Report: Rahul Kapoor; Photography: Mohd. Nasir
I’ll be honest, when I was expecting to drive the Audi TT over the weekend I was ridiculing the car in my mind. I was telling myself, it’s not a great looking car, and the engine is too small, it doesn’t have any power, it’s more of a boy toy and nothing more. Then when the car was delivered to my doorstep at 6 in the morning, something happened. That burnt orange paint on the exterior and the blackened rims and blackened bottom lip and the black spoiler spoilt every pre conceived notion I had about its looks. With egg on my face, I went back to sleep.
Not long after, I found myself awake and in the driver’s seat with the car egging me on to have a go at it. This time the pre-conceived notion I had about its drivability was right. It’s not very powerful. In fact, it doesn’t feel powerful at all. The gear box is really slow and the ride is incredibly hard, just what I was expecting it to be. The interior feels old and has a whiff of yesterday. But then it would because this car is as old and “has been” like David Hasselhoff. Audi has even updated the TT with the 3rd gen for next year which is expected to come to India soon. But how much better could it be from this? I knew before I drove it that there is a new one out there so this would just be a bench mark. So up until now it’s seems like a disaster and old and a bit like the first iPhone, in the modern advanced world, it doesn’t quite cut it. Up until now, it’s only the look that had won me over, but then it would when compared to the first generation that looked like it was struck by the lightning bolt of tragedy.
But hang on a second. It is not entirely that bad. In fact it’s not bad at all. Just because it’s old, it doesn’t necessarily mean that that it’s horrible. Because, it isn’t horrible. It is one of the most fun driving cars you can drive today. The lack of power plays in its favor. If you have a car with 500 to 600 horse power, you can’t really use them all the time. You drive along in the city at snail’s pace and only enjoy the ponies. But in the TT you can enjoy all of them, all the time. You don’t have to be scared of letting them out in case they run away every time you slightly nudge the throttle. In the TT, yes the gearbox is slow, but it’s not the power but how the power is delivered, and the TT delivers power even better than Dominos delivers their pizzas. It’s like the mysterious woman at the ball in beautiful black dress who is playing hard to catch, but you want her so badly, you are willing to make a fool of yourself in public doing it.
What this car really is, is a full 3 course meal cooked by Gordon Ramsay, everything about it is just balanced and works perfectly with each other. But it’s also like the Bee Gees in a confused generation of Justin Bieber. So when the new one finally arrives, I feel it has huge shoes to fill. Apparently, from what I have heard, it is better to drive and even more economical and practical.
But while everyone is crying Bieber! Bieber!, I had a huge smile on my face as I was using my walk and “stayin’ alive” So now the hardest part … to bid farewell to the woman in black who you never really found the courage to speak to properly, Bye Bye TT!
Engine
Transmission
Max Power
Max Torque
Top Speed
2.0L 4 cylinder TFSI Petrol
6-speed dual clutch S-tronic Automatic with electrohydraulic control
211bhp
350Nm
243kmph
Suspension: Front/Rear
0-100km/h
Brakes Front/Back
Tyres
Price (ex-showroom Delhi)
McPherson struts with aluminum lower wishbones/Four-link rear suspension with separate spring/shock absorber
arrangement
5.6 seconds
16” Ventilated Discs/16” Solid Discs
245/45 R17
Rs. 55,15,000/-
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