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After the release of the Mk3 TT earlier this year, you may remember an article of ours regarding Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg’s hints that he’d like to do something more with the Audi TT, perhaps produce a crossover guise or something along those lines. Well the pictures above are the official images of the Audi TT Offroad Concept, a 5 door Audi TT crossover SUV. Yes, it’s absurd, we know.
The world has gone SUV crazy recently, but building an SUV version of a sports coupe just seems ridiculous, stupid even. What isn’t stupid is the plug-in hybrid system found in the concept, which combines a 2.0TFSI engine, producing 215kW and 380Nm with an electric drive system, which in total generates 300kW and 650Nm, which powers all 4 wheels, is capable of a 0-100km/h sprint of 5.2 seconds, can travel 50km on electric power alone, and has a total claimed range of 880km.
The petrol engine drives the front wheels, with the aid of a 40kW electric motor, via a dual-clutch transmission, whilst the rear wheels are driven by a second electric motor producing a maximum of 85kW and 270Nm. The Concept utilises new technology for the battery systems, which feature wireless charging, which will hopefully charge the batteries while parked in a parking complex – a futuristic ideal as electric cars will grow in numbers and popularity.
Utilising the MQB chassis that underpins the A3 and TT, the TT Offroad Concept is compact in its dimensions, measuring 4.39 metres long, 1.85 metres wide, and has a wheelbase of 2.63 metres. It is a mere 8cm shorter than the Audi Q3, and derives design from the Audi TT and the Audi Allroad Concept, which itself previewed the new TT. So what’s in store for the concept? Production, or perhaps a preview of a not-so-SUV-like TT variant? Audi does have a history of previewing the TT as an SUV, which it continued to do so this year, but could this preview a 5-door TT?
“The Audi TT offroad concept provides a glimpse of how we might imagine a new model in the future TT family,” says Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development. We doubt this will spawn a “TTQ” anytime soon, but in production guise the TT Offroad Concept would make a rather ideal Q4 Coupe Crossover, a rival to an imminent BMW X2, or perhaps Audi will build a 5-door Audi TT Sportback/Shooting Brake.
Automotive manipulator, Theophilus Chin, has rendered a TT Sportback and Shooting Brake which can be seen in the gallery below.
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