Audi TT Roadster 45 TFSI S line quattro 2019 UK first drive

The soft-top version of Audi’s ever-popular sports coupé, which has been given the mildest of design tweaks for 2019 along with some equipment upgrades and a massively simplified engine line-up.

With diesel options now deleted from the range, and the old 1.8-litre petrol having been retired, the TT now has a single 2.0-litre four-pot in three states of tune: the 192bhp 40 TFSI, the 242bhp 45 TFSI driven here and the 302bhp TTS.

You can still get a TT with a manual gearbox, but only in front-wheel-drive form. Our test car had quattro all-wheel drive and Audi’s new seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Suspension stays the same as before, with MacPherson struts at the front and a four-link arrangement at the rear.

An electrically folding fabric roof and a lack of rear seats are all that separate the Roadster from the Coupé, so it gets the same honeycomb-effect front grille and chunkier air intakes to keep its front end looking sharp. A full-length front splitter and redesigned rear diffuser are now standard on S line models, too.

The Roadster tips the scales at 1455kg, some 90kg more than the Coupé. That results in a slightly less brisk 5.5sec sprint to 62mph compared with the hard-top’s 5.2sec, but what you give up in weight is made up for by having infinite head room just a button press away.

The cabin is your usual Audi fare, which is to say refined and well appointed. All models get heated seats and climate controls stealthily incorporated in the air vents themselves, and our S line car has uprated sports seats.

Audi’s Virtual Cockpit is still the star here, making the cockpit feel that little bit more driver-focused. The entirely digital instrument binnacle is as customisable as ever, and it takes only a few journeys to adjust to the oversized dial and on-wheel buttons you control it with. It plays nicely with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, too. The optional Technology pack is worth having, because it adds navigation, Audi Connect online services and wireless smartphone charging.

Boot space is smaller than in the TT Coupé, but the Roadster can still carry more than a BMW Z4 or Mercedes SLC. Folding the roof won’t affect the size of the load area, either, unlike some rivals.

The strengthening added to compensate for the loss of a fixed roof makes the Roadster feel stiff in the bends, which combines well with the impressive levels of grip. This is an agile sports car that can be thrown into corners at surprising speeds. It helps that the steering is precise, despite being so light. The progressive rack will appeal to daily drivers needing to slot the car into tight parking spaces, but anyone looking for the kind of engagement available in a rear-drive sports car won’t find much here.