RE: audi tt fwd drive

[Don Muirhead <dmr@kwic.com>]

Dave:

Sounds like a great set of wheels.

But I have a question that falls into the stupid question category for 
those who either own or tested the TT.

When I look at the cut of the TT I'm thinking that it would be difficult to 
drive this car with your arm out the window or at least rest your elbow on 
the door with the window down - you know that "hey look at me" cruise mode. 
 Is this assumption fair?

Don

-----Original Message-----
From:	Dave Eaton [SMTP:Dave.Eaton@clear.net.nz]
Sent:	Wednesday, July 21, 1999 10:42 PM
To:	quattro@audifans.com; audi-s-cars@emailsol.com
Subject:	audi tt fwd drive

i went for a 1 hour drive in a fwd (180hp) audi tt today.  bright sunny
weather and one of my favourite roads made the time very useful to start to
develop an understanding of the car, which is touted as audi's first sports
car.  the car is in british spec for springs and dampers.

the impressions which immediately strike you are the solidity of the build,
with doors which close with a thunk and audi's (now usual) good job on the
interior quality.  the only noticeable detraction of the interior is the
relatively hard plastics on the door tops.  softer would have been better.
but quality wise, much better than any of the opposition i can think of, 
and
clearly something of a finger pointed at porsche where the 996 interior
disappoints.  the car was black, with a dark interior, offset by the nice
use of brushed aluminium and leather.  headroom is excellent.  the car 
looks
great, although larger wheels would fill the wheel-arches better.

the car is a very compelling combination of dynamics, looks and tactile
experiences.  the driving position can be setup using the usual range of
adjustments and you are left with a good view of the road, with all 
controls
within easy reach.  even the view out the side is much less claustrophobic
than you would initially suppose.

the clutch is very light with good progression, the brakes bite but allow
more modulation than the a4, and the steering is very good, almost up to 
the
level of the rr ur-quattro (still audi's best steering car).  there is a
nice weight to the steering, enough feedback, and a pleasant immediacy of
response, which lifts it above the ordinary.  now to the other bits that
matter...

the gearbox is a delight.  short throws, very little lateral movement and a
very pleasant "snick" which makes you absolutely confident of your
selection.  audi is now (probably with vw's help), starting to get their
gearboxes right.  finally.  easily the best gearbox in an audi i've used
(i've not driven the a3 however, which must use the same box).

the engine also is a pleasant surprise.  response at low engine speeds is
very good.  better even than the 20vt (rr) in the ur-quattro.  2,000rpm in
any gear and full throttle results in almost immediate pickup.  lag is 
there
if you look (below 1,500 there is not much interest), but the engine is
happy at low speeds and will wind all the way to the 6,500 red-line with no
difficulty whatsoever.  while clearly not of the same power as the 20vt i5,
it also does not have the top-end breathlessness of that motor.  the engine
note is also pleasing with a nice, (but not wearing) rortiness about it.

the ride is very good.  roll is very very well controlled.  while the
ur-quattro gives you absence of roll and immediacy of response, it is at 
the
penalty of ride which is, by today's standards, disappointing.  even with
koni's on mid settings, my ur-quattro can rattle your teeth over the right
road.  the tt does not do this.  not even close.  i cannot think of an audi
which has as good a combination of roll, ride and steering.  certainly not
the new s4.

handling is complimented by the absence of roll.  as you know, this is
certainly not an audi trait (talking s-cars here).  it does remind you of
the ur-quattro on corner entry with the immediacy of the steering, the lack
of roll, and the responsiveness of the engine.  the story after this gets a
little more muddied.  there is very little torque steer, but, on faster
corners, it is possible to feel the back of the car wanting to move around
on you, particularly if you go in a little too hot.  this dynamic is not at
all apparent at lower speeds where the car stays composed, corners flatly,
and keeps it's line well.  it does however, make you wonder what would
happen on low grip (wet) conditions.  such is the quality of the fwd
chassis, that getting a wheel to lift is difficult, and requires extremes 
of
behaviour which are not in the repertoire of a good driver.  it does 
however
make you look forward to the quattro which should feel more stable on 
faster
corner entry, while retaining the pleasant characteristics of the lower
powered car.

on a road i know very well from driving the ur-quattro hard, and from
cycling it many times, i found myself travelling at comparable speeds to 
the
quattro.  although the quattro will reward pressing on on this road in a 
way
which the tt won't, the sensory experience of the drive is actually
remarkably similar.

overall, a very pleasing car, and a compliment to audi, who is continuing 
to
improve it's game.  readers will note that i am comparing the car to the
ur-quattro (20v version).  comparisons to the rs2 are too difficult as the
essence of each vehicle is so totally different.  i will leave the reader 
to
draw their own conclusions from this.

the quattro is not available in nz until well into 2000 unfortunately.
given what i now know of the tt, i find myself very much looking forward to
a drive in this car.  my experience of the fwd chassis makes me applaud the
accuracy of the comparison of the ttq and the ur-quattro in "evo" magazine.

dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q
'88 mb 2.3-16