Tested: 2000 Audi TT Goes All-In on Style

From the June 1999 issue of Car and Driver.

Audi’s new TT, which goes on sale as you read this, is perhaps the most extraordinary and interesting vehicle we’ve driven since the Plymouth Prowler. Its sensual styling—vaguely retro in its streamlined Bauhaus cues—is completely fresh inside and out. Its turbocharged 1.8-liter, five-valve inline-four barks out a baritone wail vaguely reminiscent of a racing turbo but unlike that of other regular production engines. Even the action of the switchgear and shifter seems to establish a new paradigm of heft and precision. Priced at $31,000, the Audi TT has elbow room in the coupe market—its closest competitors are the Honda Prelude SH and the BMW Z3 coupe 2.8, which are priced from four to six grand on either side of the TT.

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That this unique and dynamically brilliant car shares its underpinnings with anything, let alone a humble econobox like the VW Golf, gives us a glimmer of hope that the mega-multi­merged car companies ruling our future may indeed be capable of producing cars that ring the “economies of scale” register yet also stimulate the enthusiast’s gotta-have-it glands.

And the TT had our glands in full gorge even before we twisted the key. Its taut, blunt-nosed, stretched-over-the­-wheelbase lines engage the eye far longer than do those of most modern sports coupes. The look is inspired by Auto Union Grand Prix and land speed record racers of the ’30s. Auto Union later became Audi and incorporated NSU and DKW—two companies whose motorcycles met with success in the Tourist Trophy races for which the TT is named.

Feast your eyes. Note how most panel gaps are situated in such a way as to echo or enhance the geometric circle and arch themes. In keeping with Bauhaus simplicity, form follows function, and there are no forms that do not serve a useful function (no cladding, no wings, no scoops, no spoilers). Functional elements like the aluminum fuel-filler door are rendered exquisitely. Its lid shuts with the same precise click heard when snapping home the cylinder of a Ruger .357 magnum revolver—and it’s attached with seven Torx-head fasteners.

If the exterior excites the senses, the interior positively titillates—especially if you opt for the cloth-and-rubber seat inserts. The cockpit is an orgy of leather, aluminum, stainless steel, and rubber. The round, white-on-black gauges are marked in an art-deco typeface, and in fifth gear the red speedo and tach needles swing in unison, pointing straight up at 80 mph. The circular dash vents are opened and closed by rotating their outer aluminum rings 90 degrees. Depressing the seat-heater switches pops them out, whereupon they can be rotated to provide six heat levels. The switches alone seem worth the $700 option price (which includes a trip computer), even if you live in Key West. An aluminum panel conceals the 80-watt standard radio (buy that one—the $1200 175-watt CD­ changer unit’s sound isn’t worth the money). A dumbbell-shaped ring of thick aluminum wire forms two cup holders (although these are located too far aft on the console to be handy). Two aluminum braces connect the dash to the floor console and add rigidity, but even with the padding provided, they rubbed some legs the wrong way. The stainless-steel pedals with rubber inserts look great but become slippery when wet. Even the owner’s manual, which becomes a design element because it doesn’t fit in the narrow glove box, has an aluminum spine.

The seating position is low, and the doors and the dash loom rather high—there’s no riding with an arm draped out the window. Narrow windows complete the impression of riding in a ’50 Mercury lead sled or a Porsche Speedster with the top up. The view of overhead traffic lights is limited, but at least the sun visors are seldom needed. Front shoulder belts deploy from just below the rear side windows, and they aren’t height-adjustable. That allows parts commonality with the upcoming roadster, but it compromises comfort. The back seats are approved for the use of children who are between 51 and 57 inches tall, and even then, the front seats will need to be pulled way forward. But folded flat, they make room for parcels four feet long by nearly three feet wide.

If the interior titillates, the driving experience, um, fulfills. The chassis, which is 3.5 inches shorter in wheelbase than all other A-platform variants, is reinforced sufficiently to produce the roadster version without modification. Adding a roof structure gives the TT coupe an extremely stiff body. Nothing rattles or vibrates, even on horrendous roads. Bumps are absorbed firmly, without any unwanted steering effect and with surprisingly little noise. This lack of crash-through noise gives the impression that the ride is smoother than it truly is.

For a torquey, turbocharged front­-driver riding on a conventional front-strut suspension, the TT exhibits remarkably little torque steer. Even as you pull out into traffic while calling for full power, the car goes where it’s pointed without tugging on the wheel rim. Only while accelerating on badly rutted asphalt do you have to correct the TT’s path. Steering effort feels natural and builds steadily as lateral g increases.

A strong reserve of torque is available with minimal turbo lag throughout the rev range. It’s accompanied by an amply enthusiastic exhaust note, but no turbo whistle. Mercedes’s Kompressor engines should sound this good. And we are impressed with the performance of the tuning of the traction-control ­system. It reins in wheelspin effectively and seems to keep the car balanced right on the limits of adhesion, rather than drastically cutting power like many such systems do. An electronic throttle prevents any low-speed bucking and enables the five-speed manual to be driven with the smoothness of a Lexus automatic once the adrenaline has dissipated. (No automatic transmission will be offered for now—just the essentials, remember?)

Our car’s stock 205/55ZR-16 tires mustered 0.87 g of stiction on the skidpad. An optional performance package includes 225/45ZR-17 tires on six-spoke wheels and xenon high-intensity-discharge headlamps for $1000. Bigger rubber will elevate the limits, perhaps beyond the comfort zone of most drivers. Not so, our TT. In stock trim, blasting around our vaunted 10Best loop, the car feels pleasingly neutral and can be made to rotate with a bit of throttle lift or late braking.

Overall, the TT drives very much like a Honda Prelude SH—the car we voted “The Best-Handling Car for Less Than $30,000” (C/D, June 1997). Like the Honda, the TT fits like a calfskin glove and responds like an extension of the driver’s arms and legs. The two cars’ performance figures are virtually identical. Both take 6.9 seconds to reach 60 mph, and both cross the quarter-mile mark at 90 mph—the TT in 15.6 seconds, the Prelude in 15.4. The engines feel quite different, however. The Prelude is all banshee revs and VTEC cam shifts, whereas the turbocharged TT makes big, consistent midrange punch—173 lb-ft of it from 1950 to 4700 rpm. The difference shows in passing times, where the TT smokes the Prelude from 50 to 70 mph in top gear—7.5 seconds versus 9.7. The TT’s 180 horses seem more accessible in daily driving than do the Prelude’s 195 or 200 steeds.

The brake-pedal action is somewhat progressive—braking force builds more quickly than expected—with light application, but in hard charging, the brakes perform reassuringly and without fade. Stops from 70 mph take just 174 feet—two more than in the Prelude.

Yes, the Prelude performs in a virtual dead heat with the Audi TT. It offers more rear-seat room and it costs $4635 less. But it’s at least five grand down on sex appeal. Hard-core pragmatists looking to rationalize the Audi can point to its cargo hold and its three-year/50,000-mile free-maintenance program. This fall, the TT platform will add a Quattro version, and next spring we get the roadster and the ultimate TT—a 225-hp Quattro model with a six-speed manual and big tires. We hear that one is even more orgasmic to drive. We’re girding our loins.

Counterpoints

One of my fellow C/D tribesmen here dismisses the TT because it doesn’t manifest quite as much straight-ahead urgency as BMW’s Z3 coupe 2.8 and also because its drive wheels tow it, rather than propel it. Wake up! Audi’s brash little bolus is a design statement that eclipses the Bimmer and anything else in this class. Okay, the beltline is high, it’s hard to see the hood, and there’s a Prowler-esque sense of lounging in the depths of a bathtub. But this ain’t no Prowler. It’s a real sports car. More important, it’s automotive fashion that’s gonna help define the shapes of the next millennium. Audi is redrawing the rules. —Tony Swan

I need to sit down and smoke a good cigar because I’ve just experienced the automotive equivalent of a seven-course meal at Maxim’s. The Audi TT is literally a movable feast for the eyes and senses. I spent half my time with this car taking in its bold styling. The curving, bulging fenders, the sort of hot-rod, chop-top look of the greenhouse, and inside the dimpled rings around the air vents, the perfectly sculpted shifter boot. But there’s more than just looks to this meal. The TT’s performance and handling are delicious; a fast run on my favorite road left me satiated. Audi deserves a standing ovation, and me, some quiet time to myself. —Andre ldzikowski

We featured the Audi TT roadster concept on our cover in April 1996, and Audi said all the predictable things: We’re gonna build it, it’ll be fun, it won’t cost a fortune, it’ll look just like this. But as it turned out—they did, it is, it doesn’t, and it does. There are far faster vehicles available for the money, but there are few that can generate a bigger smile after an hour’s drive. The comfortable art-deco interior, the willing little engine, the better-than­expected gearbox. If this base model is this nice, I can’t wait for the later versions, especially the roadster. Man, what a comeback company this is. —Steven Cole Smith

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Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com