TT impressions

["R. W. Zehr" <rzehr@pacbell.net>]

Well, while out for a coastal run with Dan Sinclair, a visiting Qlister,
we stopped in at Sonnen Audi to see if they had a TT in for examination,
and the visit saved me around $40,000. They had three TTs in prior to
delivery: one each in black, blue, and silver. Without going into a lot
of detail, I don't want one. Not at all. 

While it has a lot of neat features and fashionable styling, and the
retro/modern interior styling is a nice design exercise, the bottom line
for me is that I simply don't like the feel of it as a car to ride in or
drive.

The tops of the doors are higher than my shoulders, so forget putting an
arm on the window sill with the window open, and the side windows are
also very short. Looking out to the side, you cannot look down to the
road near the car, nor up, due to the very short side windows and low
roofline. Going on a tour in the mountains would be very frustrating, as
you could see very little of the scenery out the slot-like side windows.
Tossing change into a turnpike toll machine would be difficult for the
same reason...

For whatever reason, I simply don't like a car that makes me feel as if
I am down inside it like lying down in a bathtub. My preference is more
toward the drag-your-knuckles-on-the-ground feeling of a TR-3, or the
up-in-the-air-inside-the-greenhouse design of an Audi 4000.

My other negative impression is that it looks a LOT like an overinflated
Karmann-Ghia from the 60s - "Quick Hans, let a little air out of this
one..."

So I recommend visiting your nearest Audi dealer to see a TT at the
first opportunity - you may come out much wealthier as a result  %>)

Regards,
Rick Zehr