ‘MBUX’ array in the CLA220 we drove dominating the front part of the stripped-back cabin.

From an ergonomic point-of-view, there are no physical controls for ventilation and the only non-digital audio control is on the steering wheel.

But aesthetically, the cabin is clean and simple with touches like ‘floating’ door armrests and a gently rounded front centre console adding to an overall relaxed atmosphere.

The Audi TT’s shape has morphed over the past 25 years from the cute, rounded bubble car that first appeared in the late 1990s to the more aggressively and sleek looking sports car with the sharp creases we see today.

Still, there are the familiar pumped-out wheel arches and, while not as prominent as it used to be, that arching roof and the way it flows down to those tail-lights and stumpy tail remains so true to the original TT.

The TT Final Edition has a more menacing and athletic look than the regular 45 TFSI its based on thanks to the S Line Competition Plus exterior package.

So you’re getting the big fixed wing, an aggressive front bumper, and the 19-inch alloy wheels in gloss black.

There’s a black package, too, which add the decals down the side, the blacked-out badges, the black exhaust tips and black wing mirrors.

My test car’s paint colour was Turbo Blue and you can see in the images of the cabin how Audi matches interior elements in the same colour. The contrast stitching on the seats also lifts the sporty feel into high-end territory.

It’s a simple cabin, though, free from busy buttons and giant screens and the incorporation of climate controls into the air vents is genius. 

If you’re wondering what the TT Final Edition’s dimensions are its 4191mm long, 1832mm wide and 1376mm tall. 

At just over 4.7 metres long the CLA isn’t a million miles away from full C-Class length and interior space is generous. In fact, there’s an extra 16mm in height and 12mm in width compared to the model this car replaces.

And in terms of storage there are generous bins in the doors with room for bottles and you can place them in one of the two cupholders in the centre console.

There’s the obligatory bin between the seats, a bay here for wireless device charging and a glove box, plus an extra storage bay under the flying buttress-style console.

In the back seat sitting behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm position and there’s plenty of footroom as well as acres of legroom and headroom. 

And part of that is the immense panoramic roof which is covered in all kinds of high-tech coatings to make sure all the light comes through but none of the heat.

Then for storage, again you’ve got bins in the doors with room for bottles as well as a pull-down armrest between the seats with three cupholders in it (one espresso-sized) and drive slot in front of them.

There are netted map pockets on the front seatbacks, individual vents which are always welcome and a couple of USB-C charging ports to keep devices charged.

Boot volume is rated at 405 litres (VDA) and the rear seatback folds 40/20/40 to liberate more storage space if required. And there’s a 101L front boot on electric models. 

There’s a hands-free tailgate on the 220 Hybrid. A 1.6- to 1.8-tonne braked trailer towing capacity is handy, but the fact there’s no physical spare tyre isn’t. Your only option in the case of a flat is an inflator and puncture sealant kit. Not good enough.

The Audi TT isn’t going to cut it as a family car, but it’s more practical than a lot of people might think.

First this is a '2+2' sports car meaning those two rear seats are there for the odd occasion when you might need them, because the space back there is limited.

But for most of the time having a place to throw a jacket or extra luggage and not have to ask your co-plot to rest it on their lap will feel like absolute luxury.

Up front head and legroom is good, even for me at 189cm tall. Being a coupe the doors are long and although the car is low I found getting in and out easy.

There’s a pretty clever use of space when it comes down to cabin storage. You’ll find door pockets, a glove box, a covered centre console box and a hidey hole/wireless phone charger in the dash.

Back seat passengers have built-in shelves near their armrests. Surprisingly there are four cupholders - two of which fold out of the dash.   

The boot isn’t huge at 305 litres but you can fold the rear seats down to open up the cargo capacity to 712 litres.

So, compared to its two-seater sports car rivals, the TT is relatively and pleasantly practical.

Audi has taken the $84,000 TT Coupe 45 TFSI quattro and created this TT Final Edition with extra features for a list price of $88,749. 

Here’s what you’re getting. First there’s the 'S Line Competition Plus' exterior package which beefs up the TT’s looks with the big, fixed rear wing and 19-inch Audi Sport wheels in gloss 'Anthracite Black' with red brake calipers.

There’s also the black exterior package which brings the black Audi rings badging, black chunky exhaust tips, black side trims and Audi logo decals.  

Inside there’s Nappa leather S sport seats; an Alcantara and leather flat-bottomed steering wheel with paddle shifters; while the armrests, door handles and the centre console are covered by the 'Leather Package' which includes contrasting stitching.  

Metallic paint is also included as part of the Final Edition’s features. Ours was 'Turbo Blue'.

Much of the rest of the Final Edition’s features are shared with the TT Coupe 45 TFSI quattro and includes a 12.4-inch 'Virtual Cockpit' digital instrument display, sat nav, CD and DVD player, eight-speaker stereo, digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging and proximity unlocking.

Our car had a couple of options fitted - the privacy glass which is $950 and the 20-inch gloss black alloy wheels for $1600. 

Rivals to the TT include BMW’s Z4 which lists for $99,200, and its Toyota GR Supra twin for $87,380, while the Nissan Z Coupe is also part of that sporty coupe club at $75,800.

You might already know this but the TT doesn’t have a central media screen and that can appear odd in a new car world where big screens dominate the dashboard. 

Hybrid CLAs combine a 1.5-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder internal-combustion engine (ICE) with a 48-volt electric motor integrated into a new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with drive going to the front wheels in the CLA180 and 200 and all four in the CLA 220 4Matic.

Mercedes-Benz quotes power and torque outputs for the hybrid’s petrol engine and electric motor individually and the powertrain is able to engage both simultaneously so there are overall output figures, as well. 

The pure-electric models are powered by an in-house developed permanently excited synchronous motor driving the rear wheels through a two-speed transmission, with a second 80kW drive unit added to the CLA350’s front axle for extra performance and all-wheel-drive traction. 

Here’s a panel to explain it all.

The TT Final Edition has the same 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine as the regular 45 TFSI TT Coupe with the same 180kW and 370Nm outputs.

The TT is light, though, at only 1460kg and that grunt is enough to slingshot it from 0-100km/h in 5.1 seconds.

The transmission is an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic which sends drive to all four wheels.

Sure, the TTS has more grunt and the TTRS is nothing short of wonderful with its five cylinder powerplant, but the 2.0-litre engine in the Final Edition feels perfectly suited to what is a fun and engaging sports car.

Hybrid CLAs are fitted with a 48-volt, 1.3kWh lithium-ion battery and at urban speeds where less than 20kW is needed, can drive using electric power alone, depending on conditions at speeds up to 100km/h. 

Official combined cycle fuel consumption is quoted at 5.4L/100km for the CLA180 and 200, which equates to a theoretical range of close to 800km, rising to 5.8L/100km for the 220 4Matic for a potential range of around 740km. 

On the roughly 150km launch drive through Melbourne's suburbs and up the Yarra Valley north-east of the city we saw an average of exactly 5.8L/100km in the CLA220.

Electric CLAs are underpinned by a specific new-gen EV platform boasting an 800-volt electric architecture and housing an 58kWh LFP battery in the 200 electric and an 85kWh NMC pack in the 350.

Maximum charge capacity is 320kW for a claimed 10-80 per cent charge time of 22 minutes. 

Claimed energy use for the CLA200 electric is 14.4kWh/100km with a range of 470km while the AWD 350 4Matic sits at 14.9kWh/100km with a range of 663km.

Audi says that after a combination of open and urban roads the TT Final Edition should use 7.0L/100km.

My own testing took in a combination of the best country roads and worst city traffic and at the fuel pump I measured 10.9L/100km.

But most of my time was spent in 'Dynamic' drive mode with the fuel-saving idle stop system switched off. 

The TT's 55-litre fuel tank means you should have a range of about 785km.

The CLA220 4Matic was the only option available for the drive program, but for the record, claimed 0-100km/h acceleration times for the hybrid models step down in roughly one second increments - 8.8 seconds for the CLA180, 8.0sec for the 200 and 7.1sec for the 220 4Matic.

Switch to pure-electric power and the CLA200 electric hits the same speed in 7.5 seconds, while the 350 4Matic electric smashes the five second barrier at a properly quick 4.9sec.

Mind you, the 350 4Matic electric weighs about 2.1 tonnes while the hybrids tip the scales at roughly 1.7 tonnes.

There’s plenty of performance in the 220 4Matic but power delivery is not always linear with the powertrain taking half a beat to pick up after you’ve applied some throttle. Which could be the interface between the combustion engine and the electric motor or the turbo on the engine.

The sports steering wheel is grippy and chunky in the hands, and while the steering itself is nice and accurate, road feel is modest. 

There are two settings for steering weight - Comfort and Sport. We tried both, and yes, you can feel where the car’s going but it’s not exactly an intimate connection between your hands and the front tyres on the tarmac.

Speaking of which, standard rubber on the CLA220 is 225/40 Bridgestone Turanza 6 on 19-inch rims and despite those relatively large wheels the car copes well with bumps and thumps and the coarse-chip surface of rural B-roads.  

Suspension consists of a newly-developed strut-based three-link set-up at the front and multi-links at the rear with all of the major components in alloy to minimise unsprung weight.

The car remains composed and balanced through corners and the sports seats in the 220 are grippy, supportive and comfortable. We spent a couple of hours straight behind the wheel without a hint of discomfort.

The CLA’s super-slippery shape manifests itself out on the highway with minimal wind noise at 100km/h and even more. The big tyres are also quiet so the cabin environment remains refined and peaceful.

Brakes on the 220 are vented discs on the front, solid rotors on the rear. And during some pretty challenging downhill twisty sections we leant on them quite heavily. Push hard and they will bite but are not overly aggressive.

The lane-keeping, driver-monitoring and other assistance features are all there, present and accounted for. But more than ticking the box, they work very well.

The media system is driven by a high-capacity unity engine which is often used in gaming and the graphics and animations are super-smooth. And the latest iteration of the Mercedes-Benz media system works nicely across the enormous screens.

All models feature a 360-degree overhead view and a reversing camera and the 11.2-metre turning circle is not small but not vast. The car is easy to manoeuvre and park.

There are plenty of sports cars out there which are dynamically superb yet uncomfortable to sit in.

But the TT’s cabin is as ergonomic as it is stylish with a great, low sitting position and good pedal feel, a steering wheel that can be adjusted to be just right and still with plenty of space underneath for long legs like mine.

The shifter feels the right distance away, good visibility even out the rear window and plenty of ventilation.  And we haven’t even started driving yet.

The TT Final Edition felt to me how a TT should. Fun. Not overpowered nor brutally firm and not ridiculously loud.

Instead, my drive in the Final Edition, which took me along some of my favourite country roads, was one of the most enjoyable runs I’ve had in any car. 

This is a car which ‘listens’ to you and replies with exactly what you’ve asked for in the way it turns into corners and accelerates out of them, and pulls up when you need it too. 

There’s so much connection to the road, you can hear the sticks and stones flying up into the guards, you can feel the coarse chip bitumen through the steering wheel.

But it’s all so easy, too. The suspension is firm but soft enough that you can drive this daily. The steering is light but still with great feedback. 

Some sports cars leave you feeling exhausted, like you’ve just wrestled a bear but the TT Final Edition just leaves you feeling like you've been on a ride and all you want to do is run back around to line up and get back on it again.

This could be a deal breaker for you. The Final Edition, like all Audi TTs, falls short in terms of safety equipment compared to its rivals.

This third generation TT only managed four ANCAP stars out of a maximum of five when it was assessed in 2015.

This was due to the model not having AEB or lane keeping assistance or rear cross-traffic alert.

The only assistance features it has are blind spot warning and self parking (which is handy). It doesn’t even have adaptive cruise control.

There are two top tether points for child seats in the second row but please be aware that the TT was also scored low by ANCAP for child occupant crash protection.

If you do have children and are looking for something safer but still small and sporty, the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe or Mercedes-Benz A-Class are excellent choices. 

Something to think about.  

The CLA is covered by Mercedes-Benz Australia’s five-year/unlimited km warranty with roadside assistance included. On top of that, there’s an eight-year/160,000km warranty on the drive battery in electric models.

That general warranty is in line with Audi, BMW and other premium players, but it’s worth noting an increasing number of brands in the mainstream market are stepping up to longer seven, eight and even 10-year cover.

Hybrid and electric variants have the same 12-month, 25,000km recommended service interval with a five-year schedule for the hybrids equating to an average of $1342 per workshop visit over that period. Reduced mechanical complexity in the EV models lowers that number to $859. But neither is especially cheap in the context of class competitors.

The TT Final Edition is covered by Audi’s five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.

Serving is recommended every 12 months or 15,000km and although Audi doesn't have capped price servicing there is a five-year/75,000km plan which will cost about $3000 in total for regular maintenance. Yep, that's $600 per workshop visit.