GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Audi TT Quattro Sport Concept
Hard-core club racer out-muscles AMG with world's most potent 2.0-litre engineAudi stunned Geneva show goers with the TT Quattro Sport Concept, which looks race-ready and debuts a potent new 309kW 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine boosted by a gnarly turbocharger.
If Audi builds the four-pot screamer for series production, it would become the world's most powerful 2.0-litre production engine, out-muscling the current title holder, AMG's 265kW 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder mill.
Both the Audi and AMG 2.0-litre four-bangers belt out 450Nm of torque, but the hardcore Audi TT accelerates to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds, significantly faster than the A 45 AMG's 4.6 seconds.
Based on the brand-new third-generation Audi TT, the club-racer concept car is not a TT RS insists Audi, but take away that huge rear wing and it certainly looks the part.
Hooked up to six-speed dual-clutch S tronic gearbox, the Audi TT Quattro Sport Concept's 2.0-litre engine features a bigger turbocharger blowing 1.8 bar of boost, gas-flowed cylinder heads and a forged crankshaft to ensure it doesn't implode.
Coincidentally, the 309kW output is the same as the first Audi R8, with that car's V8 engine displacing more than twice the capacity at 4.2 litres.
The angry TT's engine apportions power to all four wheels via an advanced quattro system, and with a kerb weight of 1344kg, roll-cage, and lower, stiffer suspension than the regular coupe, the new model means business.
Large 20-inch alloys shod with semi-slick tyres tucked underneath pumped wheel-arches further improve traction, while a carbon-fibre front fascia, rear diffuser and a huge rear wing are designed to increase downforce.
The Audi TT Quattro Sport Concept's cabin is stripped back to reduce weight, and features a pair of racing seats with four-point seat belts. While the stereo and armrests appear to have been deleted, the car retains the TT's snappy new digital virtual cockpit, replacing traditional analogue instruments.
Audi hinted that the the concept car could become a production reality, but based on comments made by Audi's technical development chief, Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, the next TT RS won't get the highly-strung, world-beating 2.0-litre engine used in this concept.
"TT RS we will have a seven-speed dual clutch in combination with the five-cylinder engine," Hackenberg stated.
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