Audi is set to reveal the new TT at the Tokyo Motor Show next week. Gone is the rounded, bubble-like shape, in has come the new Audi corporate grille and a swathe of sharp lines, in a version of the car Audi is calling the Shooting Brake Concept.
Due out in 2006, the new three-door car has a touch of the BMW M Coupé about it, especially from the rear. It's different -- and forced to be so by the hugely competitive performance coupé market. It will join the coupé and roadster variants.
Meanwhile, the existence of performance figures suggests that the car is nearly cooked: 0-62mph in six seconds and a top speed of 155mph come from the 250bhp 3.2-litre V6 petrol engine with its close ratio six-speed manual gearbox.
It sits on 19-inch wheels with 245/40 R19 tyres, and the car is suspended by a front McPherson strut and four-link rear set-up bolstered by Audi's new Magnetic Ride adaptive damping system. This replaces conventional damper fluid with a special magneto-rheological fluid whose viscosity can be influenced by an electromagnetic field. This effect enables the damping characteristics to be influenced electronically by the application of a voltage to the electromagnets. The result, according to Audi is to help keep the body flat and composed under duress by setting the correct damping forces for every driving situation.
Inside, Audi touts the high-technology materials and capabilities. The focal point is a new version of the Multi Media Interface operating system (MMI) featuring 3D navigation from a new touch screen monitor onto which destinations can be written with a fingertip, which are translated into machine-speak by character recognition software. Destinations and details can also be input via a PDA-style remote control handset.