Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: £25,420 to £42,985
Explosive performance, all-wheel-drive traction, added visual menace, 2.5-litre engine's sound.
Not quite involving enough, concerns over stiff ride, awful rear spoiler, tasteless styling details.
Audi's baby R8 outguns all its rivals against the clock but ultimately misses out on the levels of engagement delivered by competitors.
Audi's performance arm is on a roll.
Quattro Gmbh, the official name for Audi's go-faster division, has created not only the sensational RS4 but fathered the sublime R8 supercar and unleashed the insanely fast RS6.
So when news comes of another all-new RS it's no surprise the performance world sits up and pays attention.
After all, the RS engineers don't believe in half measures; remember it was them who thought dropping a turbocharged version of a Lamborghini V10 into a family car was a good idea. Perhaps then it's no surprise the TT's existing 2.0-litre turbo and 3.2 V6 engines didn't measure up to their high expectations. A more suitable alternative was needed.
But the engineers couldn't find one. Both the RS4's 4.2 V8 and S4's new supercharged 3.0 V6 were too bulky and heavy for the light TT body, forcing the RS team to start again from scratch.
The result is the all-new 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo that pays homage to the legendary Audi ur-Quattro of the Eighties.
Pumping out a healthy 335bhp, the new engine gifts the TT with searing performance. The 0-62mph sprint takes the RS just 4.6 seconds, making the small Audi coupe as quick as the R8 supercar. Pay Audi to remove the limiter and the RS tops out at an unbelievable 174mph.
To help underline the TT's new-found muscle the RS gains an aggressive new look. In come R8-style wider air intakes up front, as well as an aggressive new body kit and a big ugly rear spoiler ensure. Subtle it isn't.
Prices for the new car start at £42,980 for the TT RS Coupe, and the Roadster will set you back £44,880. Both versions are pitched head-to-head with the talented Porsche Cayman and Boxster S.
With the new engine both TT RS versions are significantly faster than the Porsches, but crucially it's not all about straight-line speed. Is it better than the Porsches? Read on to find out.
