This oooo Intel file is part of an ongoing series following upcoming Audi models from the rumor phase to spy photos and ultimately to production. These reports will be regularly updated as new information is reported. Find our other oooo Intel reports HERE.
Codename(s): TT-Evo, C-Sport
Model Name(s): Unconfirmed, Possibly quattro, Sport quattro, TT Mk4 or R4
Status: Believed Green Lit, Current Status Spied Testing Ingolstadt-Registered Porsche Bodied Mule
Expected Platform: Believed Mission R a.k.a. E-Core, Possibly SSP Sport or PPE
Possible Platform:
- Porsche 983 “Boxster EV, Cayman EV” [CONFIRMED]
- Volkswagen Scirocco [RUMORED / STATUS UNKNOWN]
- Cupra Dark Rebel [RUMORED / STATUS UNKNOWN]
CURRENT THEORY SUBJECT TO UPDATE BASED ON INTEL
The idea with the C-Sport, a car that’s also been referred to as TT Evo, is to utilize the same EV sportscar hardware as the upcoming Porsche 983, effectively the 718 EV on which a Boxster (roadster) and Cayman (coupe) are expected. Effectively, Audi would create a new icon for the brand that would fit the same position as the TT within the brand range, but likely not be called TT. Harkening the quattro / Sport quattro has been another rumor, something Audi has been wanting to do for over a decade, showing multiple ICE concept cars over the years. Unlike those concepts, this would be entirely EV.
Earlier rumors suggested other models were being considered for VW and Cupra, with the VW and the Audi being hinted at 2+2 versus strict 2-seaters like the Porsche and the Cupra Dark Rebel concept car. That said, this might be inconsistent with the architecture believed to be based on the Porsche-developed “Mission R” (named for the concept car by the same name) or “E-Core” hardware set where the battery is housed behind the driver and passenger in order to get the occupants down closer to the ground as one would expect in a sportscar.
Since it’s an EV, flexibility on proportions and dimensions is expected, meaning a quattro emoting car like the profile rendering included in this story is possible. To that end, this piece includes several renderings, in addition to a new and exclusive set of spy photos showing the Porsches caught more recently cold weather testing.
If Audi is to deliver such a car, the question is whether it fits alongside the also recently rumored R8-successor based on the Lamborghini Temerario. It’s possible both cars could exist, as they’d fit in different parts of the Audi lineup just as the TT and R8 once did.
Would it be called TT? Likely not if you listen to the comments from executives. What about quattro? Maybe, but expected drivetrains specs (see below) for the Porsche are two-motor rear-wheel drive and three-motor all-wheel drive. Calling it a “quattro” would conflict with the idea of building a base model. Then again, there’s a rear-wheel drive Porsche Taycan and no equivalent e-tron GT.
Given how much Audi executives chatted and hinted at such a car at this year’s annual media conference, there are reasons to remain optimistic. That said, the 983 test mules have been testing for months now, while no correlating Audi, VW or SEAT test mules have yet to be seen.Below is a summary of rumors I’ve found about the project.
This page and summary will be updated as more information becomes available.
RUMOR TIMELINE REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
autoevolution, Apr 8, 2025 – LINK
- Spy photos show Porsche 718 Boxster EV test mule wearing Ingolstadt registration tags “IN S3490E”, suggesting this test mule is registered at Audi’s factory in Ingolstadt.
Motor 1, Mar 19, 2025 – LINK
- Set to arrive sometime next year after the gas models are out of production globally
- States PPE platform that underpins Q6 and Macan EV, but this seems unlikely
CAR Magazine, Mar 7, 2025 – LINK
- Audi Internally known as C-Sport
- Porsche’s electric 718 EV has come in way over budget, with target retail price now €130,000 ($141,400).
- Largely due to pricing that Audi hasn’t confirmed production car C-sport.
CAR Magazine, February 2025, Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (Porsche 718 EV)
- Porsche sportscar code “983” was originally due to go into production in February 2023, but now slated for October 2025
- Price unknown, but don’t expect them to be more affordable than the current 718 range
- S models will have 380 bhp / 440 lb ft, GTS with twin motor will be 490 bhp / 440 lb ft. Turbo version is also planned, estimated at 600 bhp and 650 lb ft
- S and GTS get 89 kWh batteries, with Turbo said to have 99 kWh.
- RWD features two electric motors, one at each wheel for torque vectoring.
- All-wheel drive models add third motor to drive front wheels.
- Internal word attributed to factory test drivers say rear axle is “dynamically remarkable, offering extreme torque vectoring for rapid cornering and real slideability.”
- 800 volt electrical system for rapid charging
- Battery
- Battery supplier Northvolt spent months seeking fresh capital and flirting with bankruptcy
- Cell format is prismatic, not round. Chosen for cell chemistry and scalable design, space efficient with packaging that is compact, slim and light.
- Battery performance is repeatable, with low degradation, 15-minute charging and an official WLTP range of 325 miles.
- Platform
- was planned to be SSP Sport – lighter, stiffer, sportier variant of VW Group’s upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) co-developed by Porsche and Audi.
- SSP got pushed back to 2028 or 2029
- Unwilling to wait, Porsche created its own architecture named Mission R after the 2021 concept.
- VW Group considered versiosn for Volkswagen, Cupra and Audi
- Audi was rumored to have received a green light to use Mission R for a sparts car project, an EV heir to the ur quattro, TT and R8
- Wheelbase appears to have grown to make room for the T-shaped battery pack
- Charging port on mules on the center of the rear end
- Automatically adjustable air intakes
- Porsche prototypes show return to physical switchgear
AutoCar Magazine, December 2, 2024 – LINK
- “Motorsport honed braking and handling”
- Originally slated for 2025, possible delay as Porsche considers extending ICE versions
- Very close in size and shape to the current 718 variants
- New bespoke platform architecture designed around a battery ‘core’ where batteries are mounted in pack located behind driver similar to combustion engine placement in current 718 models rather than the more typical placement under the driver of most modern EVs.
- Requisite of this placement is to minimize size of battery, which also benefits efficiency and energy regeneration
- Maximizing energy recapture and efficiency allows for smaller batteries, benefitting in improved packaging, reducing cost and reducing weight.
- Porsche e-core platform, featuring battery behind the seats. Centering weight around the driver makes car more agile and controllable and driver is positioned lower and closer to the road.
- Porsche R&D chief Michael Steiner told AutoCar that lessons from the Formula E program will influence the 718 EVs. In particular, efficiency lessons play a part. “Importantly, on-the-road e-mobility is also an efficiency formula, because when you save on energy you can win in weight, win in range or win in material cost.
- Focuses for efficiency then aren’t just design of the motor, but also include advancements in software and braking.
- One pedal drive plays into this. Steiner’s comment here: “If you ask any race driver, none would choose a one-pedal system because you should have control of recuperation and braking on the same pedal as seamlessly as possible. In cornering, if you don’t have the right feeling on the pedal, you don’t have trust in the stability of the car. You don’t see it by watching the cars, but if you ask drivers, you feel the difference on the brake pedal.”
- Steiner went on to say, “With a one-pedal system you sometimes start to regenerate earlier than you should do, so you’re already decelerating when the brake discs kick in, so as a driver you have no influence at all. If you have all the braking on the brake pedal, then you as the driver can do the modulation you need – and also feel the reaction of the tarmac, steering and things like that. So you can control the car with the brakes as well as the throttle and, in our view, this is superior to a system that does something you can’t control.”
- Another quote by Steiner, “Fast straight-line performance could be done by more or less anybody. But the brake pedal – the feel on the brakes and good handling in corners – that’s something we’ve learned in Formula E.”
Audi Club North America, May 15, 2024 – Link
- VW Scirocco hinted at 2028launch should it get approval, closer than 5-10 hinted by Audi
- Autocar says it is based on PPE
- CAR Magazine saying based on VW Group’s upcoming SSP, more specifically the SSP Sport derivative
- Porsche and SEAT concepts are two-seaters, Audi and VW are believed to be 2+2
AutoCar Magazine,Feb 28, 2024 – Link
- Audi’s spokesperson for technical development, Daniel Schuster, told Autocar: “We are taking a blank sheet of paper to see what is the right ‘icon’. “It’s not just about looking at what we have now and saying ‘it’d be cool to make it electric’. It’s really about what would be a great addition to the range.”
RENDERINGS AUDI VARIANT
SPY PHOTOS PORSCHE VARIANT
