The Audi TT has secured What Car? Magazine’s Best Coupe Award for an incredible sixteenth year, cementing its place as the most decorated car in the 40-year history of the highly respected consumer title’s annual honours event. The much-loved compact sports car, which has been a What Car? winner for almost as many years as it has been produced across three generations, was one of a trio of key Audi models to prevail in the magazine’s 2018 awards, which were presented this evening in London. It shared the limelight with the A4 Saloon and the Q7 SUV, both of which have also retained their crowns after taking home silverware in previous years.
The A4 compact executive saloon rose through the ranks in 3.0 TDI 218PS form to not only be voted Executive Car of the Year in 2016, its first year of contention in its latest form, but also overall What Car? Car of the Year. The A4 continues its run of success in 2018 having won through in the Executive Car category for the third time in succession. Referring in its 2018 citation to the 2.0 TDI 190PS Sport model in particular, the judges homed in on the car’s ‘accomplished feel’ , and commented specifically on its ‘strong and refined’ TDI unit and ‘beautifully built interior’, which they say ‘is better at isolating you from wind and road noise than rivals’. They sum up by saying that the attention to detail ‘makes the car feel incredibly special’.
Award number two went to the Q7, which retains the title of Best Luxury SUV for the second consecutive year. The judges describe it as ‘so much more than your typical luxury SUV‘, and assert that it ‘rides like a limousine, has the straight-line performance of a hot hatch and accommodates people like an MPV’. They also remark that it ‘delivers a level of refinement that far more expensive cars can’t match’.
It was also another successful night for the Audi TT, which secured its fourth successive Best Coupé Award in its latest generation form. Cumulatively, the three iterations of the iconic coupé have amassed an incredible total of 16 Best Coupé trophies courtesy of the What Car? team since 1999. Focusing on the 1.8 TFSI version, the testers praise the car’s ‘sweet, peppy engine that offers lively acceleration’ and the ‘truly special driving experience’ it imparts, helped by ‘lashings of style’ and ‘a classy interior’ with ‘robust-feeling build quality throughout, and Audi’s excellent 12.3in Virtual Cockpit instrument panel’.
Commenting on the staying power of these three key Audi models in an ever more competitive market, Director of Audi UK Andrew Doyle said: “The exceptional scrutiny all these cars have undergone from What Car’s testers makes these awards a particularly prized testament to the design, engineering and quality underpinning every winning model.”
“To secure a win in a core category where standards are sky high and constantly rising is enough of an achievement, but for Audi to hold its ground in three hard-fought sectors is something to be particularly proud of. The fact that we have prevailed with the TT Coupé for an incredible 16 years speaks volumes as well – I have no doubt that these awards will have helped to bolster the car’s massive and enduring UK success, and we never under-estimate their value.”
Alongside the three Audi winners, an impressive total of eight Audi model variants also received honourable mentions in dispatches, achieving ‘Best Buy’ commendations at specific price points as part of the awards. These included the perennially popular A3 Sportback – an overall What Car? Car of the Year winner in 2013 (Best family car for more than £22,000) and Coupé and Cabriolet versions of the A5 (Best coupe £30,000-£50,000 and Best convertible more than £35,000). From the SUV stable the Q2 (Best small SUV more than £20,000), the Q5 (Best large SUV more than £30,000) and the Q7 e-tron (Best hybrid more than £35,000) also shone through. And at the pinnacle of the saloon range the all-new A8 was pronounced best luxury car in the £50,000 – £100,000 bracket.
