Audi TTS Roadster test drive since 2008.

Beauty and weapons

Why, within the framework of one model, manufacturers make so many modifications? We decided to find out on the example of Audi TT, taking the Roadster and the sports version of TTS on the test. TT uses in our country a reputation as a female car, and a convertible, and even in red, especially. Therefore, we found him a suitable couple and invited him to participate in our test a fashion model and actress Natalya Ustyumenko.
 
Audi TT Roadster
In everyday life, I travel on a convertible. True, this is just a small Citroen C3 Pluriel, but the essence of this does not change. An open car on a sunny summer day is an additional source of good mood. In addition, I think the convertible is very practical. Why? Yes, everything is very simple, I can sunbathe in it already on the way to the beach!
Of course, my Citro is not so practical in terms of folding the roof, because its top should be left at home, it does not automatically fold. Once my husband had to urgently go on business, and he took C3 without a roof. On the way, he was found by a pouring rain, and rode under the ambiguous glances from other cars. So the automatically folding top is wonderful, it’s only a pity that it folds to where the usual TT has a second row of seats. Let the small, let the adult have nothing to do there, but for my small child would have come just right. And so the baby has nowhere to go. Not in the front seat to plant it! But to ride a girlfriend just right. She would die with delight!
And the salon at TT is magnificent. What is the excellent quality of all the details, what a comfortable chair. Red inserts on the seats, an elegant line, the backlighting of the devices has already turned out to be the color of the car. I liked the steering wheel with the hidden lower section conveniently sit down and get out of the car, and you better feel the steering wheel. Management of music and climate installation is intuitive. And how cool these rotating chrome rims of air ducts are invented, which can be adjusted to the air supply.
But the fact that the Germans did not take care of places to store different things is very bad. There is nowhere to put a cosmetic bag. It will not fit into the glove compartment, in the pike pockets in the doorway too. Only on the next chair. And if anyone is sitting there? Although stand. Here, you can put on the seat. Not an option, of course, but what to do? Yes you can’t put outerwear anywhere. And what about the mobile phone? Either in an ashtray, or hang out in the cup holders. But all this I forgive TT. I forgive for his attractiveness. It is damn good, especially in this cherry color and without a roof. Although with a raised cloth top looks great. A car for a lady. It seems to me that a man in this will look somewhat illogical.
Of course, the question arises, why is the girl 250 forces under the hood? The answer is simple: women want to be confident no less than men. Confident and in the car. And 3.2 liters are perfectly taken out of any situation. The car is always ready for a nimble acceleration. The box also helps. I usually don’t drive quickly, but I can evaluate the smoothness of the automatic switching. In the TT, the gearbox works excellently, my twitching robot on C3 did not dream! The suspension, say, oak? I don’t know, it didn't seem so to me. And steering is on top. See how clearly Roadster follows in a given direction. Easy and at ease. I heard, they say that convertibles are usually a lesser body, which from which handling suffers. About TT, I would not say that. Despite the lack of a roof, he understands at a glance, instantly and predictably reacts to my actions. Very obedient.
 
Would I like to ride Audi TT Roadster? Of course yes! But in any case, this should not be the only car in the family, and if you have a child, then traveling to Roadster, unfortunately, will not work. Better yet, it is not in the stuffy and dirty Moscow, but somewhere on the coast of one of the southern seas!
 
Audi TTS
Audi TTS is an excellent example of typical German calculation, verification and pragmatism. Traditionally, in the Audi lineup, cars with Litera S occupy an intermediate position between civilians and RS sports cars. Audi S is just a step towards extreme Eras. So the Audi TTS is halfway between the most powerful 3.2-liter modification of the usual TT and the upcoming 350-horsepower TT RS, the appearance of which we expect next year. But the intermediate position of the TTS in no case does not mean any incomplete or incompleteness. Esca car is whole, thought out and ... very fast. So fast that it may well compete with his terrible brother R8. And in the conditions of a metropolis, a sneaky TTS, perhaps, is even preferable to R8. The TTS checker, moved by a skilled driver on the chessboard of urban traffic, is in a moment in the ladies. Audi cooks know their job very well. They have known the S-Blood recipe for a long time: less fat (TTS is easier than TT Roader 3.2 almost for a centner), more meat (2.0 TFSI engine from S3 is forced to 272 hp, TTS The most powerful TT in history), add pepper (lowered The suspension and special brake pads are 10 mm) and should be checked with sharp seasonings in the form of reprogrammed engine control units and transmission.
I remember that the Audi TT Quattro Sport was prepared according to the recipe (see Motor, March, 2006) of the previous generation thoroughly chopped turbo engine, hard suspension, stretching instead of rear seats and several external strokes: black roof and mirrors painted black, S-line body kit. And original wheels. TTS has no stretching in the cabin. There is no need for it. The body made using ASF (Audi Space Frame technology), which was previously used only on A2 and A8 models, already became 50%tougher. There are external differences. It is easiest to identify TTS in front of the chrome Single Frame radiator grille with vertical rods, launched on top of horizontal (in the rest of the TT, on the contrary), strips of LEDs in headlights and a bumper with large air intakes. The mirrors are also made of matte chromium, an elegant skirt is launched along the sides, and four exhaust trunks stick out from under the rear bumper. In the interior of the changes, compared to the relatives, there are almost only a few TTS emblems on the assault rifle, thresholds and a tachometer scale. By the way, the TTS speedometer is marked up to 300 km/h, unlike 280 in the open version. Pure fetish, everyone knows that the speed of serial Audi is limited at the turn of 250 km/h. But the step up should be, albeit small, insignificant, because this is a squad!
It so happened that at the wheel of TTS, I was immediately after Roadster. I noticed the difference immediately as soon as I launched the engine. Instead of muffled rumbling, a characteristic hard, dry crack of the TFSI motor, flavored with a bass rumble of exhaust, was heard. Sports! I rent back from the parking lot. The idle turn and the high gear ratio of the rear gear make the car move with jerks clearly not enough torque to 2-liter turbo engine, which in the TTS version develops up to 272 hp. This engine came to TTS from the S3 model with some modifications of the ECU. Naturally, TTS and the exhaust system have different, which allowed to remove at 7 hp. More than the S3. But on cars they usually do not go in reverse and not on idle. So the transmission lever in Drive, and go!
Although I would call this mode not Drive, but Economy or Women. What most often needs a girl from a car? So that he was pretty! And the excessive hassle of the turbo engine and the twig of the box is useless to her. Therefore, a calm change in the S-Tronic programs, a smooth set of speed, dotted gas reactions would have come in handy. Up to 25003000 rpm, it feels that under the hood of 120 forces of some 1.6-liter atmosphere so slowly and reluctantly the tachometer shooter crawls up. At revolutions above 3000 there is a noticeable pickup. But this is not what I expected from the S-version with 272 forces! Where is the real male character?
The silencers mutter displeasedly in response to my attempts to spur the car with a sharp click on the gas. I am dissatisfied with the box in response to the Kik-Dawn, slowly, sorting out the steps (DSG is difficult to jump on more than one transmission down the clutch). I'm waiting that now all 272 horses will rush into full speed. But no, subsequent acceleration was not worth my wait quickly, but not for a 270-horsepower car. What is it? Esca, is he rides slower than the same relatives? And why then is this shaking suspension? Enough bullying both over yourself and over the car. Let's try to switch to Sport. Apparently, the designers wanted to make a special emphasis on the ST of the machine to match the TTS name and therefore it turned out just that. The logic in this, of course, has once bought Audi S, then, then, you need to ride in sports.
TTS seemed to be replaced. Everything fell into place. In response to pressing the accelerator pedal, instant and rapid acceleration. The S-Tronic is in such a way that it now has much less than the speed to fall down in several gears down above 3000 rpm, in the maximum traction zone. In addition, the box quickly adapts to active driving. She actively, with tangible shocks, undermines a reduced step on braking, and when dumping gas keeps the transmission as much as necessary. Sometimes there was a feeling that a microchip was impressed in the brain, even at birth, which did not give out its presence in any way, and now, years later, came to life and began to actively transmit TTS transmission signals. Mutual understanding is complete! If such a chip does not find out in your brain, then you can give the commands not DSG, but with your own hands, so that they pull the petals, thereby providing lightning -fast switching. I see a small hole between the cars in the stream. The left petal for itself, almost simultaneously gas to the floor. A quick infusion follows, the steering wheel to the left, the steering wheel to the right, and while you read all this, Audi are already in the ladies.
And what sounds does the TTS engine make with intense acceleration! They usually say: the voice of the motor is a song! But here is not even a song, but a whole symphony. The turbine is whipping, the air howls the air at the inlet, the exhaust is heard at each gear switch up, and when the gas is reset, it sobs the bypass valve. I don’t know how the RS engine will sound to surpass such an orchestra. All this is absolutely to the place and does not bother at all, only the driver starts even more and the blood is hot. These are natural and necessary attributes of a truly sports car, which also have a solid foundation from perfectly configured suspension and steering.
The foundation implies concrete, but the suspension with the shock absorbers of Magnetic Ride can not be called stone. Yes, it is tough, but what kind of clutch it provides! Discomfort is not felt even when translating a special switch on the central tunnel to the Sport position. Audi holds a huge speed in turns without demolition. Despite the very high threshold of tenacious and stability, TTS is just a car, and sooner or later the speed can be too high. It follows a small demolition of the front, and then sliding with all four wheels, which is perfectly controlled by gas and informative transparent steering wheel. If the turn is very steep, you can help with a handbrake yes, despite all -wheel drive, TTS easily allows you to use it. Stabilization after a skid occurs quite rigidly, you need to be prepared for a sharply growing effort on the steering wheel.
 
In general, it turned out that TTS turned out to be a unique car. He feels great on the motorway rushes forward, like an arrow, not paying special attention to the flaws of the coating even 200 km/h. And on winding narrow roads, he well string the turns of different steepness and difficulties on his chrome radiator grille, like Dartanyan of the Cardinal Guards on his sword. In the city? No problem. Any little lumen between cars can be used for overtaking, and if the races are tired, then the S-Tronic lever in Drive, and you will feel sick at a walking pace. I think that TTS will not be lost on the racing highway, only the brakes seemed weak for serious exercises, there is a tendency to overheating. In vain, nevertheless, the specialists Audi changed only the pads, and left the discs standard. Apparently left for RS.
But while RS has not yet appeared, Audi TTS remains the most formidable weapon of all TT modifications. It requires a really hard hand and composure, but the owner of these qualities will fully pay off with speed, agility and obedience.
Dmitry Krotov, Natalia Ustyumenko

 
 

 

 

Source: Motor magazine [October 2008]