The Audi TT RS is the highest-performance RS version of the TT sports car, developed by Audi’s performance arm and first introduced in 2009. It arrived as a coupé and roadster, using a turbocharged five-cylinder engine that revived one of Audi’s most distinctive engine traditions and gave the TT line its most characterful sound and personality. In Audi’s history, the TT RS marked an important moment because it brought RS treatment to the compact TT family for the first time, turning the design-led sports car into a much more serious performance model.
The TT RS belonged to the second-generation TT era, then returned in updated form for the third-generation car launched in 2014. That later version carried forward the TT RS nameplate with a more modern interpretation of the same core formula: compact proportions, quattro all-wheel drive, and the five-cylinder turbo engine that became closely associated with Audi Sport. Audi repeatedly highlighted the TT RS as a showcase for the brand’s performance and engineering identity, and the model became especially well known among enthusiasts for combining everyday usability with an unusual engine layout and a strong motorsport-inspired image.
Over its life, the TT RS was offered in both coupe and roadster body styles, and Audi also produced limited special editions near the end of the model’s run. The nameplate ended with the TT family’s discontinuation after the 2023 model year, closing a 25-year TT chapter that had begun in 1998 and leaving the TT RS as one of the most memorable modern Audi performance models.