Audi Tt Rs 2017
Audi TT RS 2017 Review
RS treatment takes the Audi TT coupe to the extreme … and beyond
So, you fancy Audi's hot new TT RS coupe? Well, there's one key question you need to consider before you commit $137,900 plus on-road costs: How's your back?
It's not so much the TT RS is hard to get down and into, up and out of, it's more the ride is harsh on even the most benign setting of Audi's 'Magnetic Ride Control'.
Sure, those with strong cores and unbent vertebrae will find definite appeal in the pinpoint steering, gobs of all-wheel drive traction and bullet acceleration inherent in RS version of the TT.
But the rest of us may struggle with that ride. Personally, in 20 years of testing cars, I haven't driven a more distressing car over my road test route which is a combination of pretty normal second-rate Australian highways and byways.
Driving the route sees most cars coping, some cars complaining and a few becoming very unhappy. The TT RS was moribund.
And pretty soon I was too. There's just so little suspension travel and absorbency.
Progress was marked in grunts, howls of pain and epithets.
I could live with other unappealing aspects of this car like the excessive amount of road and tyre noise which booms into the cabin and the ridiculous excuse for rear seats (why does Audi bother?). But that ride. For me it's a deal - and back - breaker.
If only Audi wound-off the damping force by say 15-20 per cent in 'Comfort' mode then there probably wouldn't be an issue. But it hasn't, so there is.
Which is a real shame because, on a smooth surface, the TT RS is a ripper drive.
Look, I get it that the TT RS isn't designed to be an everyday everyman car and RS is a badge reserved for Audi's most focussed performance models. And, if you want a cruising TT, get the standard model, or for a bit of muscle, try the really-very-good TT S.
And if you're still not satisfied, step up to the RS coupe we're testing here (for the soft-top Roadster model, add an extra $4000).
The RS bins the four-cylinder engines used in lesser TTs and installs an all-alloy 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder powerplant which makes 294kW/480Nm accompanied by a gloriously gruff exhaust noise which can be adjusted via driver-switchable active mufflers.
Audi mates the engine to a seven-speed dual-clutch S tronic transmission which can be employed automatically, or manually via the shift lever or paddle shifters (the latter residing amongst some clutter behind the flattest of flat bottom steering wheels).
Along with the active dampers and lowered sports suspension, underpinning the TT RS is a quattro all-wheel-drive system - which gets more rear-biased the further you wind the drive select dial towards 'Dynamic' - and an imposing, if squealing, brake set-up which includes eight (yes eight) piston calipers working on 370mmm front discs. Those brakes barely fit inside the 20-inch alloy wheels which are wrapped in 255/30ZR20 Michelin Pilot Super Sports.
Inside, the TT RS is trimmed in leather and aluminium (or carbon-fibre if you tick that option box). Audi's 12.3-inch virtual cockpit (with RS functions including oversize tachometer, shift lights, lap timers and more), MMI touch, natural-language voice-controlled infotainment, lane, side and headlight high-beam assist, heated Nappa leather sports seats and high-spec infotainment and smartphone integration are all part of the deal.
There are some cool touches, like the red engine start button on the steering wheel, the three 'turbo-fan' air-conditioning vents on the dashboard (with dials at their centre) and carbon-fibre doorhandles.
Add in bespoke external visuals including a gaping mouth front grille and a view-obstructing permanent rear spoiler and you've got a package comfortably fitting the description 'pocket rocket' – a title justified by the TT RS' claimed zero to 100km/h of 3.7 seconds.
Mauling a seriously winding road with the ferociousness of a white pointer attacking bait is the Audi TT RS' raison d'être. Dial up 'Dynamic', exploit the slick-shifting S tronic's manual mode, clamp on the big brakes, point into the corner exploiting exceedingly well-tuned electromechanically-assisted rack and pinion steering and then shoot out the other side with the throttle slammed to the floor and all four tyres gripping. Amazing stuff.
The engine is a real giver, happy to rev to its 7000rpm redline, while dumping its peak torque flexibly between 1700 and 5850rpm. Combined-cycle fuel consumption is claimed at 8.4L/100km and our test car returned 10.8L/100km.
If you launch into a corner a bit too hard, you can feel the quattro system fighting understeer by shuttling drive from front to rear via an electro-hydraulic multi-plate clutch. Yet there's no real overcompensation as the front tucks but the rear-end doesn't let go. It's fast and confidence-inspiring.
Sitting deep inside the TT RS' single piece RS sports seat, you feel assuredly connected to this car. It's finely tuned and really involving…then you hit a bump and realise it's just too involving.
If you think I'm hammering this facet of the car too much, a back-to-back comparison with the Porsche Cayman S verifies how a tuning compromise in an uncompromising sports car can be achieved. Audi really could and should have done better.
Really, the TT RS is a car for drivers who combine road driving and regular track day outings. For those folk it has the reserves of capability to be huge fun.
But day-to-day for the rest of the population? Sorry, it puts the 'hard' into hard-core.
2017 Audi TT RS Coupe pricing and specifications:
Price: $137,900 plus on-road costs
Engine: 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 294kW/480Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 8.4L/100km (NEDC Combined)
CO2: 192g/km (NEDC Combined)
Safety rating: TBC
Source: https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/audi-tt-rs-2017-review-107914/
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