The sports car is about to make an evolutionary leap in Britain with the introduction of the new Audi TT Coup 3.2 quattro which, in the best tradition of Vorsprung durch Technik, will post a new milestone in sporting transmission technology with its ground breaking direct shift gearbox.

The new flagship Coup opened for ordering on Saturday with an OTR price of £29,155.

The new breakthrough transmission system will not be the only exception to the rule for the V6-powered TT, because in an extremely rare break with normal production protocol Audi AG has elected to build right-hand-drive versions of the new sports car first.

In recognition of the unequalled demand for TT in this country, British drivers will be behind the wheel around a month before their fellow Europeans.

Available only in Coup form initially, with a Roadster version to follow later this year, the new TT 3.2 quattro is powered by a smooth and responsive new compact 3.2-litre six-cylinder petrol engine with 250PS and an impressive 320Nm of torque.

This considerable energy is channelled to the quattro permanent four-wheel-drive system with virtually no interruption thanks to the state-of-the-art, motor racing-derived direct shift gearbox (DSG).

DSG offers all the advantages of a sporting close ratio manual gearbox and a slick shifting automatic, with none of the negative aspects of either.

Featuring twin automated clutches, it permits exceptionally rapid, 0.02 second manual gear changes via the gear lever or steering wheel paddles, yet it can also behave like a more traditional automatic shift for more relaxed urban driving.