Audi TT Roadster 1.8T

...all good cars, but the Audi just felt so much more special. The interior is every bit as unique as the outside, and in my opinion one of the most beautifully designed cars on the market.

We opted for the soft top (Roadster), as we test-drove one with the lid down and from then on, we never even considered the Coupe.

Once inside the car, the first thing that strikes you is the height of the door panel. The side windows ...
...there you have it, UK Audi TTs are top spec hence more expensive. (Of course they’re too expensive anyway – about £3,000 more than in Germany).

We opted for a six CD interchanger, which is a small cartridge that hides in a box behind the passenger seat. This is great as the CDs change over seamlessly. We also went for the Bose surround sound, which I jest not is superior to my home hifi. Quite a feat for a car stereo. The ... more

If you’ve read my opinion on car importing, you’ll appreciate the saga of buying this car. If you were thinking of buying one yourself, I’d recommend taking a look at that opinion as well.

First, I won’t dwell on the car’s looks for long - if you don’t know what it looks like I doubt you’re reading this opinion; suffice to say that it’s design inside and out swayed us over the Mercedes SLK and the BMW Z3, both of which disappointed in one way or another (couldn’t afford the Porsche Boxster! - but prefer the design of the TT anyway). They are all good cars, but the Audi just felt so much more special. The interior is every bit as unique as the outside, and in my opinion one of the most beautifully designed cars on the market.

We opted for the soft top (Roadster), as we test-drove one with the lid down and from then on, we never even considered the Coupe.

Once inside the car, the first thing that strikes you is the height of the door panel. The side windows are quite small as a consequence, but to no detriment. This car is stuffed with safety features, and the high, thick flat edged door really makes you feel cocooned and safe. The next thing you notice is the distance you are from the very slanted windscreen. It gives an initial feeling of tunnel vision, but also acts as a very effective sun shield, as you have quite a length of roof over your head between you and the windscreen. In the Coupe, this can feel a bit claustrophobic (I banged my head trying to climb out of the Coupe, which put me off a bit), but the Roadster has much more headroom, so this is not an issue. The combined affect is a permanent reminder that you are in a car that’s very special.

The dashboard layout is very simple but beautifully put together. There are seemingly millions of gadgets and gizmos, but without a million knobs and buttons. What’s really satisfying about it is that it’s all very well thought out. It combines the latest technology with no-nonsense design. A glance at the user manual would make you think that the onboard computer requires a PhD, but actually it’s all very intuitive and very, very clever. A quick flick on the scroll button at the end of the indicator arm will allow you to scroll a menu of useful information on the display: average mile to the gallon (adjusted every 30 meters according to your driving style), estimated miles left before refilling, preset max speed warning etc, etc. It tells you the external temperature continuously, which is very handy in close to freezing temperatures. It actually makes you think about your driving style. The other day I didn't close the boot properly due to it being so full and as I started to drive off, I noticed a large red graphic image on the dashboard display: a picture of the car with a flashing red boot symbol - it has a brain.

The important thing to remember about the TT is that in the UK you’ll pay at least £11,000 more than a basic model in Germany. This is not as outrageous as it sounds. In the UK, you would get a top spec car, where as you’ll have to spend about £11,000 to bring it up to UK spec if you buy from Germany. Believe me, I made the trip to find out! For example, you can only buy the Quattro in the UK, not the front-wheel drive. The Xenon headlights are standard in the UK, but are about (if memory serves) £800 extra in Germany. The Germans get ripped off on this one, because they need better headlights. They don’t have cat’s-eyes in the middle of the roads and also have less streetlights than we do. So there you have it, UK Audi TTs are top spec hence more expensive. (Of course they’re too expensive anyway – about £3,000 more than in Germany).

We opted for a six CD interchanger, which is a small cartridge that hides in a box behind the passenger seat. This is great as the CDs change over seamlessly. We also went for the Bose surround sound, which I jest not is superior to my home hifi. Quite a feat for a car stereo. The stereo incidentally hides behind a beautiful brushed aluminum cover, which is both extravagant and slightly outrageous, but very Audi TT.

We have at last run the car in, which as a guideline from Audi was not to enter the red on the rev-counter or exceed ¾ the car’s top speed. I worked out that we had to drive under a conservative 110 mph! We found it had plenty of grunt at low revs, so we found running-in was still great fun.

The engine has a beautiful guttural sound that’s similar to the some of the old British sportscars. The engine is not a silky six cylinder 2.5 litre or more, as you might expect, but actually a mere 1.8 litre with 4 cylinders and 20 valves. I was amazed that a car that pulls 0-62 in 6.7 seconds and can top 147 mph could have such a small engine. However, it does achieve 225 bhp and is turbo charged. But it’s not a gas-guzzler; it’s apparently very efficient. I read that it’s as economical as the Ford Focus. The beautiful throaty engine noise does compete with the stereo at times, not because it’s loud, but because it sounds so satisfying. Sometimes it’s just nice to hear the engine without the stereo being on. The engine doesn't come across as smooth, but as beautiful, and is in fact very well mannered in traffic.

Driving the car is amazing. It has the reassurance of 4 wheel drive and ESP - not extra sensory perception, but Electronic Stability Control. Each wheel adjusts to stabalise the car if it looses traction when accelerating, cornering or breaking. This again is very reassuring, but strangely, this seems to be one of the criticisms you’ll find from motoring journalists, who say it’s not a car for the purists. They may be right, but it’s pretty hard to over-beast a car like this, so I don’t know why they fuss about it. The one thing I would agree with though is the lack of feedback from the steering wheel. The car is so solid and vibration free, you loose some of the feedback from the tyres through the steering wheel. But this is also due to the 4-wheel drive. Having driven it for a while, I’ve got used to this, but it’s a small price to pay compared to the reassurance you get driving this car in the wet. The first time I drove it on the motorway in the pouring rain, I felt very confident behind the wheel. The one thing that took me longer to get used to is the width of the car. If you’re used to driving an ordinary car (so to speak) you’ll suddenly notice how wide it feels. This could be amplified by the slightly unfamiliar cockpit arrangement, but for the first time since I took my driving test, I started to get nervous squeezing through gaps. Partly, I put this down to the really wide cockpit space. There’s loads of room between you and the door, as well as you and the passenger. The overall curvature of the car may add to the feeling. This is not a criticism of the car in any way. After all, I’m sure I’d say the same for a Porsche, Ferrari or Aston Martin.

Naturally, the driving position is as perfect as you could expect. The seats are heated, firm and hugging. The firmness doesn’t give you a sore bum on long journeys either, a tribute to good design. The steering wheel is adjustable and the seats can be raised or lowered quickly and easily. The pedals are aluminium too, which is a nice touch. The foot-well is comfortable and spacious. It oozes no-nonsense luxury.

It has six gears, which offer closer ratios for sporty driving. I was amazed to find it pulling easily in sixth gear going up Haldon Hill outside Exeter where in other cars I’d be changing down from fourth to third mid way up. The gear change is chunky and nobly (not buttery smooth as you’d find in a BMW) which is fine on the open road, but less satisfying in traffic. The gear stick is a piece of art in it’s own right. For normal driving, The range between gear changes is amazing. I found gear changing at about 4,000 revs was normal, but you’d have to be doing well over 70mph to find the rev counter any where near the red in third gear. This reduces the need to change gear whilst in the middle of an overtaking maneuver on country roads, which must be a blessing in anyone’s book.

Parking can be a pain due to the side of the hood obscuring nearside visibility. This comes as bit of a shock when you glance over your right shoulder only to be confronted by a wall of black. Again, it’s not long before you get used to this. After all, the wing-mirrors offer good visibility, and the nearside mirror has a convex edge, which broadens your view and eliminates blind spot.

If you still can't reverse and all else fails, you can take the roof down, which only takes about ten seconds. This will give you ultimate visibility. The roof incidentally is very quiet when driving at high speeds. There’s no buffeting and what’s more the rearview window is glass not plastic. A closer look from the inside shows how secure it is too. The supporting bars across the top are very close together, preventing anyone slashing and entering, and as an added safety feature, the door locks on the inside are deactivated when the door is locked from the outside and the alarm switched on.

A lot of the common criticisms of soft-tops simply don’t apply to the TT. It’s quiet to drive. The climate control is exceptional, so heating is not an issue. All you do is select the temperature and the car does the rest. The rear view window is made of glass. When you have the lid down, a glass screen can be raised to reduce cockpit turbulence at high speeds, and the brushed aluminium role bars behind each seat help to make this car safer with the roof down than most hard top family saloons. There are even airbags in the sides of the seats. A lot of science has gone into this car, so sporty needn’t mean dangerous.

So if the car doesn’t kill you, the insurance probably will. It falls into Group 19 (out of 20), so a no claims bonus is essential. The highest quote we got from one company was £7,000 per year! In the end though we paid £1,400, so shop around.

The car does have a few drawbacks, but ones you can’t really complain about. The boot is quite shallow, which means you have to be very disciplined with luggage. This is a sacrifice that you know you’ll have to make with this kind of car (apart from the Mercedes SLK which has a massive boot for its size). However, when the roof’s up, it’s a pity you can’t reclaim the boot space, as this would make the boot very respectable.

The other drawback is the reaction you get from some drivers. My girlfriend’s already been carved up and threatened in a road rage incident, and people tend to be more reluctant to let you into gaps - some people. She gets more hassle than me. Perhaps some people don’t like to see young women in smart cars.

So far, there have been very few reasons to complain about this car. It’s a pleasure just being in it.

If you do buy one, I’d recommend you read the manual, because there are a lot of special features crammed into this car, and it never ceases to amaze me how the Germans think of absolutely everything.
 

...less