Audi TT test drive rave

["Rich, Jack" <JRich@Kronos.com>]

I developed an extreme case of TT lust after the recent Car and Driver
article.  I test drove one at lunch today, and it was *much* nicer than I
was expecting.  My lust has not abated, as it usually does after driving a
new Audi.  Usually they're not enough nicer than my current Audis to spring
that much money.  Not so the TT.

It's smaller than I was expecting.  There was a silver one (sold) which
looked nice.  The demo was black.  The car is too small to look good in
black.  I think small cars look better in lighter, brighter colors.  It
looks like a new Beetle, but squashed back.  It's cute like a Beetle, yet
much nicer looking so it avoids being "cutesy".

The 17" wheels don't fill the wheel wells as much as they seem to in the
pictures.  It looks like it could have had even larger wheels and tires.
The rear seat is a joke, as headroom is less than any coupe I've ever seen.
(Don't ever close the rear hatch while someone is sitting back there!)  The
view towards the rear, especially the driver's rear, is poor.  Switching
lanes safely is problematic and takes lots of head bobbing.

It has brakes like an A4, in the sense of being overly sensitive.  It's like
a trigger-happy on/off switch at first until you get used to it.  This is
much more of a problem at low speeds.  At higher speeds, the stopping power
is prodigious and confidence inspiring.  I've never been in an Audi that
stops as well.

The little 1.8T is a slug from idle.  This is the first Audi I've stalled on
launch in at least 15 years.  However, it appears to be geared very low, so
you are into the boost in very short order.  I've never driven an Audi that
felt as fast.  I found myself pushing 80mph at the end of a highway entrance
ramp without knowing I was going anywhere near that fast.  I was shocked to
see how much I was speeding before even getting on the highway, and having
to tell myself to get off the gas before I wound up in the slammer.  The car
seemed faster than my Corvette, though I know it can't be.  It probably
relates to my being much more comfortable with its fwd handling and no-fuss
acceleration vs. the Corvette's V8 roar that attracts the attention of
everyone in the vicinity while inducing power-on oversteer.

There was a trace of wheel spin that made me think quattro would be nice.  I
don't even know if I had the traction control turned on or off.  (I bet it
was on.  There was a light on the dash that kept illuminating occasionally,
in retrospect corresponding to being driven hard in a turn, etc.  When I'd
get to where I could look down, it went off.)  If the ASR was on, it was a
wonderful thing, rather than a nuisance to performance.

The car's turn-in is unbelievable.  It doesn't seem to understeer.  It's
fast.  It stops on a dime.  It is very unlike every other Audi I've driven.
The only question is whether to wait for quattro, and whether to wait for
the extra 40 HP.

I thought there was no room for it in my stable, since to buy it, I need to
either sell my V8 or my Corvette, neither of which I'm willing to do.  (The
4kq is obviously history.)  It has me rethinking the Corvette, as its fun
factor is as high.  Go drive one today.

Jack Rich
90 V8Q
88 Corvette convertible
84 4kq - about to be for sale, I think