The most powerful TT ever to enter series production is set to open for UK order later this month.

Available as before in Coupé and Roadster form, the most powerful series production TT to date delivers sub-four-second (0-62mph) acceleration and a potential 174mph top speed, as well as the option of new Audi Matrix OLED lighting technology for the first time. 

Lighter than its predecessor by 26kg, thanks in large part to the integration of an aluminium crankcase, the newly developed five-cylinder, 2.5-litre TFSI engine with dual injection and Audi Valvelift technology results in a 17 per cent performance increase.

The uplift in power and torque - from 340PS in the outgoing ‘standard’ car to 400PS and from 450Nm to 480Nm -  facilitates a 0-62mph sprint time of 3.7 seconds (Roadster 3.9 seconds) on the way to a restricted top speed of 155mph.

This peak can be raised to 174mph when specified with the optional Dynamic Package Plus which also includes a sports exhaust system.

2kg has been shaved off the weight of the seven-speed S tronic transmission thanks to a new angle drive to the prop shaft. Its shift characteristics can be tailored via the Audi Drive Select adaptive dynamics system, which offers Comfort, Auto, Dynamic and Individual modes. These also affect the behaviour of the RS-specific progressive steering, the throttle, the exhaust flaps and the quattro all-wheel drive system.

The TT RS sits ten millimetres lower than the entry level TT, ensuring that the standard 19-inch cast wheels (or the optional 20-inch versions) really fill the arches.

Stopping power up front comes from internally ventilated, perforated steel discs with eight-piston calipers measuring 370 millimetres in diameter, while 310mm monobloc discs take care of business at the rear. Carbon ceramic front discs are available as an option for especially committed drivers. 

The intense concentration of power that all these features help to harness warrants a raft of special exterior applications which clearly define the TT RS as the front-runner in the TT line-up, and also help the car to cleanly pierce the air with an impressive 0.32 or 0.33 cd value depending on version. 

Styling modifications include the large air inlets, a Singleframe grille with a newly designed honeycomb lattice and quattro logo, aerodynamically-shaped side sills and a fixed rear wing sitting on two thin double struts – although this can be swapped for the standard TT’s automatically extending spoiler. Beneath this is a new bumper with a profiled diffuser insert with four vertical fins flanked by the large bore elliptical tailpipes of the RS exhaust system. 

Inside, there are super sports seats upholstered in Fine Nappa leather and a TT RS sport leather and Alcantara steering wheel with new integral ‘satellite’ buttons for engine start/stop and Audi Drive Select functions.

The fully digital Audi virtual cockpit with its 12.3-inch high definition screen provides a choice of three views, including a special RS screen that highlights the rev counter and provides additional performance data plus a shift light which informs the driver when the rev limit has been reached. 

The virtual cockpit displays mapping from the MMI navigation plus system which is standard for UK TT RS models in full ‘wide screen’ format and serves as the interface for the Audi Connect online services which are included as standard on a three-year subscription basis and can be extended at the end of the term. Highlights of Audi Connect include Google Earth mapping and Google Street View, online weather updates, travel information and news, access to Twitter and integration of a Wi-Fi hotspot for in-car web browsing on personal devices. 

The TT RS can be specified with Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) rear lights which make their Audi series production debut here. These new lamps in 3D design comprise four wafer-thin units, the largest of which bears the TT logo and the four Audi rings, and emit a high-contrast light which can be continuously dimmed, does not cast any shadows and does not require any reflectors, making them both efficient and visually impressive. 

The new Matrix OLED units are available as an alternative to the ‘standard’ LED rear lamps and in a similar vein, the standard LED headlights can also be replaced by Matrix LED lamps containing 12 separate controllable LEDs which form the high beam and can be individually shut off when sensors detect traffic ahead or approaching, to ‘divert’ their beam around other road users. 

The new Audi TT RS can be ordered in the UK from late September, priced from £51,800 OTR for the Coupé and £53,550 for the Roadster.