SpeedyD

... considering adding one as a gift for my wife. This would be the prior generation model, not the new version. She loves Audi TTs, and of those, the RS is the most appealing to me (because hey, I'll probably drive it here and there too...)

Any current or past owners? My expectations are informed by reviews I've seen which seem to summarize as: 1) great power/acceleration 2) grippy handling but with 3) relatively bad understeer and 4) relatively poor feedback through the steering wheel.

3 and 4 are not terrible in my mind as my wife is not accustomed to driving sports cars...so a little tuned-in understeer is not a bad thing to keep things safer. Intention is to drive the car year-round, but likely <5K miles per year.

Any thoughts on the experience / build quality / anything else? I will also get the pleasure of driving it to work during nice weather so it is a bit of a selfish gift too...

Thanks!

Fined

I owned a TTRS for 4 years just prior to my remedying that foolhardy mistake with a 997 GTS. I owned an Audi TTS before that.

My TTRS was fairly built;

APR Stage II+
Catless downpipe
APR catback exhaust
034 Motorsports rear sway (to help try and dial out the understeer)
Shifter bracket bushings (to try and smooth out the craptastic shift quality)
Built engine (IROZ Motorsports - not recommended to deal with)



Pros:
-Car is stupid quick for the money. My car was quicker than my GTS (I had them both at the same time for about a year)
-Highly stable even at considerable speed (talking 150+mph)
-Inexpensive to mod
-Exhaust note is pure sex with some exhaust mods
-Torque for days
-Very safe car (I totaled my TTS, it was hardly recognizable but the car kept me safe)

Cons:
-Little to no steering feel
-Car understeers badly (even with a stiff sway set to full)
-shift feel and gearbox suck badly (I should have researched this. The car uses an 0A6 gearbox that vw also used in.... Transporter Van! and..... Tiguan!.. truck gearbox in a sports car... hmm)
-cost savings stuff (like above gearbox from VWAG trucks/SUV)
-noticeable nose heaviness



All in all.. I felt like the TTRS was a mistake, and possibly one I'd have avoided if they were not so rare that the nearest one was hundreds of miles away when it came time to make a purchase decision.
On the flipside, I feel like my TTS was a pretty damn good performance value. With an exhaust (I had 42 draft design downpipe and stock catback) it sounded damn good. Do consider the TTS vs RS.

SpeedyD

Very helpful, thank you. There is a pretty big premium on the RS vs S so your comparison there is really helpful as well.

That said, I imagine the RS will hold value better than the S? Does the S drive similarly? I am hoping we can find an S locally to test drive... an RS, not so much...

Fined

My TTS seemed a lot less nose heavy than the TTRS, I noticed the understeer less. They are the same car on the same chassis with a different engine and gearbox. They are virtually indistinguishable from the inside. One thing you give up with a TTS.. its DSG only. As far as holding value.. I wouldn't expect either to maintain value all that well. The DSG box in the TTS is really good. It's as good as the PDK in my 911. With a TTS one benefit you're getting is Audi/VW has that engine in so many cars. So the parts availability and cost will benefit from that. My wife loved the TTRS but hated the heavy clutch and the gearbox.

Fined

I should also add, Audi did a fantastic job on the packaging of the TT. As an only car or as a daily.. you can put far more into the car than one might imagine from looking at the outside. with the cars format and the ability to lay down the seat backs in the backseat you are able to put quite a bit in there and even stuff that is 6 or 7 feet long. I loved both of the cars for their flexibility. Taken as a whole, its quite a package. Both of them did great in the snow as well.

SpeedyD

Thanks again, really good insights.

Robocop305

ATSR