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What's the difference?
Think of a Mercedes-AMG and the first words that spring to mind are probably not - understated, efficient and restrained. And yet those are probably the best words to describe the all-new C 43.
Of course, before we go any further it’s important to note that the C 43, even in its previous six-cylinder guise, was never meant to be as wild, raucous or powerful as the C63 flagship - that’s simply not its role in the AMG line-up.
But even so, this new model is a dive into fresh territory for the brand and puts a very different spin on the AMG sports sedan as we know it.
This is a four-cylinder model, complete with a Formula One-derived electric turbocharger, so it lacks the sound and fury you expect from something carrying the ‘AMG’ badge - but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad car, as we’ll explain.
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.
The new AMG C 43 may lack the drama and excitement we’ve come to expect from the German performance brand, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad car. Yes, it could be more extroverted and the ride could be improved, but this is still a sharp-looking sports sedan with loads of punch.
This is a car that speaks to its times, with ever-stricter emissions regulations making it harder and harder for car companies to produce loud, wild and charismatic cars. So Mercedes-AMG has worked within those boundaries and come up with a car that retains at least some of those core elements that has made the brand so desirable over the years.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with 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.
Mercedes has created something of a problem for itself with its decision to introduce AMG styling packages for the majority of its range, including the C-Class.
It means the C 43 has to walk a fine line between looking like a unique AMG model, rather than just a C300 with a bodykit and not out-doing the C63.
To that end it has AMG’s now familiar grille with vertical bars, the unique and complex-looking 20-inch alloy rims and a small lip spoiler on the boot. But otherwise it is surprisingly understated for an AMG, lacking the more obvious and muscular stance of previous AMG offerings.
Inside, there’s a similar theme, with the typical Mercedes-Benz luxury appointments but with a sportier, AMG twist. The steering wheel is chunky and comes with AMG branding, metallic shift paddles and a pair of rotary dials/buttons that allow you to alter the various drive modes and settings.
The one on the right allows you to switch between the pre-set Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Individual modes, while the one on the left can scroll between the various individual aspects to tailor the settings to the conditions.
In typical modern fashion the design is tech-laden, with a digital display for the instrument panel (that can be switched between various graphics) and a large, tablet-style central multimedia touchscreen that controls the majority of the car’s non-driving functions.
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.
The new C-Class has grown slightly in size compared to the model it replaces, most notably with a 26mm increase in the wheelbase which you can feel in the cabin.
The front seat space is good, with excellent adjustability for the power-adjustable seats and steering column. I had no trouble finding my ideal seating position which makes for a more enjoyable and uncompromised driving experience.
Rear space is a bit tighter (which is typical for this segment/size of vehicle), but thankfully the standard seats do have very deep sculpting in the backs which allow for more knee space and foot room.
However, at approximately 180cm (six-foot), I wouldn’t like to sit behind my seating position for long periods as my knees were touching the seat back, and headroom is compromised with the panoramic glass roof.
In terms of small item storage there’s a lidded console box in between the front seats as well as a pair of cupholders and a small tray where you can place your mobile phone.
It’s worth noting, though, that early examples of the C 43 in Australia do not have a wireless smartphone charging pad, with that reportedly being introduced from February production.
While that’s good news, it’s not really competitive in this day and age to offer a car costing six-figures without such technology.
There’s also only a single USB-C power outlet in the front, which is another disappointment, but there is a pair in the back.
Mercedes does win some points back for a respectable 455-litre boot, which has a nice wide load opening that will make packing luggage easier.
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.
We’ll get to the major change under the bonnet shortly, but another significant alteration for this latest C 43 is the price.
It now starts at $134,900 (plus on-road costs), which pushes it well above its market rivals, the BMW M340i xDrive and Audi S4, which start at $104,900 and $106,200, respectively.
However, Mercedes has added more technology under the bonnet and loaded the C 43 up with standard equipment, including its '4Matic' all-wheel drive system, adaptive damping, rear-wheel steering and 20-inch alloy wheels.
In terms of creature comforts, the C 43 is well-appointed, with leather upholstery, a head-up display, augmented reality navigation, a panoramic sliding sunroof, and a Burmester 3D surround sound system.
There are two option packages for the C 43. The 'Digital Light Package' costs $2400 and adds Multibeam LED headlights with 'Ultra Range' highbeam, 'Adaptive Highbeam Assist Plus' as well as active light function and cornering light function.
The 'Performance Ergonomics Package' includes AMG Performance front seats, an AMG Performance steering wheel in Nappa leather and microfibre and the 'AMG Track Pace' system for an additional $5200.
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.
The biggest talking point about this new car is the engine, with AMG downsizing from the old C 43’s six-cylinder to a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.
But it’s not just any turbocharged four-pot, because it is fitted with technology that Mercedes claims has been inspired directly from its Formula One team.
While the F1 team engine facility is based in England, this engine was designed and developed by the Mercedes-AMG team at its Affalterbach headquarters, but the concept of the electric turbocharger reportedly comes from the engine that powered Lewis Hamilton to multiple world championships.
The electric exhaust gas turbocharger - to give it its official name - uses a small electric motor on the turbocharger shaft to spin up the blades without having to wait for any exhaust gases to pass through it first.
To power the electric turbo the C 43 is equipped with a mild-hybrid 48-volt electrical system.
Mercedes claims this means reduced lag and improved throttle response for a sportier driving experience.
It also helps make this small engine produce big amounts of performance, with AMG extracting 300kW of power and 500Nm of torque from this 2.0-litre, which is more power than the previous six-cylinder C 43 managed.
The engine is paired to a nine-speed multi-clutch transmission, which isn’t a dual-clutch with a pair of clutches operating on every second gear ratio, but instead uses a “wet start-off clutch” for better take-offs and smoother shifting on the move (at least in theory).
Power is sent to the road via all four wheels thanks to Mercedes’ 4Matic all-wheel drive system.
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.
Despite the smaller engine you can hardly call the C 43 miserly, with a claimed combined urban/highway cycle rating of 9.1-litres per 100km. That’s only a 0.2L/100km improvement over the old six-cylinder.
On test, which included a return trip from Sydney to Bathurst via motorways and some dynamic back road driving, we saw a return of 11.8L/100km on the car's onboard computer.
While hardly hybrid-worrying, it’s impressive to think that driven modestly, such a potent engine can return a single-digit fuel figure.
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.
Let’s start with the good news. The new Mercedes-AMG C 43 is a quick car. The engine may be small in size but the electric turbocharger does its thing and provides plenty of punch.
You can get a performance boost, too, thanks to the belt-driven starter generator, which acts as a mild hybrid and gives you a surge of 10kW for a brief period if you need a sudden burst of extra speed.
The chassis is well-sorted, too, at least from a dynamic point-of-view. The rear-wheel steering can provide up to 2.5 degrees of turning, which improves handling at speed and manoeuvrability when parking.
However, there are some less-impressive elements to the C 43, too. The obvious one is the drama, or rather the lack thereof.
As I said at the beginning, the C 43 has never been as wild or raucous as the V8-powered C 63, but when you buy an AMG there’s a rightful expectation that it will provide some thrills.
The C 43 simply doesn’t have that character about it. Yes, it’s fast, but it produces that speed with efficiency rather than excitement.
And it’s not an engine size problem, because even the 2.0-litre four-cylinder A 35 and CLA 35 offer more ‘wow factor’ than the C 43.
Yes, the engine makes noise under acceleration (and it can be altered between discreet and sporty) but even at its best it sounds muted and lacks the evocative tone of a V8 or six-cylinder engine.
Another disappointment is the transmission calibration, with the gearbox awkwardly shifting out of first gear on multiple occasions during our test drive.
In the taller gears it felt smooth enough cruising along, but given its low speed shifts we’d like to spend more time in the urban environment before passing final judgement.
The other notable element of the driving experience we struggled with was the ride quality. While fine on the smoother motorways, our test drive included time on some patchy country back roads and the C 43, even in the ‘Comfort’ suspension setting, was simply too firm.
Riding on low profile tyres, the adaptive dampers struggled to isolate the cabin from the imperfections in the road, leading to a fussy ride at times.
Overall the C 43 is a good car, but it feels like there are still some areas where Mercedes could improve it to make it really live up to the AMG badge.
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.
The C43 gets a comprehensive list of safety equipment that leaves little out. Obviously there are the usual passive safety items, like 10 airbags, including dual-front combined pelvic/thorax airbags and a front centre bag that drops between the front seat passengers to minimise the chances of a head clash.
Also included as standard is autonomous emergency braking front and rear (covering speeds between 7.0-200km/h), adaptive cruise control with active stop/go, a 360-degree parking camera, 'Active Parking Assist', 'Active Lane Keeping Assist', 'Blind Spot Assist' and, of course, anti-lock brakes with 'Brake Assist' and 'Adaptive Brakes' with Hold function and electronic stability control.
Also included are dusk-sensing LED lights, rain-sensing wipers and run-flat tyres with tyre pressure warning.
The C43 also comes equipped with Mercedes’ 'Driving Assistance Package Plus', which adds even more safety gear. This includes 'Active Blind Spot Assist', 'Active Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Function', 'Active Emergency Stop Assist', 'Active Lane Change Assist', 'Active Lane Keeping Assist', 'Active Steering Assist', and 'Active Stop-and-Go Assist'.
While the C43 hasn’t been specifically crash-tested, the latest C-Class was rated by ANCAP with a five-star score for all models except the upcoming C 63 S E Performance.
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 C 43 is covered by Mercedes’ five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, which has become the new standard for the luxury car market.
Service intervals for the car are at 12 months/25,000km, which is on par with industry standard.
Mercedes-Benz Australia will offer a service plan for the C 43, prices were yet to be confirmed at the time of publication but the company has indicated it will be similar to the C300.
That means $550 for year one, $900 for year two, the third service costs $1000 and the fourth year service costs $2450 - for a total of $4900 for the first four years of ownership.
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.