Iconic Films
2 for 1 tickets to Singin' In The Rain, this coming Monday. Book now
Navigation - link to other main sections from here
Audi TT 2+2 Coupé
A car to drive you round the bends
THIS is a car that could make you late for work and late home. In theory it
can travel at twice the legal motorway speed limit. Acceleration is the sane
side of exhilarating. It even looks fast standing on the drive. But the
3.2-litre Audi TT has a vice — it will make you want to seek out winding,
bendy roads just so you can play with it.
Drive this and instead of seeking the most efficient route to work and back
while listening to BBC Radio 2, the chances are you will start spending time
staring at maps for roads that wiggle across the page and seeking those
roads out just to throw the car around.
Most motoring is all about getting from here to there as efficiently, as
cheaply and with as little stress as possible. Like four-wheeled fridges or
motorised DVD players, the modern car goes about its bland business
anonymously. Audi have proved that it does not have to be that way. What the
3.2-litre TT does best is remind you that driving is not just a means to an
end, a way of travelling. It proves that the journey can be just as
enjoyable as arriving.
There are cars that are more practical, seat more people and will carry more
luggage, and while the TT Coupé has two seats in the back they are more a
token gesture. The TT Coupé is no razor-edged sports car, however. It is a
sports car for adults, a performance machine that is also comfortable and as
powerful and fast as you could wish, with an engine putting out a very
respectable 247bhp. To make sure the car sounds as good as it goes, Audi
have even included a special flap in the exhaust that gives the car a
high-performance, slightly aggressive, engine note.
Yet this is sophisticated performance motoring, thanks in large part to the
gearbox, which features not one but two clutches. Just blip the throttle and
the V6 happily growls back. Then start playing with the gearchange. This is
Audi’s Direct Shift Gearbox, a six-speed manual transmission controlled by
an ingenious array of electronics to make it automatic. As one clutch
engages, the system’s computer brain guesses the next gear and pre-selects
it.
When the change comes, either in full automatic mode or at the flick of a
shift paddle mounted on the steering wheel, the second clutch is engaged for
a super-smooth shift up or down. The system changes gear in a fifth of a
second, faster than any driver could manually. For the hooligans out there
who need always to get away from the lights as fast as possible, you need
only to hit the right button and use the race-style launch control, which
will fire you from 0-62mph in 6.4sec.
Not all the car’s allure is under the bonnet. It is quite apparent that this
is a car built to last and the quality and finish inside the cockpit is
excellent. The car I drove featured blue leather upholstery and the black
dashboard neatly set off the twin silver chromed vent ducts. With gear-shift
paddles mounted on the steering wheel, two huge dials, one for revs and the
other the speedo, sit slap-bang in front of the driver. A pair of near,
smaller dials tell you all you need to know about engine temperature and
fuel. Dramatic aluminium struts run diagonally inside the cabin and climate
control is standard — just because your journey from A to B is rapid, it may
as well still be comfortable.
There is no doubt that the TT could be a handful. After all, a V6 with 247bhp
on tap is a lot of engine. Taming that power and making it useful rather
than scary is the Audi trick. Pulling it all together is the magic
transmission, turning the power into slick acceleration as it pours
fuss-free through all four wheels. This is a car that undermines A to B
motoring. Never have S-bends seemed more tempting.
AUDI TT 2+2 COUPÉ
ENGINE: 3,189cc narrow angle (15 degrees) V6 petrol producing 247bhp at
6,300rpm and 236lb ft of torque at 2,800-3,200rpm driving all four wheels.
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed dual clutch Direct Shift Gearbox with steering
wheel-mounted paddle-shift.
SUSPENSION: Front: McPherson struts with lower wishbones front. Rear:
longitudinal double wishbone. Anti-roll bars front and rear.
WEIGHT: 1,520kg.
PERFORMANCE: 0-62mph 6.4sec, top speed 155mph.
PRICE: £31,475.