2007 Audi TT/TT-S/TT-RS - Update: TT-RS to get TwinCharger(Super & Turbocharger p. 6)
06-06-06, 10:02 PM
#46
Lexus Test Driver
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I would have to agree with a poster that said that there's some Bangle influences...long gone from the original TT that it had a clean dominant crease...now there's more edges and creases
06-06-06, 10:48 PM
#48
Speaks French in Russian
Whats crazy is that I was all about this car when I first saw pics of it. Looked mean and sleek. But after seeing it in person at the NYIAS I was far from blown away. IMO it doesnt portray that mean and sleek look in person. It actually looks kinda bland and dumbed down. But the interior is still the siht.
First Gen Audi TT FTW.
But I could never consider buying the TT. I think a car like this should never have a 200hp engine standard or with the previous gen 180hp. You dont get much in the power department for your money. The 250hp V6 IMO should have been standard plus an S variant should have been available no questions asked.
First Gen Audi TT FTW.
But I could never consider buying the TT. I think a car like this should never have a 200hp engine standard or with the previous gen 180hp. You dont get much in the power department for your money. The 250hp V6 IMO should have been standard plus an S variant should have been available no questions asked.
Last edited by magneto112; 06-06-06 at 10:52 PM.
06-09-06, 10:30 AM
#49
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Autocar's first drive :
Audi TT Coupe 3.2 V6 Quattro S-tronic 2dr
Test Date 03/06/2006 12:00:00
Price when new £30,685
Audi TT (06-) 3.2 V6 Quattro S-tronic 2dr Coupe
Dash is based heavily on the excellent original
What’s new?
Audi has gone all out to ensure that the second-generation TT can mount a credible attack on the prowess of the BMW Z4 Coupe, Mercedes-Benz SLK, Nissan 350Z and Porsche Cayman.
Audi’s primary target was reducing the TT’s weight, and at 1430kg, this new 3.2-litre V6-engined car is 60kg lighter than the car it replaces.
Under the clamshell bonnet of the initial range-topping version lurks Audi’s familiar 3.2-litre V6 engine, complete with direct injection and a high 11.3:1 compression ratio. Mounted transversely but slightly lower and further back in the engine bay than before – both in a bid to improve the overall centre of gravity and to ensure sufficient clearance from the bonnet, in line with the latest pedestrian safety regulations – the compact 24-valve unit kicks out 247bhp at 6300rpm, along with 235lb ft of torque between 2500 and 3000rpm.
The defining feature of the new TT’s driveline is Audi’s updated six-speed S-tronic gearbox (nee DSG). Available as a £1400 option above the standard six-speed manual, the double-clutch unit is perfectly suited to the 3.2-litre V6’s flexible nature. It even manages to improve on the previous DSG’s trick of providing that rare combination of smoothness and speed of gearchange.
What’s it like?
With less mass to haul and improved aerodynamic properties, the TT’s straight-line acceleration has improved. Ingolstadt claims 0-62mph in 5.7sec – a good half a second inside the old V6’s time. Top speed, as before, remains pegged at 155mph. The new TT’s pop-up rear spoiler deploys from the rear bodywork at 75mph. Which brings us neatly to probably the most important question about the car: has the new TT shaken off the dynamic foibles of the first TT? Is this new one as good to drive as they’ve promised?
The answer’s a profound yes. With tracks that are 44mm wider at the front and 53mm at the rear, stability has been improved out of sight. This car tracks much more faithfully at motorway speeds than the original TT, and when you come off the power there’s none of the old corkscrew antics.
On winding roads the new TT proves more fluid and willing to follow instruction than the Mk1 model, and it communicates much more insistently. A large part of this is down to the more sophisticated suspension and the fact that it’s been tuned with keen drivers in mind. Body control is excellent, with less pitch and roll over undulations and mid-corner irregularities.
The speed-sensitive power steering – an electro-hydraulic system based on that used in the A3 – is light at town speeds and offers accurate turn-in. That said, it could do with a touch more feedback when you’re pushing hard, when the TT’s natural tendency is to understeer. Still, if you’re prepared to keep your foot planted and rely on the ability of the four-wheel drive system to shift power from the front wheels towards the rear, it can be made to corner in a fantastically neutral manner. It’s a process that calls for delicate steering inputs, but it is hugely satisfying. And get this: it elevates the TT’s dynamic prowess to a level where it can genuinely be regarded as a rival to the Cayman S.
Should I buy one?
There’s no question about it: the new TT has taken a huge leap forward in the way it drives. Like the latest RS4, it proves that Ingolstadt’s attitude to dynamics has changed out of all recognition compared with the uninspiring Audis of the past decade or more. The company wants to sell 65,000 TTs a year; on this evidence, it may well shift a good deal more.
source : autocar
Test Date 03/06/2006 12:00:00
Price when new £30,685
Audi TT (06-) 3.2 V6 Quattro S-tronic 2dr Coupe
Dash is based heavily on the excellent original
What’s new?
Audi has gone all out to ensure that the second-generation TT can mount a credible attack on the prowess of the BMW Z4 Coupe, Mercedes-Benz SLK, Nissan 350Z and Porsche Cayman.
Audi’s primary target was reducing the TT’s weight, and at 1430kg, this new 3.2-litre V6-engined car is 60kg lighter than the car it replaces.
Under the clamshell bonnet of the initial range-topping version lurks Audi’s familiar 3.2-litre V6 engine, complete with direct injection and a high 11.3:1 compression ratio. Mounted transversely but slightly lower and further back in the engine bay than before – both in a bid to improve the overall centre of gravity and to ensure sufficient clearance from the bonnet, in line with the latest pedestrian safety regulations – the compact 24-valve unit kicks out 247bhp at 6300rpm, along with 235lb ft of torque between 2500 and 3000rpm.
The defining feature of the new TT’s driveline is Audi’s updated six-speed S-tronic gearbox (nee DSG). Available as a £1400 option above the standard six-speed manual, the double-clutch unit is perfectly suited to the 3.2-litre V6’s flexible nature. It even manages to improve on the previous DSG’s trick of providing that rare combination of smoothness and speed of gearchange.
What’s it like?
With less mass to haul and improved aerodynamic properties, the TT’s straight-line acceleration has improved. Ingolstadt claims 0-62mph in 5.7sec – a good half a second inside the old V6’s time. Top speed, as before, remains pegged at 155mph. The new TT’s pop-up rear spoiler deploys from the rear bodywork at 75mph. Which brings us neatly to probably the most important question about the car: has the new TT shaken off the dynamic foibles of the first TT? Is this new one as good to drive as they’ve promised?
The answer’s a profound yes. With tracks that are 44mm wider at the front and 53mm at the rear, stability has been improved out of sight. This car tracks much more faithfully at motorway speeds than the original TT, and when you come off the power there’s none of the old corkscrew antics.
On winding roads the new TT proves more fluid and willing to follow instruction than the Mk1 model, and it communicates much more insistently. A large part of this is down to the more sophisticated suspension and the fact that it’s been tuned with keen drivers in mind. Body control is excellent, with less pitch and roll over undulations and mid-corner irregularities.
The speed-sensitive power steering – an electro-hydraulic system based on that used in the A3 – is light at town speeds and offers accurate turn-in. That said, it could do with a touch more feedback when you’re pushing hard, when the TT’s natural tendency is to understeer. Still, if you’re prepared to keep your foot planted and rely on the ability of the four-wheel drive system to shift power from the front wheels towards the rear, it can be made to corner in a fantastically neutral manner. It’s a process that calls for delicate steering inputs, but it is hugely satisfying. And get this: it elevates the TT’s dynamic prowess to a level where it can genuinely be regarded as a rival to the Cayman S.
Should I buy one?
There’s no question about it: the new TT has taken a huge leap forward in the way it drives. Like the latest RS4, it proves that Ingolstadt’s attitude to dynamics has changed out of all recognition compared with the uninspiring Audis of the past decade or more. The company wants to sell 65,000 TTs a year; on this evidence, it may well shift a good deal more.
source : autocar
06-12-06, 12:50 PM
#50
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Jeremy Clarkson Review
Times Online June 11, 2006
Audi TT 2.0T
By Jeremy Clarkson of The Sunday Times
The poser's special just got potent
Last year word began to filter through the fog of media gossip that a publishing company had commissioned some dirt digger to write a biography about me. I want you to stop and think about that for a moment. Imagine finding out that someone was going to write a whole book about you. They were going to talk to all your old friends and all your old enemies. They were going to meet up with your exes and find out what funny little noises you made at intimate moments.
How’s that sound? Frightening. Well it gets worse because several months later a local farmer came round to say she’d found the contents of my wheelie bins emptied out in her garden. Why would someone have been going through my bins? And why did someone subsequently go to a great deal of trouble to break into my flat and steal my laptop? After a year there was a medical term for the state I was in. I was “****ting myself”. I mean, we’ve all done things we’d rather stayed private. But here was a person with a publishing deal who, in all probability, knew what websites I’d looked at and what brand of baked beans I’d been eating.
Then, earlier this year, came joyous news. Having looked under every stone, the author announced to a diarist on The Independent that she’d binned the project. The relief was immense. And rather short-lived. Because she followed this up by saying: “He’s just too boring.”
Well, I was furious. But my anger was also short-lived because someone else has just published a biography about me and, having read it, I’m forced to agree. It seems I was born, grew up, got a job and had some children. And that’s it. I am as dull as ditchwater. I am a herring gull among men. If you could look me up in a dictionary I’d be classified as “common or garden”. If you look me up on Wikipedia, it really does say that I once drove into a tree: 46 years old and that’s all anyone can think of to say.
And so I have decided to start a homosexual motorcycle display team. We shall travel through South America, performing naked after taking vast quantities of high-grade cocaine. This, strangely, is an idea I got from the Audi TT.
What follows is a biography of this funny little car, so favoured among the squash-playing classes of EC1. People called Dom. People who buy their shirts at Harvie & Hudson. People who think American Pyscho is the best book ever written. And not even slightly weird.
First mooted as long ago as 1995, the TT was nothing more than a four-wheel-drive Golf in a pair of sporty Lycra shorts. That’s like putting Terry Wogan in cycling clothes and expecting him to win the Tour de France. It’s not going to happen.
And it didn’t. I remember driving it on the press launch way back in 1999. Actually that’s not true. I remember getting very drunk on the press launch back in 1999. And then I don’t remember anything at all. (See how crazy I was.) But I do remember people at Audi being very upset when I said the handling felt numb and distant.
I was wrong actually. It turned out that the handling was in fact rather more than numb and distant. It was dangerous. And so, after some accidents and a spot of light death, the car was recalled, fixed and put back on sale. This should have been a kiss of death. But people, especially in Britain, just couldn’t get enough of those cycling shorts. We just didn’t care it had Wogan’s heart and as a result we became the biggest market in the world for what I called the Titty.
As the years strolled by, more and more versions were introduced. Some had front-wheel drive, some had 150bhp, some had soft tops and some had VW’s amazing DSG flappy-paddle gearbox. But that numbness never went away. I can put my hand on my heart and say that I’ve never enjoyed driving any TT.
It was an affront, really, that a car named in honour of the 1905 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy race and styled with a Bauhaus look should be as inert to drive as a bucket full of argon.
The new one didn’t fill me with much hope, either. Sure, it’s based on the current Golf, which is a far better platform than the oil rig they used back in the late 1990s. But there was too much piffle in the blurb about styling.
“Oh God,” I moaned as I ploughed through endless pages on the elongated, more aggressive bonnet and the lower, longer, more aggressive stance. “We can see all that. But what have you done to bring the damn thing alive?” Well I’ll tell you what. They’ve done something because, while the exterior looks similar to the last TT, it is a different animal to drive.
The steering has a crackle and a fizz, so you’re left in no doubt it is connected to the road. Likewise the engine makes a muted roar like it wants to be let off the leash and whipped a bit. And when you turn into a corner with your foot off the throttle, what’s this . . . ? Why, it’s the back end sliding round, ever so gracefully. It felt like I was driving Darcey Bussell.
This has been achieved with subtlety; a little spoiler that rises when you break the speed limit, a lower driving position for a better centre of gravity and, madly, a car made in two halves. The front is all aluminium, even the suspension, while the back is all steel.
It’s not easy,mating these two metals, as anyone who’s tried to wrench an alloy wheel off a steel brake disc will testify. But the effect is profound. Not only is the new car 9 stone lighter than the old one, but also the weight distribution is just about spot on. You can feel this when you’re at the limit, I swear it.
I don’t want you to think that I was hammering around in the V6 quattro version either. The car I’m talking about had the entry-level 2 litre turbo motor and front-wheel drive. It was the £26,000 bottom rung of the ladder.
That said, it did have the flappy-paddle gearbox, which they now call S tronic. Why? What was wrong with DSG? That’s like saying, “I have a cat. But I shall now call it a dog.”
It also had the optional magnetic suspension. In essence, and try to stay awake at the back, the fluid inside the shock absorbers is filled with iron filings that move about and behave differently when they are exposed to an electric current. I’d love to meet the man who designed this, because I’m absolutely certain he would be a cure for insomnia.
Sadly I haven’t driven the normal car so I don’t know what that’s like, but I do know that with those magnetically aroused iron filings the new TT corners well and, unusually for an Audi, rides brilliantly too. It’s firm, but unlike the last model, never jittery.
Let’s do some criticisms. Obviously the back seats are as useless as the poor sods who work in the factory making them. What’s the point in wasting your life sewing something that will never be used. And imagine being the cow that gave up its life to provide the hide. Of all the pointless deaths . . .
The boot’s not big either. But look, if this kind of thing bothers you, buy a Golf. More worrying is a slight lack of front-end grip. I tried the car back to back with the new Alfa Brera and while that car has several issues — a complete lack of brake horsepower being the most notable — grip wasn’t one of them.
It turned in nicely to a corner and held on, while the Audi was slithering off into the bushes. I bet it could be cured by specifying better tyres. You should always do that. It really, really, really annoys dealers. The only other fault I can think of is the price. For £4,600 less you can have the still appealing but extremely thirsty Mazda RX-8.
I shall stop short of saying I loved the new TT. You can’t love something that looks so similar to something you loathed. But I did enjoy driving it.
The changes they’ve made may appear to be small and subtle but the effect is enormous.
Hence my foray into homosexuality, cocaine and motorcycle stunt work. It’ll still be me; but I’ll be interesting.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model Audi TT 2.0T FSI S tronic
Engine 1984cc, four cylinders
Power 197bhp @ 6000rpm
Torque 206 lb ft @ 5000rpm
Transmission Six-speed S tronic
Fuel 36.6mpg (combined cycle)
CO2 183g/km
Rating 4/5
Performance 0-62mph: 6.4sec / Top speed: 149mph
source HERE
Audi TT 2.0T
By Jeremy Clarkson of The Sunday Times
The poser's special just got potent
Last year word began to filter through the fog of media gossip that a publishing company had commissioned some dirt digger to write a biography about me. I want you to stop and think about that for a moment. Imagine finding out that someone was going to write a whole book about you. They were going to talk to all your old friends and all your old enemies. They were going to meet up with your exes and find out what funny little noises you made at intimate moments.
How’s that sound? Frightening. Well it gets worse because several months later a local farmer came round to say she’d found the contents of my wheelie bins emptied out in her garden. Why would someone have been going through my bins? And why did someone subsequently go to a great deal of trouble to break into my flat and steal my laptop? After a year there was a medical term for the state I was in. I was “****ting myself”. I mean, we’ve all done things we’d rather stayed private. But here was a person with a publishing deal who, in all probability, knew what websites I’d looked at and what brand of baked beans I’d been eating.
Then, earlier this year, came joyous news. Having looked under every stone, the author announced to a diarist on The Independent that she’d binned the project. The relief was immense. And rather short-lived. Because she followed this up by saying: “He’s just too boring.”
Well, I was furious. But my anger was also short-lived because someone else has just published a biography about me and, having read it, I’m forced to agree. It seems I was born, grew up, got a job and had some children. And that’s it. I am as dull as ditchwater. I am a herring gull among men. If you could look me up in a dictionary I’d be classified as “common or garden”. If you look me up on Wikipedia, it really does say that I once drove into a tree: 46 years old and that’s all anyone can think of to say.
And so I have decided to start a homosexual motorcycle display team. We shall travel through South America, performing naked after taking vast quantities of high-grade cocaine. This, strangely, is an idea I got from the Audi TT.
What follows is a biography of this funny little car, so favoured among the squash-playing classes of EC1. People called Dom. People who buy their shirts at Harvie & Hudson. People who think American Pyscho is the best book ever written. And not even slightly weird.
First mooted as long ago as 1995, the TT was nothing more than a four-wheel-drive Golf in a pair of sporty Lycra shorts. That’s like putting Terry Wogan in cycling clothes and expecting him to win the Tour de France. It’s not going to happen.
And it didn’t. I remember driving it on the press launch way back in 1999. Actually that’s not true. I remember getting very drunk on the press launch back in 1999. And then I don’t remember anything at all. (See how crazy I was.) But I do remember people at Audi being very upset when I said the handling felt numb and distant.
I was wrong actually. It turned out that the handling was in fact rather more than numb and distant. It was dangerous. And so, after some accidents and a spot of light death, the car was recalled, fixed and put back on sale. This should have been a kiss of death. But people, especially in Britain, just couldn’t get enough of those cycling shorts. We just didn’t care it had Wogan’s heart and as a result we became the biggest market in the world for what I called the Titty.
As the years strolled by, more and more versions were introduced. Some had front-wheel drive, some had 150bhp, some had soft tops and some had VW’s amazing DSG flappy-paddle gearbox. But that numbness never went away. I can put my hand on my heart and say that I’ve never enjoyed driving any TT.
It was an affront, really, that a car named in honour of the 1905 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy race and styled with a Bauhaus look should be as inert to drive as a bucket full of argon.
The new one didn’t fill me with much hope, either. Sure, it’s based on the current Golf, which is a far better platform than the oil rig they used back in the late 1990s. But there was too much piffle in the blurb about styling.
“Oh God,” I moaned as I ploughed through endless pages on the elongated, more aggressive bonnet and the lower, longer, more aggressive stance. “We can see all that. But what have you done to bring the damn thing alive?” Well I’ll tell you what. They’ve done something because, while the exterior looks similar to the last TT, it is a different animal to drive.
The steering has a crackle and a fizz, so you’re left in no doubt it is connected to the road. Likewise the engine makes a muted roar like it wants to be let off the leash and whipped a bit. And when you turn into a corner with your foot off the throttle, what’s this . . . ? Why, it’s the back end sliding round, ever so gracefully. It felt like I was driving Darcey Bussell.
This has been achieved with subtlety; a little spoiler that rises when you break the speed limit, a lower driving position for a better centre of gravity and, madly, a car made in two halves. The front is all aluminium, even the suspension, while the back is all steel.
It’s not easy,mating these two metals, as anyone who’s tried to wrench an alloy wheel off a steel brake disc will testify. But the effect is profound. Not only is the new car 9 stone lighter than the old one, but also the weight distribution is just about spot on. You can feel this when you’re at the limit, I swear it.
I don’t want you to think that I was hammering around in the V6 quattro version either. The car I’m talking about had the entry-level 2 litre turbo motor and front-wheel drive. It was the £26,000 bottom rung of the ladder.
That said, it did have the flappy-paddle gearbox, which they now call S tronic. Why? What was wrong with DSG? That’s like saying, “I have a cat. But I shall now call it a dog.”
It also had the optional magnetic suspension. In essence, and try to stay awake at the back, the fluid inside the shock absorbers is filled with iron filings that move about and behave differently when they are exposed to an electric current. I’d love to meet the man who designed this, because I’m absolutely certain he would be a cure for insomnia.
Sadly I haven’t driven the normal car so I don’t know what that’s like, but I do know that with those magnetically aroused iron filings the new TT corners well and, unusually for an Audi, rides brilliantly too. It’s firm, but unlike the last model, never jittery.
Let’s do some criticisms. Obviously the back seats are as useless as the poor sods who work in the factory making them. What’s the point in wasting your life sewing something that will never be used. And imagine being the cow that gave up its life to provide the hide. Of all the pointless deaths . . .
The boot’s not big either. But look, if this kind of thing bothers you, buy a Golf. More worrying is a slight lack of front-end grip. I tried the car back to back with the new Alfa Brera and while that car has several issues — a complete lack of brake horsepower being the most notable — grip wasn’t one of them.
It turned in nicely to a corner and held on, while the Audi was slithering off into the bushes. I bet it could be cured by specifying better tyres. You should always do that. It really, really, really annoys dealers. The only other fault I can think of is the price. For £4,600 less you can have the still appealing but extremely thirsty Mazda RX-8.
I shall stop short of saying I loved the new TT. You can’t love something that looks so similar to something you loathed. But I did enjoy driving it.
The changes they’ve made may appear to be small and subtle but the effect is enormous.
Hence my foray into homosexuality, cocaine and motorcycle stunt work. It’ll still be me; but I’ll be interesting.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model Audi TT 2.0T FSI S tronic
Engine 1984cc, four cylinders
Power 197bhp @ 6000rpm
Torque 206 lb ft @ 5000rpm
Transmission Six-speed S tronic
Fuel 36.6mpg (combined cycle)
CO2 183g/km
Rating 4/5
Performance 0-62mph: 6.4sec / Top speed: 149mph
source HERE
06-12-06, 01:08 PM
#51
Loves Snickerdoodles!
...
Hmmm...I haven't seen this car in person yet...although from these pics I came across, it's looks alright...or maybe that's just because the car is black...
07-06-06, 07:34 PM
#54
Speaks French in Russian
Edmunds First Drive: 2007 Audi TT
A mature sports car, with plenty of substance
By Greg N. Brown Email
Date posted: 07-05-2006
First Impressions:
A mature sports car, with plenty of substance to complement its more aggressive styling.
* Lightweight aluminum construction
* Multilink rear suspension
* Magnetic Ride Control shocks
* S tronic dual-clutch transmission
* Direct injection 2.0-liter turbo
By Greg N. Brown Email
Date posted: 07-05-2006
First Impressions:
A mature sports car, with plenty of substance to complement its more aggressive styling.
* Lightweight aluminum construction
* Multilink rear suspension
* Magnetic Ride Control shocks
* S tronic dual-clutch transmission
* Direct injection 2.0-liter turbo
It has been asserted that the world's best cars are built within a day's drive of the European Alps. The all-new 2007 Audi TT Coupe, manufactured in the shadow of Bavaria's rugged mountains, certainly lives up to this maxim. After several days of driving two new versions of the TT through Germany and Austria, we discovered them to be fully mature sports cars distinguished by lightweight aluminum space frame construction, exquisitely balanced handling and torque-rich powertrains.
Both the front-drive TT Coupe, powered by Audi's acclaimed 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine with direct injection, and the all-wheel-drive TT Coupe quattro, with a 3.2-liter V6 under the hood, will reach U.S. shores early in 2007. Our test-drive showed both cars to be perfectly suited to the steep climbs and sharp turns of the most demanding mountain roads, yet their stylish, comfortable and practical 2+2 cockpits also made them feel equally at home during in-town crawls and at high speeds on the open highway.
Two TTs, two terrific engines
With 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque spread across a broad band from 1,800 to 5,000 rpm, the 2.0T offers a delicious combination of responsive power delivery and economical operation. Initially it will be offered in tandem with a six-speed manual transmission, noteworthy for quick and precise gearchanges, that sends power to the front wheels. Audi is studying the marketability of a 2.0-liter S tronic model, and a turbo TT with quattro also may be in the model's future if demand supports the extra cost.
The V6 is a holdover from the current TT and delivers 250 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque through its standard six-speed manual to all four wheels. However, the 3.2 can also be mated to a newly refined version of Audi's superb S tronic twin-clutch automanual six-speed transmission.
Capable of changing gears in 0.2 second, S tronic offers a manual setting that allows the driver to use paddles that revolve with the steering wheel or the console shift lever, a Normal automatic detent for commuter crawls, and a Sport setting that holds a gear longer before upshifts and provides earlier downshifts and shorter shifting times for optimum acceleration. In both automatic modes, the transmission blips the throttle to match engine revs to the selected lower gear.
Larger, lighter and stiffer
The new TT is longer by almost 5 inches, wider by about half an inch and 0.2 inch taller, and both the wheelbase and front/rear track dimensions have grown by about 2 inches. Yet, because of the extensive aluminum in the TT's structure (69 percent by weight), the new 2.0-liter weighs about 200 pounds less and the 3.2-liter about 300 pounds less than their respective outgoing versions.
For the first time since Audi's ASF (aluminum space frame) technology was introduced in the first-generation A8, it also incorporates steel, which is used at the rear of the floor panel, for the doors and rear hatch, to help improve the TT's overall weight balance and thus its handling behavior. Static structural rigidity was also improved over the outgoing model by around 50 percent.
A more dynamic chassis
Audi says the new TT, compared to the current model, knocked a full 15 seconds off lap times on the classic Nordschliefe circuit of the Nürburgring, an astounding improvement that almost defies belief. However, after driving the '07 model through just a few corners of Austria's dramatically difficult Grossglockner Pass, we saw no reason to doubt Audi's claims. Credit the massive improvement to the new car's lower center of gravity, multilink rear suspension, longer wheelbase and wider track, larger wheels and tires (17s and 18s, with 19s to come), much bigger brakes (16-inch rotors on 2.0s and 17-inch rotors on quattros) and new electromechanical steering rack with speed-sensitive assistance.
The basic suspension, with its twin-tube gas shocks, is exceptional, but those wanting more control, for both front-drive and quattro models, can opt for Audi's new magnetic ride shocks, similar to the system used by Cadillac. A button on the center console gives the driver a choice between Normal and Sport damping characteristics, and the difference is very noticeable, particularly at high speeds, when body movements are kept under much tighter control in Sport mode.
More beautiful body; more comfortable cockpit
The first-generation Audi TT, introduced in 1998, was rightfully called an icon of automotive design, and freshening its essential styling themes was a formidable task. However, Walter d'Silva's team succeeded brilliantly. The familiar low and wide greenhouse, supported by slim, graceful pillars, echoes the original TT's swoopy profile, but it's now accented by Audi's signature single-frame grille, broader, more masculine shoulders and inventive curvatures, all reflecting the car's enhanced dynamics.
Despite its larger size and frontal area, the new car's exterior tweaks lowered the coefficient of drag from 0.34 to 0.30, while aerodynamic lift was reduced by revisions to the undertray and downforce increased by the new electrically operated rear spoiler.
Cockpit space also benefits from the car's larger dimensions, including more front and rear shoulder room and rear knee room, though only height-challenged adults or children will fit in the aft seats without severe physical consequences. With its rear hatch configuration, the luggage area is both accessible and ample, increasing by about two-and-a-half times when the rear seats are folded flat.
The dynamic architecture of the new body design is reflected in the interior. New elements include three circular center dash vents instead of two; a new shift **** and smaller-diameter steering wheel, which has a flat bottom like the wheel in the RS 4; more supportive front seats, which are mounted slightly lower for improved headroom and feature fully electric adjustment on the driver side for the first time; and more easily operated climate controls in the center console, which is now angled slightly toward the driver. Also new is a digital speedometer readout in the standard driver information system that resides between the two large dials for speedometer and tachometer data.
Noteworthy standard items will include front kneebags as part of the passive safety system, A/C and cruise control, and the TT will be offered with a long list of options, including xenon active headlights and a full leather interior.
A driving delight
The challenges of alpine roads quickly expose an automobile's true character, but the Audi TT responded by delivering a rewarding driving experience, earning it, in our estimation, the right to be called a genuine sports car, especially in the 3.2 quattro model. The front-driver doesn't have quite the crisp turn-in and stability through a corner's exit as the all-wheel-drive TT, but it still is vastly improved over the previous version, which was hampered by a high degree of understeer when it was pushed hard.
High-speed stability and rock-solid behavior over rough roads, attributes that were missing in the previous TT, are now part and parcel of an exceptional package that has no direct competition in the market. Though not inexpensive (current 3.2 quattros are just over $40,000 and front-drive models approach $35,000), the TT has grown into a car that fully justifies the cost of ownership.
Both the front-drive TT Coupe, powered by Audi's acclaimed 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine with direct injection, and the all-wheel-drive TT Coupe quattro, with a 3.2-liter V6 under the hood, will reach U.S. shores early in 2007. Our test-drive showed both cars to be perfectly suited to the steep climbs and sharp turns of the most demanding mountain roads, yet their stylish, comfortable and practical 2+2 cockpits also made them feel equally at home during in-town crawls and at high speeds on the open highway.
Two TTs, two terrific engines
With 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque spread across a broad band from 1,800 to 5,000 rpm, the 2.0T offers a delicious combination of responsive power delivery and economical operation. Initially it will be offered in tandem with a six-speed manual transmission, noteworthy for quick and precise gearchanges, that sends power to the front wheels. Audi is studying the marketability of a 2.0-liter S tronic model, and a turbo TT with quattro also may be in the model's future if demand supports the extra cost.
The V6 is a holdover from the current TT and delivers 250 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque through its standard six-speed manual to all four wheels. However, the 3.2 can also be mated to a newly refined version of Audi's superb S tronic twin-clutch automanual six-speed transmission.
Capable of changing gears in 0.2 second, S tronic offers a manual setting that allows the driver to use paddles that revolve with the steering wheel or the console shift lever, a Normal automatic detent for commuter crawls, and a Sport setting that holds a gear longer before upshifts and provides earlier downshifts and shorter shifting times for optimum acceleration. In both automatic modes, the transmission blips the throttle to match engine revs to the selected lower gear.
Larger, lighter and stiffer
The new TT is longer by almost 5 inches, wider by about half an inch and 0.2 inch taller, and both the wheelbase and front/rear track dimensions have grown by about 2 inches. Yet, because of the extensive aluminum in the TT's structure (69 percent by weight), the new 2.0-liter weighs about 200 pounds less and the 3.2-liter about 300 pounds less than their respective outgoing versions.
For the first time since Audi's ASF (aluminum space frame) technology was introduced in the first-generation A8, it also incorporates steel, which is used at the rear of the floor panel, for the doors and rear hatch, to help improve the TT's overall weight balance and thus its handling behavior. Static structural rigidity was also improved over the outgoing model by around 50 percent.
A more dynamic chassis
Audi says the new TT, compared to the current model, knocked a full 15 seconds off lap times on the classic Nordschliefe circuit of the Nürburgring, an astounding improvement that almost defies belief. However, after driving the '07 model through just a few corners of Austria's dramatically difficult Grossglockner Pass, we saw no reason to doubt Audi's claims. Credit the massive improvement to the new car's lower center of gravity, multilink rear suspension, longer wheelbase and wider track, larger wheels and tires (17s and 18s, with 19s to come), much bigger brakes (16-inch rotors on 2.0s and 17-inch rotors on quattros) and new electromechanical steering rack with speed-sensitive assistance.
The basic suspension, with its twin-tube gas shocks, is exceptional, but those wanting more control, for both front-drive and quattro models, can opt for Audi's new magnetic ride shocks, similar to the system used by Cadillac. A button on the center console gives the driver a choice between Normal and Sport damping characteristics, and the difference is very noticeable, particularly at high speeds, when body movements are kept under much tighter control in Sport mode.
More beautiful body; more comfortable cockpit
The first-generation Audi TT, introduced in 1998, was rightfully called an icon of automotive design, and freshening its essential styling themes was a formidable task. However, Walter d'Silva's team succeeded brilliantly. The familiar low and wide greenhouse, supported by slim, graceful pillars, echoes the original TT's swoopy profile, but it's now accented by Audi's signature single-frame grille, broader, more masculine shoulders and inventive curvatures, all reflecting the car's enhanced dynamics.
Despite its larger size and frontal area, the new car's exterior tweaks lowered the coefficient of drag from 0.34 to 0.30, while aerodynamic lift was reduced by revisions to the undertray and downforce increased by the new electrically operated rear spoiler.
Cockpit space also benefits from the car's larger dimensions, including more front and rear shoulder room and rear knee room, though only height-challenged adults or children will fit in the aft seats without severe physical consequences. With its rear hatch configuration, the luggage area is both accessible and ample, increasing by about two-and-a-half times when the rear seats are folded flat.
The dynamic architecture of the new body design is reflected in the interior. New elements include three circular center dash vents instead of two; a new shift **** and smaller-diameter steering wheel, which has a flat bottom like the wheel in the RS 4; more supportive front seats, which are mounted slightly lower for improved headroom and feature fully electric adjustment on the driver side for the first time; and more easily operated climate controls in the center console, which is now angled slightly toward the driver. Also new is a digital speedometer readout in the standard driver information system that resides between the two large dials for speedometer and tachometer data.
Noteworthy standard items will include front kneebags as part of the passive safety system, A/C and cruise control, and the TT will be offered with a long list of options, including xenon active headlights and a full leather interior.
A driving delight
The challenges of alpine roads quickly expose an automobile's true character, but the Audi TT responded by delivering a rewarding driving experience, earning it, in our estimation, the right to be called a genuine sports car, especially in the 3.2 quattro model. The front-driver doesn't have quite the crisp turn-in and stability through a corner's exit as the all-wheel-drive TT, but it still is vastly improved over the previous version, which was hampered by a high degree of understeer when it was pushed hard.
High-speed stability and rock-solid behavior over rough roads, attributes that were missing in the previous TT, are now part and parcel of an exceptional package that has no direct competition in the market. Though not inexpensive (current 3.2 quattros are just over $40,000 and front-drive models approach $35,000), the TT has grown into a car that fully justifies the cost of ownership.
07-09-06, 07:01 PM
#56
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
This guy in Ocala FL is going nuts for it too - that's NIIIIIIICE. 
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08-29-06, 01:02 PM
#59
