For the first 6 months, it's a Porsche....
The rest of the time, it's a VW!

Someone told me that when I was beating the snot out of my Moms Audi 4000....

Matt

 

OMG...that is classic!!!
I had an A4 2.8Q prior to my MCS and that pretty much sums it up.

I thought Flav said in another thread that his TT wasn't Quattro. Flav, is it Quattro?

 

i think non-quattro audi isn't real audi and it is a vw with stretched, twisted badge.
don't flame me. but that's just what I think..!!! :impatient

 

Nice comparison, flav. Some paragraph breaks would make it easier on the eyes, but the content is much appreciated. I'm surprised you didn't include the 6-speed Getrag of your old MCS in your comparison of the shifting, though. That's probably a more fair comparison to the TT's 6-speed than the MC's 5-speed.

You mean the gussied-up Touareg? Aka the upcoming Audi Q7?

3 marques, 3 models, same SUV platform. This is sort of thing that makes me worry about VW...it's that "Let's swap a few body panels on the Expedition and call it a Lincoln Navigator" mentality that is becoming all too common in the auto marketplace. The mark of a brand that has lost its sense of distinctiveness. There are positive notes, too (e.g. the new GTI), but I do worry about them. They've seemed a bit rudderless lately, and I hope they get it together.

The TT's a fine car, though, and one of their more encouragingly distinctive models. I prefer the MINI, but when I test-drove the TT it was undoubtedly a fun automobile.

 

no quattro. would have been nice but i got this TT for a really nice price and it didnt happen to have it. $16500 for a 2002 all options with 50,000 miles. had it checked by 2 audi dealerships and they said it was 100% perfect. ran a carcheck and carfax. came up perfect with nothing wrong at all. was a lease i guess. not a scratch on the entire car inside and out. no quatrro is no big deal. hondas and toyotas bla bla bla make it just fine through bad weather with front wheel drive. ive been driving in rain and snow all my life. i am pretty skilled at it. and im not tracking the car. as long as the TT is not like my 350Z, rear wheel 287 HP, 275 torque. the Z was not a very good all season car. in fact it would lose some grip even in the chilly rain, but thats to be expected. but the TT will be great with some decent tires. plus the cars is lighter with the FWD setup than the quattro by 200-300 lbs and gets slight better gas milage. but yes, the quattro would have been a nice extra.

 

4 wheel drive has nothing to do with it being an audi or VW. the VWs have 4motion.

 

maybe if you're 5'5"

 

I definitely wasn't saying non-quattro wasn't a real Audi...I was asking a totally separate question from my laughter at Doc's post but didn't want to post a second post.

Flav...I'm glad you're happy with the TT. That's all that counts!

 

Maybe its the time of year, but I get a uneasy feeling everytime I get an email from this thread - it looks like AUDITT

 

hahahahahaha

 

I doubt that yelling is a good way to ask for something from the moderators.

 

Interesting thread...

My brother has a 3.2 TT with the "steptronic" (or whatever Audi calls it) tranny. I only drove it once, but I was very impressed. It was raining lightly, so I didn't push it very hard, but I would say the brakes and cornering felt very good. Felt very strong accelerating. Much smoother riding than the MINI. (But what car isn't?) Great looking car, and I liked the the interior with the circles and dimples motif, even though it felt a bit spartan. One thing I didn't like (especially compared to the MINI) is the kind of claustrophobic feeling. It's pretty dark in there.

I think each car has a particular personality and appeals to a particular sort of driver. I think the TT is a wonderful car and I really enjoyed driving it. But I would never choose it over the MINI, even if it were priced the same. The TT has a sort of "cool" about it, but I prefer the "fun" of the MINI.

Just my $.02, of course...

There's really only one car that I look at nowadays with lust - the Lotus Elise. But it would have to be a second car. (My MINI is my daily driver.) I can't imagine driving an Elise every day. I'm not even sure I would be able to get in and out of one without some help from my chiropractor!

 

Sorry, but the new STi is just outright fugly; I'd take the Evo IX anyday (and almost did, but cancelled my order for a JCW-MCS).
I've also got a modded B5 S4 which I thought I'd never part with......but the luv is sadly waning and I'll be shot of it in a month, or so.

 

flav- no quattro? my first reason to get any Audi is for its quattro...
especially if coming from a car like our MCS.

Did you just get tired of the hatch? was it the price or your
car loan that made your decision?

 

i like to switch cars every now and then. get bored. never owned a TT so i got one. a quattro would have cost me a few $1000 more. didnt need it. it would have been nice but its not something i needed at all. not worth the extra $$$ to me at this point. the TT i got was in such great condition and complety trouble free (rare i heard for a TT) that quattro took a back seat to quality. looking at the car inside and out its hard to tell anybody ever drove it. and like i said im a great all season driver (snow belt all my life) and im not planning on tracking the car.

 

Man, you don't have much of an imagination. If I didn't need to haul kids and windsurfing gear (and had $40k to drop), I'd be all over an Elise. I'm on JCW suspension with an H-Sport comp bar and 18s, and I still want to keep cranking down my MINI. I do 80 miles a day, five days a week.

 

Flav,

I for one appreciate the comparison of the TT to the Mini. I am on my second Mini, and I love it. My first Mini was the Cooper. The one I have now is the Cooper S. Big difference! I have owned nothing but sports cars during by life. I am 61 years young, and have owned, MGB's, Porsche's, Fiat's, VW's and many other cars, but this Cooper S is the best handling of the bunch and the most fun to drive.

 

There are some Elises whith Buy-it-now prices of just over $30k!

So, new JCW or slightly used Elise.....

Matt

 

The shooting brake concept? If so that's what I've read/heard so far, it's built on the current Mk V two door Golf platform just like the last gen of TT was built on the Mk IV Golf.

I was surprised at how fun the TT quattro coupes (which use the exact same rear differential as the 4motion in the R32 w/ slightly different programming ) are, especially the VR6 s line (which is essentially an R32 w/ different weight distribution, styling, +$12K ish MSRP, and less of a back seat). The more balanced weight distribution and lower roofline really offset the extra 100 lbs. or so the TTs gain over their closest VW counterparts, but you do wind up losing alot of practicality as a daily driver for this. Like every production Audi I've driven, they are definitely built to be smooth, but are perfectly competent in the twisties despite their weight and softish dampers/springs once you get used to it, IMHO. It's also not that difficult to slap the coilover set of your choice in one if the ride is too soft for you. It's not unreasonable to expect to bring the 180hp 1.8T up to 220hp with an ECU remap, intake, exhaust, and other minor mods. Start swapping turbos, ICs and fuel systems and you can get these to almost 300 hp or beyond (although reliabilty will suffer the crazier you get with the boost).

Flav: Hope you enjoy your new ride, in my estimation they are very cool looking, fun cars to be certain.

 

nice. i'll have to keep my eye open for it. im due for a new car
next year to replace my commuter. im going to get me something nice
this time.

 

Since I've been looking into that, see http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20339

Looks like some ppl think its OK but major worries are getting hit while parked (no bumpers) and vandalism (I can see it being a big target).

 

Be careful for what you dream of. As you get closer to really considering ownership, there looks like major downfalls to buying one (take a look at elisetalk.com). Examples: First year or two out, just as many new production problems as MINIs, No bumpers mean major repair costs, No space at all to go to the store, roof leaks on "all" (and mechanics say thats the way it is), vandalism target, etc.)

In other words, the grass may not be greener over there

 

with all the problems i am having with my MINI it is a matter of time going back to VW/Audi scene

 

Interesting but the Elise market for used cars is dropping fast. some people have bought them as being cool only to find they are totally impractical. It would also appear that Lotus has overestimated demand with many 05s sitting their lots ... Even a few exiges sitting in our local dealers lot ...

Not a good car to hold its resale value.

 

Sorry for the double reply, but i didn't see this earlier.

You can get a decent amount of throttle lift oversteer with the Haldex in my opinion. Once you're rotated to the line you want, roll on the throttle hard and you're going straight down that line with a huge smile on your face (if you're like me anyways...) You're not going to be doing huge 4 wheel drifts like an EVO or STi, but you will get enough sideways action at the beginning of throttle off to get the adrenaline pumping nice and hard.

From what I've heard, good trail baking can gain you quite a bit of exit speed in these cars, but I suck at it, and would wind up too hard on the brakes, rotate too much and lose a bunch of speed, and wind up pushing sideway the whole way through the apex and most of the exit in the few autocrosses I did in my R32.

The steering is a bit quicker than the R32 in the TTs I have driven, but in stock form, neither comes close to the MCS in this department for me. One advantge to the weight and the relatively conservative springs and shocks is that you don't skip accross surface imperfections quite as much so they don't require quite as intense levels of concentration as the MCS as the car feels a good bit more stable at speed to me.