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By
EWAN KENNEDY
18 June 2007
Hot on the wheels of the second generation coupe, the Audi TT
roadster has arrived in Australia. It’s a superb looking open-top car
that continues to use a soft-top rather than the hardtop that’s being
adopted by so many in this class.
There are good reasons for that soft-top: firstly,
it really wouldn’t make sense for the German marque to offer an
open hardtop to sell alongside a closed hardtop; secondly, there's
a purity of form in a soft-top roadster that screams out that this
is a true sporting machine, not simply a pretty cafe cruiser.
Which brings us to the image gained from owning a
soft-top. Great as they look with their tops down, hardtop coupe
convertibles are all but indistinguishable from normal coupes with
the top in place. A soft-top cries out that you have a special
car, if you drive a roadster, tell everyone about it!
The shape of the new TT roadster works
beautifully. We are on record as saying that the new TT coupe is
less exciting visually than the old one, even that it no longer
stands out from a crowd of competitors the way the superseded one
did.
But the latest roadster really does look like
nothing other than an Audi TT. From the distinctive rounded
bonnet, past the big flared guards, to the chopped off tail it
looks exquisitely right.
The top of the new Audi roadster folds itself down
at the push of a button into the space that would previously have
been occupied by the back seat. Therefore it doesn’t impinge on
boot space, which at a handy 250 litres, is better than average
for a car in this class with its top down.
An interesting option is a fold down hatch at the
front of the boot to enable you to carry long items that protrude
partly into the cabin, skis and the like. Naturally this
stow-through system can only be used when the top is in place. Not
so naturally, Audi, has chosen to charge an extra $300 if you want
this ski hatch.
Which brings us to the prices of the new Audi TT
roadster. In four-cylinder format, with a 2.0-litre, 147 kW,
turbocharged engine it has a recommended retail of $77,500.
Specify the 3.2-litre, 184 kW V6 engine, that comes with Audi's
famed quattro all-wheel drive setup, as well as upgrades in trim
and wheel specifications, and the price is still relatively modest
at $92,900. Note that the Australian version of the V6 is slightly
down on power from the European one, that’s to cope with hot
weather running.
Our initial drive of the second-gen Audi TT
roadster was carried out over some classic driving roads in the
southern highlands of NSW. The sporting little German machine
proved a delight to drive on the winding, climbing/falling roads.
The chassis is nicely sorted and provides plenty of road grip.
Because it’s not intended to be a full-blooded sports car the TT
remains pretty comfortable, though some bad bumps did test the
suspension.
We didn’t have the opportunity to sample the
interesting adjustable suspension that uses magnetic oil within
the shock absorbers to allow them to adapt to changing surfaces.
It’s not cheap at $3000, but is something the keen driver should
certainly sample as part of their TT test driver at an Audi
dealer.
While they are at the dealer, tall folks should
try the car for legroom. My six-foot frame required the driver’s
seat to be set all the way back and even then the space was
adequate rather than generous. Width is noticeably up on the
superseded car so shoulder room works nicely.
Audi's latest range of engines with their direct
fuel injection systems are not only powerful, economical and
clean, but also provide a nice exhaust note that’s fun to sit
behind.
We sampled both the full-manual gearbox and the
self-changing manual and, yet again, came away mightily impressed
with the Audi S Tronic unit. It really has an excellent
combination of automatic control for the daily commuting grind,
yet provides fast manual settings when you want to do some hard
driving.
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Marque Publishing Company
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