It's been a month I didn't post anything here. It's because I did not have a lot of time as I was in Miri for the whole month to spend more time with my friends and family there.
And here, this would be my first test drive report and a glimpse, of a new 2015 Audi TT 2.0 TFSI, even though it's parent company, Volkswagen, is having too much chaos after having a terrible affair with its dieselgate case.
Enough with the serious issues with the dieselgate, let's take a closer look of the car below.
Back in 1998, the Audi TT was the halo sports car for Audi at that time. It was the most dynamic German sports car, and competing against the BMW Z3 and the Mercedes-Benz SLK. At the same time, I think that was the only car in that particular segment to have turbocharger, while the SLK has a supercharger (Kompressor). Yup, only these two have forced induction system to gain more power.
As for the new TT, this one is the most radical TT I've ever seen compared to the second-gen TT. The design philosophy is more towards sharp lines and dynamics, well, I can say that this one is more to revolution rather than evolution. But most importantly, Audi is making it right by having back the old-school TT feel by making it a bit narrower, as well a little bit higher than the previous counterpart.
Onto the exterior, the front bumper gives the TT more aggressive while adding the R8 seasoning to make it tasteful. And of course, the grille is hexagonal, which is a language for every new Audis. The rear, well, you might thought is the same, but, it changes a little bit. You can see there's a new sets of LED tail lamps too. I gotta love the dual exhaust pipes too, reminds me of the old TT. Another extra point for Audi!
The metal fuel cap design is still intact. Don't worry Audi fans, they still listening.
Moving on to the interior, the dash is FREAKING AWESOME. Now it looks like a jet fighter similar to the Lamborghini Huracan, with more luxury bits. The key to awesomeness to the interior is simple, clean and minimalistic. Everything from radio controls and navigation (optional) is now integrated into the driver's cockpit, which is known as Audi Virtual Cockpit. It was more to driver-focused feel though. The flat-bottom steering wheel like much more sportier and even more comfy than before.
The MMI controls are now positioned near to the gear lever.
However, there's no more handbrake lever, as the electronic hand brake replaces it to add more space for the arm rest. OK, I know its the future, but I still want the physical handbrake, as it performs powerslide even better than that. Who knows?
This is the turbine-style air-cond vents featured in the new TT, but hey, where's the climate control?
Tada, the climate control is actually integrated into each air vents! Same feature goes to the new R8 as well. You can adjust each of them by turning the knobs. How cool was that! It's more simple and digital at the same time.
Under the hood, the TT is still powered by the four-cylinder 2.0 TFSI engine which was used in the second-gen TT. But, the engine was retuned to 230 bhp (208 on the old one), and is way faster than the Golf GTI, even it has the same engine. Without Quattro (AWD) technology, the car can sprints up to 100 km/h for about 5.9 seconds, which is the same as my Nissan Skyline 350GT Coupe. It managed to get a top speed of 250 km/h until the speed governor kicks in.
Now its time to get my first hands-on to test drive the new TT. And here is the key itself. Way slimmer than before.
This is the test car provided by Audi. The color is metallic grey, and it comes with the Matrix LED headlights, optional but later it will become standard for every Audis.
All TTs came standard with retractable spoilers. It pops out when the car is above 120 km/h. Without these, you might spin out of control like the first-gen TT back in the year 2000, and that is why it got recalled by adding spoilers and stability control to lower the risk of spinning out.
When I first driving the new TT, the ride is somewhat like a compact sports coupe. Much like driving a roadster due to the ride height. The steering feels not too light, not too hard, but intermediate, which is perfect for enthusiast and non-enthusiast. At least its not as crappy as the Z4. Same case to its handling as well because its not that harsh like other sports cars. I still can adjust the driving feel by pressing the Drive Select to suit my mood of driving (Efficiency, Comfort, Auto, Dynamic, Individual). This can tweak the suspension setup and the steering feel. I just leave it Dynamic just to make it to have sporty feel. Now that is how a sports car should be in the modern era!
While planting my foot to the accelerator in an extreme way, the car is fishtailing a little bit. But thanks to the retractable spoiler, it manages to make it straight again.
Sitting at the back is a troublesome. You have to pull the strap at the side of the seat, and push the seat forward by pushing the power seat forward. Unlike other high-end coupes, the process is lesser as it forwards the seat by itself after reclining the seat. As for all TTs, you have no hope for comfort riding at the back. Also, a tall person like me might hit the rear window. It's not a good passenger car for picking up your friends to chill bro!
To summarize this, the third generation Audi TT is essentially the first-gen TT from another dimension. With a futuristic cockpit and simple design, this is a good car to drive for Audi fans and enthusiasts. It's way better than the E89 Z4 and the SLK (will be known as the SLC in the future), but lack of Quattro makes you frown sometimes.
If you want to go for the Quattro, perhaps you can go for the TT S, which is in the same class as the Golf R. It's way aggressive than the TFSI version. But, it is more expensive (RM 389,900) than the Golf R (RM 251,888) and less powerful by having 4 horsepower less than the R (290 bhp). Meanwhile in Malaysia, the Golf R has 280 bhp for unknown reasons.
Tomorrow, I will be making a test drive for the second-gen Audi Q7. I'll update it ASAP after researching the new flagship SUV by Audi.
Thanks to Audi Kuala Lumpur for providing me the brand new TT for test drive.
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