Dutch club meeting

[Tom Nas]

Hi all,

It was Coupe Club meeting day here in Holland today, with a superb meeting 
at a nearby dealership. The weather cooperated 100% (yesterday was cold and 
windy, today was sunny and warm) which makes the usual engine bay staring a 
lot more pleasant.

There was an RS4 in the showroom and another one outside, as well as 
three(!) RS2 Avants, an S6plus Avant, an S2 Avant and about 60 Coupe GTs, 
Coupes, S2s, urquattros, Cabriolets and several other Audis.
There were several demo cars available for test drives- a 130 hp A3 1.9TDI, 
an A6 Avant 2.5TDI, an S6 Avant and a TT roadster.

Because of the great weather I was able to drive the TT with the top down, 
and based on my previous experiences with these cars I was ready to be 
disappointed by the TT. I wasn't- in fact, the TT roadster (225 hp Haldex) 
was very enjoyable in every respect. The exhaust's note has been finely 
tuned, which is somewhat hard to hear when you're driving a closed coupe 
version. Fine in the open car, though. The 1.8T spins up really fast, when 
accelerating fast it's sometimes tough to make the gearchange before you 
hit the rev limiter. There is some body flex but not so much that it 
interferes with the go-kart-like handling. The glass windbreaker does a 
good job of keeping the buffeting out, even at 180 km/h. It's tough to see 
the traffic lights with the top up, the low windscreen makes it hard to 
look up. No problem when the top is down, though. Brakes are progressive 
and it's easy to threshold brake, easier than with most new Audis. 
Amazingly, when provoked this car doesn't understeer but instead starts 
oversteering in a predictable, fun manner which is easy to correct. A hoot 
to drive.
This is not a fast Golf.

The other notable car was the S6 Avant, and this wasn't the beast I 
expected it to be. Sure, the 340 hp 4.2 is fast, but the autobox changes up 
slowly (even in sport mode) and you end up being in the wrong gear 
sometimes. You can use the Tip to change gear manually but its action 
doesn't do anything for me, slightly pointless. It's a heavy car that's 
hard to throw around corners. It understeers, but adhesion limits are 
incredibly high. The V8 doesn't sound V8ish, just brutal when you gun it. 
In the car it's a pretty remote sensation. The bakes are incredible, grabby 
but full application from high speeds makes the blood rush through your head.
Me, I'd prefer a manual 2.7tt in an A6. Or maybe the V8tt RS6?

Great day!

Tom