Audi TT 2012 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory & delivery charges): $68,950
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): 18-inch alloy wheels ($2600); Rear parking beepers ($850); Hill-start assist ($165); Nappa leather upholstery ($500); Pearl effect metallic paint ($1300); Xenon-plus headlights and DRLs ($1800)
Crash rating: Four-star ANCAP
Fuel: 95 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 6.4
CO2 emissions (g/km): 147
Also consider:BMW Z4 Sdrive20i (from $76,900); Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 (from $82,900); Nissan 370Z (from $68,640)

When it first appeared in 1998, the TT gave Audi a major leg-up into Benz/Beemer territory. It was beautiful, advanced and loaded with brand heritage reference points.

This second generation arrived in 2007, delivering improvements on virtually every front. But the badge’s years in the Audi line-up -- and the newcomer’s falling into line design-wise -- muted the wow factor.

Nevertheless, the TT remains a distinctive presence in the Audi lineup and on the road; and not just visually. Under the skin is the marque’s aluminium spaceframe, giving it exceptional torsional rigidity while keeping it light.

Beneath the bonnet is Audi’s 1.8-litre turbo four. It’s a high-tech, direct-injected affair, hitting its peak 118kW at the end of a nice, broad torque band, maintaining its peak 250Nm from 1500-4500rpm.

With the whole thing weighing in at just 1280kg (plus people and gear), it’s surprisingly snappy. Plant your foot and it feels quicker to 100km/h than Audi’s claimed 7.1 seconds. More so in the seven-speed DCT’s Sport setting, which pushes the engine to its 6500rpm redline before shifting. There, it’s too high-strung for urban commute purposes, but in normal Drive mode, the TT settles easily into dense traffic, with little lag and lots of twist in easy reach. The DCT isn’t above getting confused at low speeds, but it’s not overly intrusive. Standard paddles help, too.

At this end of the lineup, the TT forgoes the quattro drivetrain for front-wheel drive, but that does little to cruel its competence on the road. A low centre of gravity gives it a feeling of breadth in the track that’s actually not there on paper. Some might deem the ride a bit hard, but there’s plenty of payoff in cornering. True to Audi convention, the steering’s a little light but it’s honed to an edge that’s absent elsewhere in the line-up -- at least short of RS and R8 models.

With prodigious grip from the standard Bridgestone Potenzas and paddles to make the most of the DCT, this is a fine package to chuck around a favourite back road, with more than enough braking muscle to bring things to a quick, civilised end.

So, on the fundaments of driving, the TT comes well equipped. To go with that terrific chassis/powertrain package, you get nicely sculpted front seats with plenty of fore-aft adjustment and lumbar support, plus height for the driver. The flat-bottomed tiller is nice and tactile, with height and reach adjustment, too. I find it difficult getting things right for my accelerator foot, but most drivers will likely have no difficulty finding a decent position.

The centre mirror is electrochromatic, the wing mirrors heated. The lights and wipers come with auto-sensors, and you get comprehensive trip computing.

Careful with the cruise, though. Unlike so many premium German models, it’s not braked here, leaving the TT free to roll over the set pace downhill.

Indeed, when it comes to comforts and conveniences, the cupboard is a bit bare for a car in this bracket. Look at the head of this page and you’ll see our tester dipped pretty heavily into the options list, with part of the extra spend going to things we’d argue shouldn’t be optional here.

The six-speaker single-CD audio package is of decent quality, but offers no Bluetooth streaming and no USB port. Not even an auxiliary input jack. With the smartphone integral to most peoples’ car audio habits, these are things consumers should expect to find standard in a $70K car. You can get audio upgrades, but the most on offer in the way of input diversity is the iPod adapter available with the $4600 sat-nav option.

Things might be a little easier if there was somewhere to store CDs (besides the rear seat). A fair amount of the glove box is taken up by the owner’s manual. Beyond that, there are only drink-holes in place of a centre box and door pockets that are broadish but rather shallow. May we suggest the “storage package” option might be $320 well spent, adding as it does under-seat drawers and seatback pockets.

Although billed as a four-seater, the rear seat is such kid’s stuff the tailgate has a sticker alerting you to take care not to bang rear passengers’ heads when you close it. When the split-fold seats are down, however, it opens up plenty of occasionally useful extra cargo space over the boot’s 290 litres.

Even in convertible form, the base TT is palpably cheaper than its nearest natural competitor – BMW’s Z4 Sdrive20i – and less again than the Mercedes-Benz SLK 200. Despite their rear-wheel drive, it’s also their equal or better on the road.

But there’s also hot competition coming up from beneath, for example in MINI’s Coupe S (about $26K cheaper) and Toyota/Subaru’s 86/BRZ (the base Toyota nearly $40K cheaper). While they lack the sophistication, esoteric appeal and brand cachet against the TT, they’re equally entertaining on the road and even kitted up well past it, they come in way below it on price.

In what’s otherwise a very appealing package, a little extra consideration on the standard gear list – even just hill start assist, the added storage and a couple of extra audio inputs – would leave that gap much less obvious.

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