Audi TT Sportback concept unveiled

AUDI has put two extra doors on its iconic sports coupe to create the TT Sportback concept, revealed overnight at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.

In theory, a four-door Audi TT should be ungainly, and unattractive, like an Angelina Jolie with two heads, but the TT Sportback somehow defies that logical conclusion.

Being a Sportback, it actually has five doors, and overall its dimensions are surprisingly svelte, being just 29cm longer and 6cm wider than the latest production TT coupe. It also manages to be three centimetres lower than the car on which it’s based.

After expecting something like a Mini Paceman to roll out, the bright red concept car was a pleasant surprise, with its enormous front grille – flatter and wider than the standard car’s – tapering back to a classically TT-shaped body.

It gets a bit cluttered around the rear, but overall the design manages to hang together and it’s reminiscent of a four-door Range Rover Evoque – not as cool as the two-door original, but still desirable.

While bringing it to market would surely cannibalise sales of other Audi models, it could provide a stylish alternative for TT lovers who suddenly need a back seat.

Being a concept car, it was always going to get the sportiest engine option, and sure enough it’s powered by a 294kW 2.0-litre engine capable of shoving it to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds.

Audi board member Ulrich Hackenberg said the TT had become a design icon over the past 20 years.

“In the years since, we have designed our sporty and elegant five-door Audi A5 Sportback and Audi A7 Sportback,” Dr Hackenberg said. “In our Audi TT Sportback concept show car we are now fusing both concepts to form a new member of a potential TT family.”

That sounds a lot like Audi is actually going to build it.