BEAUTY WITH BRAINS
Time was when the TT had good looks and nothing else. Now it’s been to college and to gym.
Thomas Falkiner finds that the pretty Audi TT has grown up and been to college
THE Audi TT has been the perennial tease of the sports-car world. A sunkissed flirt in a mini skirt that talked a big game between sips of a double vodka martini. The TT (especially the first one) was that seductively shaped barroom minx with risqué dance moves who whispered playful profanities into your ear between songs. She was a hairflicking, lip-pouting hussy that you ached to get with.
Unfortunately when you did there was no hiding the disappointment. Under those gorgeous curves, behind that pretty face, lay a car of little substance. It wasn’t particularly fun to drive and neither was it particularly involving. Underneath it all the Audi TT was an ice princess, a deceptive siren who soon had you wondering why you didn’t hook up with the Porsche Cayman instead. But by then it was too late, son, it had you by the short and curlies for the next 72 months.
Yes, the Audi TT, the sports-car your buddies warned you about over craft beers and burgers on a Wednesday night: the metal manifestation a trophy girlfriend that “real” enthusiasts would forever look down their noses at. “For the love of God, don’t do it,” they chorused. And I should know — I was one of them.
But then something curious happened. Like it had ditched the cocktail bars and taken some university correspondence courses, the thirdgeneration TT launched last year boasted some real depth. The beauty was more than just skin deep, because the driving experience actually left you craving more. Sure, it still wasn’t quite as sharp as the Porsche Cayman, but man did it come close.
And now, with the new TTS you see blasting across this page, it comes even closer. The R51 000 price premium buys many things including 19-inch alloy wheels and electric alcantara sports seats with subtle S logos on the backrests. In the S-Audi tradition there are four tailpipes, matte-aluminium wing mirrors and a chrome-licked radiator grille that slices through the atmosphere like Freddie Krueger’s glove slices through victims. The most exciting stuff, however, lies underneath the bonnet.
Although it still looks the same as every other EA888 engine doing duty in a handful of Audi and Volkswagen products, this two-litre turbocharged lump now pumps out an extra 41kW and 10Nm more torque over the standard TT Quattro. This boils down to better performance: harder acceleration and quicker pick up through all six gears.
There’s also a magnificent bwhaart that ricochets through the exhaust system every time you swap cogs at high revs — a glorious noise that echoes off suburban walls and reverberates along the chassis and up into your chair. It definitely adds to the drama of going fast. And fast it loves going. The TTS may not be as overtly punchy as the RS3 but it does feel more lithe, more entertaining.
Piloted hard the TTS feels more like a car and less like a PlayStation simulator: you can feel the chassis working against the laws of physics, those tyres squirming for grip on the asphalt. There is a happy eagerness to the way its nose tucks into a bend and a sense of overall balance that’s been lacking from the TT for years. It finally feels like a pedigreed sports car.
And this is the beauty of the TTS. It mixes those pert, aesthetically pleasing genes with the sort of handling and performance that you, a driver’s driver, can take seriously. So by all means fall hard for those bedroom eyes and salacious swagger. This time around, you won’t regret it one little bit. LS