Audi TT Mk1: Guilty Pleasures

Mike Duff defends the coupe enthusiasts have been deriding for 15 years - the first Audi TT

I'm typing this in a whisper, my friends and relatives have no idea that I'm about to out myself. Because - and there's no easy way to say this - I'm a fan of the Audi TT. And I like it despite the obvious fact it's not a Cayman or an Elise or a 370Z or any of the other highly capable performance machinery you can buy for similar money.

Design has aged fantastically well

For somebody who makes a living writing about cars, this is like saying I think the Volvo 340 was a misunderstood dynamic masterpiece, or the Peugeot 307 CC a coherent and well-resolved piece of design. The standard TT verdict has been passed down on stone tablets since the first one came out: good to look at, not much cop to drive, an A3 (or sometimes a VW Golf) in a party dress. One for fashionistas, or poseurs. Or, worst of all, hairdressers.

I'll try to avoid the distraction of wondering what hairdressers should drive to prove their machismo, and confess that I have used some of those lines over the years. Yet much of this criticism has, to my mind, always missed the mark.

Because despite the received wisdom the TT doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. This is a stylish, practical coupe rather than a proper sports car; and Audi has never really tried to hide its partsbin origins. The fact we think of it as the perennial runner-up in comparo tests says more about the instincts of car journos to try and corral everything into hierarchical segments than it does the car itself.

Stylish, practical, cheap to run...

The TT's debut was a genuine event. I can remember driving one of the first right-hand drive Coupes around London in 1999 and feeling like I was piloting a low-flying spacecraft. I've never driven a car that provoked a more powerful response - one bus driver abandoned his double decker at a set of traffic lights on the Euston Road to cross three lanes of traffic to interrogate me about it: "What is it? How fast? How much?"

The novelty faded, probably about the same time Hugh Grant's too-cool-for-school character drove one in About A Boy, but I still reckon the first-gen TT is a stunning piece of design. As they've got older and cheaper many have ended up with huge wheels and tints and aftermarket DRLs, but an unmolested early 180 or 225 Coupe is still a startlingly fresh piece of design. Would the proportions be better if it didn't sit on a Mk4 Golf floorpan? Probably yes. But then Audi likely wouldn't have got around to building it in the first place.

And yes, I even liked the way it drove. The boosty 1.8 litre turbocharged engine gave a decent turn of pace, and the Haldex four-wheel drive system tried to tame its sometimes endearing (and sometimes alarming) tendency towards lift-off oversteer. Of course it wasn't as sharp a steer as a contemporary Boxster or S2000, or even a BMW Z3 or Mercedes SLK. But unlike them it had a proper boot, rear seats (in the coupe) and - for the most part - four-wheel drive. The 20-valve turbo engine also delivered impressive economy when used gently; I remember seeing 40mpg on a steady motorway run from Manchester to London in a 180 Roadster.

Not just the new car with a fancy interior!

The two subsequent generations got fatter and - to my eyes - the design has got fussier. I struggled to find anything to like about the TT RS beyond its RPG-rivalling performance, and the TDI always seemed like a step too far. But driving the newly launched Mk3 in Scotland last year reminded me what a supremely usable everyday car the TT remains, and how good even a boggo quattro version is at coping with miserable conditions. Definitely not the sort of sports car that sits under a sheet and waits for summer. I know three people who've bought or leased TTs, and each of them has gone on to have at least one more.

Look beyond the four rings and I reckon the TT is basically a modern successor to something like the Ford Capri - another of my favourite cars. Stylish, practical and - thanks to its mainstream underpinnings - costing the same to run as its everyday sisters, and not that much more to buy new. Lots of flash for not too much cash and all that. But with early Mk1s now heading towards almost outrageous affordability, this is one itch I might have to scratch soon.