Short Take Road Test
We invite you to consider the following postulate: the Audi TT RS is a backwards Porsche 911 Turbo. We submit the following evidence: Each one comes with all-wheel drive and turbocharging, both offer two-plus-two seating, and in the case of our Euro-spec TT RS, both can be had with seven-speed dual-clutch gearboxes with launch control. Launch control is largely responsible for the 911 Turbo’s and the TT RS’s stupefying, almost unbelievable 0-to-60 times.
Stupefying and unbelievable applies not just to the times posted by these cars, but to the experience of launching them as well. A violent jolt occurs as the power is delivered to each tire, and then they shoot forward so quickly that your vision becomes slightly hazy. At the track, a 911 Turbo can clip off 2.9-second 0-to-60 times (2.7 seconds for the Turbo S). The TT RS isn’t far behind, at 3.6 seconds—nearly as quick as the 3.5-second time posted by the previous-generation 911 Turbo and just 0.2 second behind the best time we’ve seen from the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. So how is the TT RS backwards? The 911 Turbo dangles its flat-six behind the rear wheels, while the TT’s five cylinders hang over the front wheels. Look, one of these cars is backwards; you decide which one.
Viewed as an alternative to the $136,450 911 Turbo, the TT RS’s estimated base price of $60,000 actually looks like a bit of a bargain. But if you consider the TT RS as the most powerful version of the $19,765 Volkswagen Golf upon which it is loosely based, that price may strike you as less so. Either way, when the TT RS arrives in the U.S. this fall, there won’t be many of them. Audi is planning on shipping fewer than 1000 to us over two years.
A Tough Decision
None of the U.S. cars will have the dual-clutch transmission. Because of the tiny volume being imported, Audi’s American arm had to choose only one transmission: either a six-speed manual or the seven-speed dual-clutch. They went with the manual, which doesn’t have launch control. But, our TT RS will have 25 more horsepower than the base European version, for a total of 360. (Europe is likely to get an option package that will boost its car to our horsepower total.) We anticipate that the extra horses won’t make up for the launch control’s advantage, and predict a 0-to-60 time of 4.5 seconds with the manual.
According to the Audi folk, software tuning is responsible for the additional power. All of the hardware on the 2.5-liter inline-five and the turbocharger remains identical to the European version. The engine emits a characteristic five-cylinder thrum, but it revs easily and builds power so quickly that it had us thinking ’80s Audi Quattro rally car, not Volkswagen Jetta. From outside the car, the large oval-shaped exhaust tips discharge a brutal and deep sound that also recalls Audi’s rally-car heritage.
Although the TT RS won’t hang its tail out the way Audi’s rally cars would, the TT RS is supremely adept at unwinding corners. Pushed to its limits, the TT RS will eventually understeer, but up to that point there’s just grip. Magnetorheological shocks offer excellent wheel control, there’s very little body roll, and the car wears a wide 255/35-19 Toyo Proxes T1 Sport tire at every corner. Turns are taken with such ease and drama-free competence that it’s possible to fly over even unfamiliar roads; just point and shoot. The steering effort is high, but the wheel lacks the lively feel of a Porsche Cayman’s, a car that costs about $8000 less than the TT RS likely will.
A Temperamental Maniac
Put this Audi on a boring stretch of straight road and it will make its discontent known—loudly. The large wheels hum, the exhaust drones, and the engine buzzes. It managed a respectable 69 decibels at 70 mph, but it was 69 decibels of pure annoyance.
It might not be the easiest car to live with on a freeway, but take the TT RS to a twisted road and it suddenly becomes very easy to live with. Come to think of it, 911 Turbos are pretty noisy too. Apparently making one go backwards doesn’t make it any quieter.
