Automotive Art - *UPDATED* (Audi TT quattro)

Member Name: mfowlis

Product:	Audi TT quattro
Date:	22/06/00 (232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks, Driving pleasure, Nice touches

Disadvantages: Awful demisting, Slightly plasticky in bits, Rear seat space

Well I finally went out and got one. Here's the six month update with all the highs and lows of "practical" ownership.....

Firstly I still love it. I opted (by means of a rather long and complicated story which I won't bore you with) for "Arrow Grey Pearlescent" - check it out in your Audi TT brochure. What do you mean you don't have one!!!

Anyway rather than end up with the "easy option" Silver Met finish (which must account for around 60-70% of all TT's!) mine arrived in what soon became nicknamed "Primer Grey Pearlescent" by all who saw it. However it did stand out from the crowd of normal TTs quite noticeably!!!
Although I have to admit to being somewhat unsure, this soon grew on me, plus the number of notes left on the windscreen asking what colour it was and the number of conversations it started!!! Having an unusual colour does help now there are quite a few around, and it needs something to stand out from the crowd.

(Imola Yellow is now available so be warned when it comes to choose my next one!)

Internally I opted for the Denim blue leather (again it's a long story - and no it wasn't a bet!!!) which although striking at first became a firm favourite over rather dull dark greys etc. which tend to be the norm.

Living with the car was more practical than I had expected, although a few things took some getting used to despite having owned and driven a good number of sports cars and coupes in the past.

The first notable thing is the visibility. It's like, well, driving whilst looking down a tunnel to the front. The side mirrors aren't much help and fortunately the rear view is reasonable. Over-the-shoulder out the side (for reversing) is fairly restricted also so, visibility-wise it's a bit lacking. Also the side windows start pretty high up and finish pretty low down (i.e. they aren't very high), so automatic ticket barriers, drive-ins and the like can be a bit of a pain. However it does strangely make
you feel rather cocooned and protected, and internally headroom is good even if you are reasonably tall.

Getting in and out is prone to a few head-bumps also with the shape heading to quite low door apertures, however it does feel like you are getting into a proper sports car!

Forget the rear seats for any practical use. The rear slopeback window cuts most of the headroom off, and with the seats in normal position (i.e. you aren't short-legged in front) then there's no foot space either. However it does come in useful for your coat/jacket - NB suitwearers may be a bit perturbed to find a lack of a jacket hook.
However you didn't buy a TT for rear seat space I suspect!

Incidentally be warned - don't get any passengers in the back seat with the rear hatch up - when you close it you may either shorten them by a few inches or break your rear glass! (there are warnings on the car).

If you have the optional CD changer installed (de rigeur) and BOSE sound system (highly recommended) then if you aren't shown where the CD changer is it may take you a little time to find it to the extent you may think they forgot it at the factory. However on the left hand side in the rear compartment on the "pseudo-armrest for rear passenger" (read slighly curved plastic) is a little flap & latch (the right hand one has a tell-tale first aid symbol to give the clue it's where the first aid kit hides) - under THERE is your CD-changer. Nice and neat and I imagine a lot harder to remove by any car thief.

Speaking of security, the TT has a very good rating in the What Car security tests, and includes immobiliser, alarm, ultrasonic detection, deadlocks etc. It also has those small windows too!!!

The "boot" (read small flat space under "parcel" shelf at rear is just about large enough for one suitcase (not too thick), although a set of golf clubs will need the rear seats folded down. The rear seats have a split folding, but generally you
either need both or none, so I wasn't convinced a split seat helped here. The "parcel shelf" is removable but it serves no use to do so except to access the glass or reveal your boot contents.

Internally much has been said about the wonderful styling. It's practical too, with some oddities like the concealed switches in the centre "console" (read: tube) for fuel flap release, boot release and ultrasonic sensor disable. The switches aren't unattractive so why make it you have to slide a panel to access them every time!

Fortunately the rear hatch can also be released by the remote control (this ended up being the default as there is no external release handle) but having the fuel flap on remote would have been a nice touch, although I loved driving into Petrol stations and flipping up the fuel flap as I pulled up at the pump (a la Formula 1).

Electric window switches were also in a bit of an odd place behind the pull handles, but this seemed to work well once found.

Seats are good and comfortable even for longish journeys, with lumbar adjustment and seat heating (a pop out rotary control for heat levels from warm to toast).

Another odd bit - the windscreen wash filler is in an odd place - along the edge of the bonnet edge covered by the bonnet.

Driving is of course great fun, although after a while you wish it had that little bit more power (despite a 225 bhp engine). Handling is exemplary and sure-footed.

Ecomomy isn't bad either - averaging 25-30mpg even with some fairly heavy footedness at times!

Biggest Pain? - the demist is AWFUL!!! If it mists up (and it seems to do very frequently in Winter/Spring/Autumn) it takes forever to demist despite Airconditioning etc. until the engine has warmed up.

Also the dash main moulding could have been made to look a little more "expensive" - it looks a bit cheapy plastic which spoils the effect.

Standard six spoke alloys are nice an
d pretty easy to clean, and the dual exhausts look the part.

The new rear spoiler, front curved bumper and one or two moulding lines at the rear mean that car washes won't get all the dirt off and you will end up finishing it by hand (or make it more of a chore by hand).

Nice touches - the side windows drop slightly when opening the doors and close again when the door is shut to get the best seal - this really throws people when they notice until you explain.

Reliability - faultless. Build Quality - excellent.

PS. You can just about get a baby seat into the rear if needed, but its not too practical. However if you *must* have a TT and a kiddy seat then this is the one to opt for as the Roadster loses the back seats for the power roof/roll protection hoops and electric wind deflector.

Love it love it love it.

And they've dropped the prices again!

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