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Dashed expectations. Image by Audi.

Dashed expectations
Audi puts a five-cylinder turbocharged engine into the TT and adds the RS badge. But can this TT live up to the billing?

   



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| First Drive | Zolder, Belgium | Audi TT RS |

More than any other, the addition of the letters RS to a car should mean greatness. The best Fords and Porsches wear these evocative letters as a badge of honour and Audi has been adding them to its most extreme models since the loony-fast RS2 Avant based on the Audi 80 in 1994. The TT is the latest model to receive the badge, the flagship coupé or roadster both available in RS guise with a drivetrain that is more than a mere nod to its legendary Ur-quattro relative.

In the Metal

Everyone is familiar with the TT's shape, but the RS obviously adds some aggression to match its increased performance. Most obvious is the rear spoiler, the fixed wing that sits on top of the boot lid looking like an afterthought and upsetting the TT's purity of line. It's a 'delete spec' piece of kit, and as it adds little to the aerodynamics of the range-topping machine it's probably best to do exactly that.

Larger alloy wheels fill the muscular wheel arches with real conviction, the massive brakes behind the wheel's spokes underlining that this is no ordinary TT. As do the wider R8-aping air intakes at the front and the smattering of RS badges. The TT always looked good, and in RS guise - rear wing aside - it looks sensational.

What you get for your Money

For your £42,985 - or £44,885 if you want the Roadster - you get the fastest Audi TT ever. With a five-cylinder turbocharged engine pushing out 335bhp this TT will get you to 62mph in 4.6 seconds and onto an electronically limited 155mph. If you're a regular German commuter you can have that limit lifted to 174mph, too. Along with its go-faster drivetrain you get all the usual sporting kit like a flat-bottomed steering wheel, sports seats in leather, brushed aluminium inserts and electronic climate control. What's perhaps notable on the flagship TT though is what you don't get, it coming not with Audi's much lauded twin-clutch paddle-shift transmission and magnetic damping system, the former not available and the latter being a cost option.

Driving it

Audi has proved with its now departed RS4 and existing S4 that it's got what it takes to make real drivers' cars. The TT RS is a tantalising proposition then, and when first turning the key and hearing the off-beat rumble of the five-cylinder unit thoughts of the legendary Ur-quattro come to the fore. Moving away the RS feels taut and sounds purposeful. It's quick too, the five-cylinder unit delivering serious punch from low revs - its 332lb.ft of torque available from 1,600rpm right around to 5,300rpm. On paper it's quick too, the RS reaching 62mph in 4.6 seconds, which is only half a second slower than a Porsche 911 GT3.

With a new short shift six-speed manual gearbox on the RS we'd expected a short, precise action, but instead it proves rather long and vague across its gate. That's fine at town speeds, but up the pace and it's difficult to shift smoothly, it feeling like you're hustling the stick through the gearbox while waiting for the four-wheel drive transmission to catch up with the momentum. Smoothness is key to driver enjoyment and I never thought I'd say it but after a few shifts of the clumsy manual I'm dreaming of paddle-shifters and a bigger rest for my left foot.

The steering retains its TT DNA of light weighting and very little actual feel. It turns in quickly though, the firm suspension resisting body roll and the plentiful rubber ensuring good grip through the bend. There's just no real incentive to do so, the RS never delivering that hit of adrenaline or incisive feel to have you hunting out a series of hairpin bends. Do so and it'll understeer, despite Audi's claims that the quattro drivetrain is rear biased; it feels like a fast front-wheel drive car with its nose heavy attitude and dogged resistance to oversteer.

Lesser TTs are more entertaining to drive as your expectations of dynamic prowess aren't so high and the performance on offer doesn't ask too much from the chassis. The RS's sensational pace only highlights its lack of sophistication on the road and nose-led stance. It's unable to deliver anything like the dynamic experience of its key rivals and Porsche's Cayman makes it look particularly clumsy in comparison. Sure, the TT RS is fast, but there should be more to an RS than just raw figures and the TT just doesn't deliver the sort of intoxicating driving experience to make it worthy of wearing those two suggestive letters on its boot lid.

Worth Noting

Audi recently introduced its S4 with a clever optional sports differential that turns it into a genuine BMW chaser for dynamic prowess. What's surprising is that Audi hasn't fitted it to the TT RS, as it could have turned it into a genuine Porsche rival. As it stands it feels like every other TT, only faster; and while that's okay further down the range, at the lofty price point the TT RS is offered it's seriously outclassed as a drivers' car.

Summary

This TT feels overwhelmed by the RS badge on its boot lid, along with the weight of history thanks to the fitting of a five-cylinder, turbocharged powertrain mated to quattro four-wheel drive. Our expectation is of something special when those two letters appear, and the TT RS isn't. There's no denying it's fast, and Audi will argue that it's quantifiably better against the clock, for standard equipment and power, torque and even fuel efficiency, but it's those intangible, unquantifiable areas where it fails to deliver, the RS a missed opportunity in the TT range and outclassed by its key rivals.

Kyle Fortune - 29 May 2009



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2009 Audi TT specifications: (Coupé)
Price: £42,985 on-the-road.
0-62mph: 4.6 seconds
Top speed: 155mph
Combined economy: 31.0mpg
Emissions: 214g/km
Kerb weight: 1450kg

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Dave Jenkins.



2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 

2009 Audi TT RS. Image by Audi.
 






 

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