AutoCar: New audi TT can rival Cayman in driving dynamics

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

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.

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.

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Click here to find out more!
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

It's the coupé that Audi bosses say will run rings around the competition - and in a UK exclusive, Auto Express has driven it first!

The sensational new TT promises to be a massive hit - but while there's no doubt that the designers have done a great job of refining and adapting the classic shape, will the car now be just as good to drive as it is to look at?
With Porsche's Cayman in its sights, the all-new TT is aiming high. While the outgoing model was favoured by style-conscious buyers, the redesigned Audi aims to attract performance fans, too.
And it certainly looks more imposing. Measuring 137mm longer and 78mm wider than before, the TT has lost some of its pure curves and shapes, but it has a more aggressive, purposeful stance.
Inside, designers have taken a similar approach - the two-plus-two cabin has been revamped to offer improved space in the rear seats. Material quality is superb, and while the dials and switches look familiar, the layout is new. The exception is the flat-bottomed steering wheel, borrowed from the RS4, while the gearlever is mounted higher and closer to it for faster shifting.
However, it's hard not to feel a little disappointed when you fire the 3.2-litre V6. The flagship's engine is smooth, and offers plenty of acceleration across the rev range, from 2,200rpm to 6,400rpm, but it's never particularly exciting - even though it delivers an impressive time of only 5.7 seconds for the 0-60mph sprint. A flat-out top speed of 155mph confirms the car's performance credentials, but there's no aggressive sound or rasping exhaust note to emphasise the all-new TT's sporting intentions.
Mated to Audi's six-speed double-clutch DSG transmission, the engine is refined - but the system is a £1,400 option, and doesn't offer a huge performance advantage. We would stick with the six-ratio manual gearbox. Accelerate from a standstill and the throttle response is jerky at first, but it becomes smoother as the revs rise.
A major part of sharpening the new coupé's responses was in re-engineering its structure. As Audi uses its spaceframe design - also seen on the A2 supermini and A8 executive car - the new TT is 50 per cent stiffer than before, and the construction comprises 69 per cent aluminium and 31 per cent steel. As a result, the car is 90kg lighter, and has better weight distribution. The TT has its steel components at the rear, as well as a spoiler which pops up at speed to provide greater grip at the back.

On the road, the result is impressive stability. Also, the steering feels crisper than before, responding more accurately even to the smallest inputs.
The new TT features multi-link axles, and an optional adaptive damper suspension set-up is available. Called Magnetic Ride, this gives a choice of Sport and Comfort modes. Opt for the stiffer setting and body roll is reduced when cornering, for a sportier feel. Comfort offers a greater blend of sharp responses and smooth ride for everyday use. Priced £29,285, the all-wheel-drive flagship will be sold alongside a cheaper 2.0-litre turbo car, available with front or four-wheel drive. Whichever TT you choose, you won't be disappointed.
Jurgen Zoellter

Source = Auto Express

a short verdict:

even though the Opel Astra GTC is way cheaper (116 EUR/PS) than the Audi TT (160 EUR/ps) and the better daily drive (as the TT is only a 2+2 seater), the TT at least is the better buy as it by far is the sportier and better handling car, the new benchmark for the +200 bbhp compact class.

It score 39/60 pts., the Astra GTC, even though fitted wiuth the optional IDS Plus suspension) only 34/60 pts.

TT / Astra
0-100km/h 6.8 s 7.5 s
0-180km/h 20.2 s 24.2 s

Slalom: 68,2km/h 66,7km/h
Hockenheim: 1.18,8 min 1.22,2 min