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From YourSITE.com Reviews & Road Tests On the surface of it, Jackson Hole, Wyoming wouldn’t be the first place you’d pick to go and drive an Audi TT. A locale known better for arches of elk antlers in the town square or Dick Cheney is the type of burg where you’d expect a German sports coupe like the TT to be a pretty rare find. Yet here at the local Trapper Inn, we find a heard of them, in town to attend an annual gathering of owners known as TT-West. Among the cars is a version of the breed not even available in the US yet – the car that brought us here - the venerable TTS.
TT-West attendees had blasted up from Salt Lake City just the day before and even planned more driving, but the two German-spec show cars were due back in Houston ASAP – German market cars have to be shipped home or crushed. I was in town to help move one of the pair back to Salt Lake City, and would be aiding Audi of America TT product manager Chas Murphy and Richard Casteel of Audi’s western sales region. The drive route would be limited to what we’d encounter on our return trip to Utah, but this would still mark the first time a journalist would be officially tossed the keys to one of these cars on U.S. soil. And so it began. As the TT-Westers wiped morning frost from their cars, Mr. Murphy and I approached the two white European-spec cars parked in the lot of the Trapper Inn. Even in a crowd of TTs, the S-versions are easily spotted. There’s the floating Audi grille fuselage nose with frowning fascia that’s finding its way into more and more Audi design, along with harder-edged sideskirts. The usual S-inspired elements are also there – satin silver mirrors, grey grille and valance, quad exhaust tips, split five-spoker wheels and the usual S-badges front and rear. Chas fires up the first of the cars to get it warmed up and the LED-formed Audi’s mean-looking DRLs pierce through the crisp morning air. After topping the two off with gas, we hit the road for Salt Lake City.
Sitting in Jackson Hole traffic, I’m able to focus on the car’s controls. The TT hyper-aware, like the guys we just left at the hotel, would immediately spot the differences between the S-version’s updated interior over the standard TT. S-car family touches surround inside as well – from the grey instrument dials to a plethora of red dashed Ss on the cluster, the gear lever, the door sills and more. MFA and stereo lighting are in a Xenon-like cool white rather than the standard TT’s red glow and the somewhat clunky DSG shifter in the standard car gets an ergonomic and racing-inspired part-alloy knob. We hear the latter two changes will go TT line-wide come the 2010 model year. Changes under the hood are more significant. This is a new engine for American consumers, though one that’s quite familiar to Europeans in that market’s S3 model. Based on Audi’s 2.0T FSI, the engine gets a whole host of upgrades including strengthened crankcase, connecting rods, piston pins, rings and camshafts, reinforced valve seats, an aluminum-silicon alloy cylinder head, higher-pressure fuel pump, higher-flow injectors, bigger turbo, bigger intercooler and freer-flowing exhaust. These improvements raise output to a from-the-factory level of 265 hp peaking at 6000 rpm and 258 lb-ft of torque – the latter a figure that stretches from 2500-5000 rpm.
Gear rowers will grouse that there’s only one transmission choice and it doesn’t involve a clutch pedal. It does involve two clutches though and two butterfly paddles on the flat-bottomed steering wheel, as the TTS comes standard with the lauded sequential S-tronic (a.k.a. DSG). Visceral actions of rev-matching, heel and toe footwork and the like may be off-the-table for American TTSs, but it’s important to note that S-Tronic versions will hit 60 mph in 4.9 seconds – faster by a few clicks than their three-pedal European equivalents. S-Tronic is usually known to be superior in efficiency as well, which is probably a key reason that the EPA highway figure for the TTS is 29 mpg. Headed south out of Jackson, we speed through a mountainous and picturesque mobile-phone-free zone. Highways out this way are mainly two-lane, but the morning commute out of Jackson (population: circa 9000) is comprised of an old Ford with a hound in the back and an eighteen-wheeler. We make quick work of the rig and the hound and are able to stretch the cars’ legs a bit. There’s a limited number of curves between two western towns we’ll be visiting today, leaving me with abbreviated opportunity to push the TTS’s handling limits. There’s more power than the TT 3.2, the weight of a 2.0T in the front and the grip of a more aggressively programmed Haldex-based quattro all-wheel drive system all make for a good start. The TTS also gets bespoke stiffer springs (10mm lower), , up-rated anti-roll bars and Magnetic Ride dampers as standard – the latter being a nice setup for ample lift-off oversteer in regular TTs we’ve found. Still, even with this kit and less weight in the nose, the TTS places 58% of its weight on the front wheels, so understeer is an expected factor, albeit minimized by a two-stage ESP system should you leave that activated.
Okay, so handling testing is minimal for our jaunt to Salt Lake, but long straight stretches are great for getting a read on straight-line performance and stability. The TTS gets S-Tronic’s vaunted launch control, which no doubt helps it rip off those impressive 0-60 times. So too does the gearbox’s lightning fast shifting. There are a few states that butt up against each other and this German-spec TTS has no US-spec map data DVD. I’ve lost track of just which state I’m in, but figure I can see at least two or three given the long-flat nature of the landscape. That’s invitation enough for me to open things up and make some time.
This may be a front-wheel drive based chassis that only apportions power rearward under slip, but you wouldn’t know it by holding the fat leather steering wheel tightly while mashing your foot into the floor. Torque-steer isn’t evident. Otherwise, the steering is accurate and linear if a bit light. Power comes on hard, but deceptively smooth… as if Audi technicians have taken a page from the Connolly leather book of Bentley. There’s no choir of cylinders like you might hear in say a Continental GT, but the TTS runs on up to 135 (it’s limited to 155 mph BTW) with as much grace, albeit not quite the pace, as its 12-cylinder biturbo cousin from Crewe. This is one of the smoothest 2.0T variants we’ve driven short of the B8 A4’s new Valvelift-equipped EA 888 four-banger and it’s got a lot less weight to pull around than the A4.
Also like the Bentley, the TTS is firmly planted and stable at these three-figure speeds with four-figure fines should one get caught. There’s no instability or floating sensation here, just cows and grass going by at blurring speed. Pricing for America has just recently been announced - $45,500 for the coupe and $47,500 for the roadster. That’s basically a $2,000 premium over the entry TT 3.2 S tronic coupe and $1,000 premium for the roadster. Inevitably though, the TTS is likely more to be cross-shopped with its corporate cousin the Porsche Cayman and even the Boxster. The Audi undercuts the non-S badged Stuttgart pair in coupe form though not in the case of the drop-top. It also beats the Porsches in a straight line by nearly a second unless the Porsche cross-shopper steps up to the markedly more expensive Cayman S or Boxster S, which it also beats by a narrow margin of .2 seconds.
Could the TTS out pace the Porsche pair around a track? We didn’t test the TTS enough to get an accurate read. Our guess would be that the Audi’s all-wheel drive helps make up for the Porsches’ lower center of gravity and superior weight distribution, rendering them very close. We’re guessing also the TTS is the easier car to drive quickly, if not the quickest around a track by a well-trained hand. Before long, we’re cruising the boulevards of Salt Lake City and pulling in to Strong Audi where we’ll be turning in the cars. As I relinquish the key, I’m willing to say this is the best of the TT breed that I’ve driven so far and worthy of the Audi S badge. Its combination of efficiency and performance - the most significant part of the equation, netting a combined fuel economy of 24 mpg according to Audi. Even better, initial reports on our discussion forums say the cars aren't just in ports... they're just hitting dealers now.
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