The Yellow Peril

Read the original article in Drive Magazine

It’s Saturday afternoon. I’m cruising West on the Ring Road heading out towards Southgate, at which point I’ll have to take the mess that is the highway North from there, out to the Roodepoort area. When suddenly a dark blue E46 M3, with that gloriously vocal 3.2-litre straight-six burbling from its closely-stacked quad pipes, spears straight out into the right hand lane from where he just joined the highway shuffle. Right in front of my hotted-up-looking yellow TT.

He immediately gets stuck, as is typical, behind some stick-in-the-mud Mercedes who insists that 90km/h is the limit in the outside lane. Fortunately traffic is pretty clear, there’s plenty of space inside, so he drops a cog or two, that award-winning engine takes on the hard, metallic edge it’s so famous for, and he rockets past Mr Dawdler in the middle lane. Immediately I follow.

The next five minutes are pretty amusing. M3 Driver at first appears utterly bemused by the titchy little Audi which remains resolutely on his tail, in fact quickly eats up any gap I playfully allow him to pull out and then has to dip its nose under braking to avoid his utterly wrung-out rump. He has no answers for what the little banana missile has in hand, and it’s only when he falls back into the left to turn off at Southgate that he clocks the fat, quad pipes on this TT, and the innocuous TT S logo affixed to the compact, curvy little rear end.

I’m having some fun now, heartrate nicely elevated and riding the high of vanquishing a car I love and respect so much. A Polo GTI, red, locks onto my tail next, but it takes all of three seconds at full throttle, and the tight bend as the highway swings North, to convince him not to be so cheeky again. But while I’m sniggering at his rapidly-reversing image in my mirror, a new challenger swings out from behind the Polo and looks on a definite charge. It’s the VeeDub’s big brother, Golf V GTI, and it looks the business in pure white. Riding a bit lower on its springs than standard as well, and at the very least is running a freer-flowing exhaust system judging from the noise it makes as it tucks right in behind me – now stuck on the construction-ravaged two-laner behind more clueless amblers.

As the highway constricts, the same amount of traffic is forced into a smaller amount of tarmac, so it’s getting quite a bit tighter now. The GTI isn’t having any of my dilly-dallying however, and at the first sniff of an overtaking gap sneaks up my inside under full power and squeezes back into the fast lane, a good few hundred meters of clear road ahead of him. I’m happy to follow his lead.

It quickly becomes apparent just how much the TT S has over this mechanically similar but fiscally opposed stablemate. Holding station behind the GTI, whenever he pins his throttle to the bulkhead I respond a moment or two later. The Golf seems to have less lag, and grabs a few metres lead while the Audi’s big turbo is still spooling up. Once it’s blowing however, any advantage the VW managed to claw is just destroyed. In seconds. I can hold the throttle of the TT S fully open for about 2 and a half seconds before having to feather it to avoid his bluff, snow-hued hatchback rear end.

They may share basically the same motor, but these two cars are like chalk and cheese. And not just on a pure performance level either, in just about every measurable way.

When VW/Audi’s fabulous fleet manager arrived at our offices in this car, he’s a bit more flushed than usual, and he quips; “This car. It’s so exciting, I’ve had to tune it to Classic FM just to try and keep myself calm!” This from a man who drives the hottest Audis and VWs from HQ to press offices all day, every day.

And he isn’t wrong.

Perhaps you need a few statistics for a more complete picture of the TT S. It’s powered by the turbocharged four-cylinder 2-litre so widely deployed in the company’s product range today. But the addition of that “S” to the badge means it’s not the regular, 147kW version. No, this is the same mill as found in the scintillating S3 hatch I came to adore in its service as a long-termer at Cars in Action. In fact that car had to make do with the detuned 188kW version of this gem. Here it’s unfettered and runs its full 195kW of potential.

As in the S3, that power is deployed via Quattro AWD, but in the case of the TT S its more aggressively tuned, like Audi began to do in the RS4, for a less nose-heavy, more rearwards-dominated handling bias. It’s also weighed-down by just 1340kg of TT in this guise, and given a much more sonorous voice by those four big-bore tailpipes sprouting from beneath the rear valance. It gains a lot of bassiness and a much more serious edge on full throttle openings, overlaid with the unmistakable noise of a viscious amount of boost right through to the 6500 rpm redline, and angry, insistent note which matches the strong shove in the back to a T.

Speaking of a shove in the back, the TT S in fact accelerates so violently that in my first day driving it, I was getting seriously painful twinges in my spine, right between my shoulder blades. After spending some time carefully honing my driving position and the electrically-adjustable, inflatable bolsters in the backrest however, the rest of my time with the little Audi was painless despite the punishingly stiff ride, especially on broken SA tarmac.

I digress. You tend to do that with this car, even a short trip up to the shops becomes an opportunity to test the phenomenal grip and massive slug of sustained power.

Those impressive figures translate into a claimed 0-100km/h sprint of just 5.4 seconds, and an electronically-limited 250 km/h top speed. These are big-league numbers from a package rooted in far humbler models. And the TT is the ideal basis for building this big-hearted tyke of a sports car, it’s taut, crisp lines bulging suitably in all the right places, and combining into a vehicle which could truly be called a mini exotic. Just park it up and walk away, and I dare you not to look back appreciatively, retina-searing paintjob notwithstanding.

The blistered arches front and rear, and those lovely 18-inch alloys give it such a hunkered-down look. Of course the more aggressive front splitter plays its part in the tarmac-hugging stance, while the short wheelbase of the thing is emphasised by the very short overhangs, especially at the rear.

Inside the cabin, the sporty body-hugging seats, in the case of our test car upholstered in a combination of alcantara inserts and silk nappa leather (standard, the seats come without this luxurious a variant of hide), and ally-topped lever for the six-speed manual ‘box fall perfectly to hand. I’m still not sure why Audi does the flat-bottomed wheel style in their sportiest models, but it doesn’t grate and feels pretty good in your hands.

The switchgear and assorted instrumentation are all pretty standard Audi fare despite TT S flashes all over the place, although the speedo carries markings right round to over 300 km/h. Still, the “standard” items on an Audi generally feel a cut above more mainstream, and even other premium-brand competition, and every surface your hands caress feels well-damped, beautifully-machined and ergonomically ideal. While glimpses of the bare aluminium pedals beneath your feet cement the distinctly sporty overall ambience.

It is at odds, then, with this well-built feel that the cabin suffers from two distinct peculiarities. Approaching the double-ton there’s substantial wind noise suddenly intruding through the passenger-side door seals, while the undeniably lovely shape of the flowing cabin makes driving with one window open a stern test for pressure-sensitive eardrums, as a significant Airwolf-style “whup-whup” noise reverberates around the cockpit.

It’s also odd that the adaptive damping is tuned so aggressively, that even left in the default continuously-variable mode sharp compressions and ridges on the road translate into a grimace-inducing crunch as the surface imperfection travels straight through the suspension and into the commendably rigid chassis itself.

If you’re on a baize-smooth racetrack, you can prod the button with a little shock absorber item by the gearlever on the centre console to engage “Sports mode” suspension settings. On the road, this is just way too harsh, and in fact hinders rapid progress. In addition to discomfort, this setting actually makes the TT S quick to separate tyres from tarmac if there’s a bump mid-corner when you’re at maximum attack. It’s plenty stiff enough, and the system reacts to your driving as well, in the standard mode. Leave it there, honestly.

While we’re looking at the centre console, there are a couple of other things here to note. There’s a manual mode for the neatly integrated rear wing, which if left to its own devices rises gracefully into the airstream from its standard position, flush with the rear deck, at speeds in excess of 110 km/h. Prod the centre-console button however and you can bring this downforce aid into play at all speeds. Then there’s the ESP button.

One quick prod turns ASR off but leaves ESP engaged, a more committed effort by your finger is required to turn the electronic aids off entirely. This car, much like the S3, is just a perfect example of a vehicle in which these sorts of driver aids are just utterly superfluous. If you’re overstepping the limits of this vehicle, with it’s phenomenal grip in all conditions and friendly, AWD reactions for when the surface gets treacherous, you’ll be doing such insane speeds for the conditions that no electronic safety net is likely to be able to help you out.

Handling is, in fact, a bit of a peculiar one in the TT S. The combination of short wheelbase and ultra-stiff chassis/suspension means it feels very edgy at speed, while those low-profile 18-inch tyres track ruts and road cambers very aggressively, keeping the driver on his toes.

One road I frequent when performance-testing, is a short stretch which inexplicably links five traffic circles in the space of less than a kilometre, in the Honeydew area of Jo’Burg. Attacking these (usually quite traffic-free) circles in the TT S begins with just unfazed grip and sublime body control, but as my confidence in the car increases, so does the speed at which I’m attacking.

Finally there comes a point when I’m chucking it in so hard, that as I turn right for the mid-circle “apex”, the TT S has a range of responses on tap. If I’m dithering off the throttle, it immediately settles into safe, predictable understeer, the nose pushing alarmingly towards the kerb at the exit of this civil-minded chicane. Now stay away from the throttle and it quickly regains its composure as the understeer scrubs off the excess speed. But what you really want to be doing, is pouring on the juice at this stage.

Do this, and the initial understeer remains, but only for a microsecond, until the differentials shuffle the torrent of power being released rearwards and the tail snaps alarmingly quickly into an oversteer stance. Keep that throttle pinned, as the exemplary body control mean there’s little momentum to develop this slightly scary snappiness into a full-blown pirouette, even when you provoke it even further by reversing your steering input on the exit, just before grabbing third and ripping up towards the next roundabout. It’s breathtaking and utterly enthralling at once. Just like a proper sports car should be!

I was pretty worried that snappy tendency could relate into underpants-ruining moments at higher speeds, but in fact the TT S turns out to be astonishingly composed as it noses up against its limited V-Max. Even long sweepers can be negotiated at this speed with utter contempt – and you’ll be surprised just how quickly the TT S runs into its 250km/h maximum, at a speedo readout in the region of 266. Whether it’s that graceful rear spoiler which intrudes purposefully into your rear-view mirror at speed which keeps it this stable I’m not sure, but whatever it is it works a treat.

The TT S holds one final surprise. It has to be considered incredibly good value in this market segment at a base price of just R527 000! For similar (slightly quicker, admittedly) performance from the opposing German manufacturers, you’d need one of the new Z4 sDrive35is with its award-winning, 225kW twin-turbocharged three-litre engine. All right that’s a coupe and roadster in one thanks to its clever folding metal hardtop, but it comes in at just under R700 000! What’s more the ridiculous weight problem of the new Z4 mean it will spit you backwards into a hedge far faster than the little TT when provoked. From Mercedes? Nothing short of the barmy SLK55 AMG even competes in this league.

All right so the options fitted to our test car, which include a premium Bose sound system, multi-CD changer, Audi Plus navigation, metallic paint and one or two more smaller touches, bring the final tally up to almost R580 000. But you don’t need these. The important stuff, like the MagneticRide dampers for instance, are all included in the base price. You’ll pay a substantial premium for this tech in the Z4. Have to have the roofless option? Well a TT S with a conventional fabric top still comes in at well under R600K.

It easily matches the Z4 for road presence, and you almost start to pity the strained tendons in the necks of everyone you blast by in this car such is the magnetic pull of its low, wide, and aggressive styling. It all but matches it for outright grunt, will destroy it through a challenging set of twisties, and surely no-one can argue that you’re paying the premium for superior quality over an Audi?

I honestly don’t understand why I don’t see more of these on our roads. If I had a half-bar burning a hole in my pocket and absolutely had to have the highest-performing sports car there’d be no other choice. All right I might save myself some cash and grab a new 370Z instead, but it won’t compete here at the Reef with either TT S or Z4 35i – I’m just ridiculously addicted to oversteer is all…

-Likes

Great engine

Awesome looks

Quad pipes

-Dislikes

Typically Audi – slightly inert and lacking steering feel

Some snappy handling characteristics

Jekyll ‘n Hyde fuel consumption

Vital Stats

Price (Basic) : R527 500

Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol

Power : 200kW @ 6000rpm

Torque : 350Nm @ 2500 – 5000rpm

Transmission : 6-speed manual

Drivetrain : Quattro AWD

0-100 (Claimed): 5.4s

Top speed : 250km/h (Governed)

Fuel consumption (Overall, claimed) : 8.0 l/100

Cd : 0.31

Weight : 1395kg

Visit the Audi SA website for more information.

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