Audi TT Roadster Bids Bitter-Sweet Farewell With the Final Edition, Might Return as an EV

That's right, you read that well. A quarter of a century has passed since the Audi TT was unveiled, first as a coupe in September 1998, then as a roadster in August 1999. The name was inspired by the brand's success in motor racing, specifically the legendary Tourist Trophy motorcycle race in the British Isle of Man, one of the oldest motorsports events in the world. The acronym has also been attributed to the phrase "Technology and Tradition."

That designation was a deliberate departure from the brand's usual nomenclature. Everything just had to be innovative about the TT. It often served as the technology leader for the brand. Audi has used it as a tech launch ramp for 25 years. That is how the electronically deployable rear spoiler and the Audi virtual cockpit debuted on the TT. Furthermore, it was the first Audi available with OLED taillights.

The car lived through three generations. In February 2023, Audi announced that the TT is living its final years and will be phased out. But the model might make a comeback as an EV. To take it out of the two-door niche, which is slowly dying, Audi might also consider sending it to the road as a four-door model.

And that is not so far-fetched since, back in 2014, Audi presented the TT Sportback concept car. It was a four-door TT that would have competed againts Mercedes-Benz’ CLA. But the project never got the green light and the concept car went where all concept cars that don't enter production go: into the archives of the brand to be lost and gone forever, dreadful sorrow, TT...

The Audi TT Roadster Final Edition is first-generation nostalgia

Now, the Audi TT Roadster Final Edition is the brand's way of bidding farewell to the model. It will only be available as a roadster, sporting unique design details. Only 50 such units will be made, all going to the United States.

The car will be exclusively painted in Goodwood Green pearl effect, a shade that was offered as a series production color for the first generation TT Roadster. The S line exterior package brings along a platinum gray matte bumper trim and side trim elements, first time offered with the first generation.

The green comes in combination with a gray convertible top, only previously used on the 2019 TT Roadster 20th Anniversary Edition. It features an electro-hydraulic drive system that can raise and lower the soft top in just 10 seconds at driving speeds of up to 31 mph (50 kph).

The exclusivity continues on board with a Palomino Brown leather interior, a nod to the first generation’s baseball stitch leather. The Palomino Brown leather also covers the door armrests, and center console, while there is black leather on the airbag cap and instrument cluster hood. The TT Final Edition also sports the original TT’s baseball stitch seats.

To increase comfort on board with the top down, regardless of the weather, the roadster gets the neck-level heating system. Built-in seatbelt microphones and voice recognition operation are also on the menu. There are Carbon fiber inlays show up in the cabin to highlight the sporty DNA of the model.

The Audi TT Roadster Final Edition rides on 20-inch ten-spoke Y-design forged wheels with 255/30 R20 92Y XL summer tires, inherited from the TTS variant. The same variant donated the magnetic ride suspension system, capable of adapting the damping forces depending on the driving conditions and of providing a lower center of gravity by reducing the ride height by 10 millimeters (0.39 inches).

The Final Edition is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine, which generates 228 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. The engine is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch S ironic transmission and to the quattro all-wheel drive system. 5.5 seconds it needs to run from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph).

The Audi TT Roadster Final Edition is already available for order in the US with a starting price of $67,800, plus the $1,095 destination charge. That is Chevrolet Corvette money.

An Audi TT crossover, reportedly considered

The fate of the TT is yet undecided. Audi rolls out the final edition, but the model might make a comeback as an EV in the near future. The electric TT should either sit on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB architecture or on the new platform for electric cars that Audi is planning to buy from the Chinese automaker SAIC.

Rumors have it that the TT might return to showrooms as an electric crossover, gaining two more doors and extra ride height, in a market that is all about crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks. Audi has also considered an electric successor of the R8.