DYNAMITE IN SMALL PACKAGE

INDULGENCE: LIGHT COMPACT COUPE WITH RAZOR SHARP HANDLING

From the moment the Audi TT RS Coupe was launched, the hype started to grow around just how fast this compact sports car would be. And some of the road test data coming out from overseas suggested that the TT RS, would hit 100km/h in less the 3.5 seconds, which is quicker than the already very fast claimed time of 3.7 seconds from Audi themselves.

I even thought that maybe, just maybe, it could be because the RS3 Sedan I tested earlier this year went to 100km/h in 3.83 seconds, and that was quite a bit quicker than its claimed time of 4.1 seconds. But when you start to think about these times, you realise that the TT RS, although lighter than the RS3 Sedan, would then go quicker than cars like the Porsche 911 GTS and Nissan GT-R, that cost more than double the R963 000 basic asking price of the Audi.

After a run or four, making full use of the seven-speed S tronic’s launch control feature, my test TT RS ran a quick 3,79 seconds to 100 km/h, hit the 1/4 mile in 11,97 seconds at 193,76 km/h, and crossed the 1km mark at 247,14 km/h. Now this is proper fast, and just about right as claimed, but not quite what the world was expecting.

So, I thought a few quick notes explaining things might help a little. The TT RS is slightly quicker to 100km/h than the RS3 Sedan, and it stays ahead from there too, but it is slightly slower just off the line, 0-20km/h, 0-40km/h and 0-60km/h, due to the launch control of the TT not being as aggressive as that of the Sedan, and then it makes back the ground it loses.

Also, the TT RS as tested came with the 20-inch optional wheels, and I feel that this also held the car back a fraction, as wheelspin is not an issue, and it certainly wasn’t on the Sedan that ran on the smaller 19-inch wheels. There is too much tyre for the car in my opinion. And the Sedan was tested at 8 degrees and the TT at 18 degrees. So, as much as I am happy that on the day, with this car, in this trim, these are the times it can run.

I went and did a bit of internet digging around, and had a good look at the numbers posted, and it quickly became obvious that they were doing something different to me when it came to road testing. A car’s ability to launch hard is measured in how quick it gets off the line and covers the first few metres of tar. Just like a pukka drag car does at a drag strip.

And because drag racing is so much bigger overseas than it is here, they seem to base their testing as if they were at a drag strip not on a public road. Whereas we in South Africa, seem to earn most of our bragging rights on the streets in our street cars. And this is all about how quick your car is versus another car, without having to deal with the complication of staging, or positioning, your car’s front wheels between the two light beams that are around one-foot apart, for the Christmas (countdown) tree to activate.

This means that your car could move for a good few cm before you break the second beam and start the timing of your run, but by then, your car is already accelerating, and this makes a bigger difference than you think versus measuring a car’s acceleration from the moment it moves.