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2018 Audi TT RS Road Test and Review

Ron Sessions
by Ron Sessions
December 4, 2018
4 min. Reading Time
2018 Audi TT RS exterior front angle by Ron Sessions ・  Photo by Ron Sessions

2018 Audi TT RS exterior front angle by Ron Sessions ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

Audi’s smallest offering in the United States is big on personality. That's the TT, sold in 2+2 coupe and two-seat roadster body styles. Both are available on the base model, but the sportier TTS and top-performing TT RS arrive in coupe form only. Whereas most versions of Audi’s TT compete with small, front-wheel-drive sportsters like the Mini Cooper Hardtop, the top-of-the-line TT RS has the power, grip, and features to go head to head with some versions of the Chevrolet Corvette and Porsche 911. At $65,875 including destination and delivery, the TT RS is a full $20,000 more expensive than the base TT coupe, but the equipment upgrade transforms the car into a true Grand Touring class contender — albeit one that’s about a full foot shorter than a Corvette or 911.

It Hauls Assets

Certainly transformative is the TT RS model’s potent 2.5-liter five-cylinder turbo. Whereas “lesser” TT models make do with either 220 horsepower (in the base TT) or 292 horsepower (in the TTS) from a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, the TT RS moves to a 400-hp beat. It’s the most powerful version of the TT that Audi has ever offered for the street. Five angry cylinders kick in like a Stuka dive bomber drilling down to its target and rising to a beehive-like crescendo at a sinus-clearing 7000 rpm. This is where the TT RS model’s seven-speed S-tronic dual-clutch automatic transmission serves up action-packed ratios with ordinance urgency. It takes just 3.6 seconds to achieve 60 miles per hour from rest. The TT RS model’s brassy dual-mode exhaust even has an intensity setting; just push a button on the center console to go from snarky to snarly. When you're merely puttering around town, the TT RS five-cylinder turbo’s maximum 354 lb-ft of torque spools up ready to go at just 1700 rpm and stays strong all the way to 5850 rpm waiting for the driver’s command.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Quattro Traction Action

As with all Audi Sport performance vehicles, the TT RS is equipped with Quattro all-wheel drive. It’s a system evolved from the brand’s famed rally cars. This feature distinguishes the Audi from the Corvette and base versions of the 911 in that the TT has the potential (with proper winter tires affixed to all four corners) to be an all-weather sports car. Rain, snow, sleet, ice, or mud won’t defeat the TT RS as it would many other performance cars. Tire-smoking wheelspin at will may be the trademark of some hot coupes, but the TT RS just hooks up and goes — quickly. The system automatically apportions drive torque to the wheels with the most traction. A drive select system with Comfort, Sport, Auto, and Individual settings allows the driver to tailor throttle and steering response, shift points and shock-absorber stiffness by choosing one of four modes via a steering-wheel button.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Driver Central

You don’t climb into the TT RS; rather, you slip it on. The interior’s a tailored fit, with everything you might want to touch or interact with easily within an arm’s reach. Front seat occupants are cradled in deeply sculptured and well-bolstered S sport chairs with upscale-looking diamond-pattern red stitching.

The TT RS interior is awash in soft leather, suede, aluminum, and carbon-fiber trim that’s both luxurious and high-tech in appearance. A grippy, flat-bottom multifunction steering wheel with drive mode selector, bright red start/stop button, and broad shift paddles for manual shift control put the driver in charge.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Virtual Cockpit

Something missing here? Audi doesn’t clutter up the TT’s cabin with a separate dash-mounted central infotainment screen; rather, it moved those functions into the 12.3-inch reconfigurable high-resolution LCD instrument cluster display, right down to the optional MMI navigation screen with Google 3-D maps (part of the $3,500 Technology package) and a standard backup camera display.

Additionally, drivers can choose speedometer, tachometer, and map size and location within the display as well. There’s even a selectable g-meter display that can inform and entertain the driver on how much accelerative, braking, or cornering force the car is generating in real time.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Clean Design

Another space saver in the diminutive TT is its innovative climate control layout. There is no separate bank of switches for heating, cooling, and such as with most other cars.

Instead, the controls for temperature, fan speed, air distribution, and seat heaters are located in the center of the vents — all within easy reach and up high, which means less eyes-off-the-road time to operate them.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Convenience Shelf

Technically, you’re looking at the TT RS coupe back seat. It’s a classic 2+2 design. Even with, say, the front passenger seat slid all the way forward, the rear perches are not for humans.

However, small pets (suitably restrained), a briefcase or purse, and small shopping items fit back there handily. Call it a two-seater with benefits.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Hatchback Convenience

Fold down the 50/50 split rear seat and open the rear hatch, and the aft end of the TT RS becomes a lot more useful for Costco runs or even a weekend getaway vacation for two.

As long as you don’t go too crazy on large items, the TT’s 12.0 cubic feet of luggage capacity is surprisingly ample for a car of this diminutive size.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Twisty-Bits Ready

Even in the driver-selectable Comfort mode, the TT RS makes the daily commute experiential. Engage Dynamic mode and the TT RS springs into action, keeping engine revs in the fun zone and the coupe poised to tackle the next stretch of road. The TT RS standard rubber is grippy 245/35 summer performance tires rolling on 19-inch alloy wheels with even stickier 255/30R20 skins optionally available. They're so sticky, in fact, that the performance tires will pick up loose gravel from the street and fling it excitedly into the wheel wells. Steering is quick, direct, and neuron-titillating communicative. The TT RS's standard magnetic ride uses tiny iron particles dispersed in the shock absorber fluid and a variable electric charge that changes the firmness of the shocks in real time for optimum body control and ride quality over varying road surfaces. Its upsized four-wheel disc brakes provide quick top-of-pedal response and reassuringly powerful stopping power from speed. A $6,000 Dynamic Plus package adds, among other things, a super firm fixed sport suspension, extra-fade-resistant ceramic front brake rotors, and for those with access to unlimited autobahn highways, a 174-mph terminal speed capability.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Standard Backup Camera

As with other space-saving features in the TT’s interior, Audi engineers moved the backup camera monitor from the center of the dash to the digital dash display right in front of the driver. That makes sense because you don’t need the speedometer to see how fast you’re backing up. But the steering wheel spokes can obscure the driver’s view of the rearview camera display, say, when backing out of a driveway or parking space.

No worries though, as the TT comes with standard front and rear ultrasonic parking sensors that sound an increasingly intense acoustic alarm as nearby objects get closer.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions

Road Ready

The Audi TT RS rolls with standard Bluetooth device streaming capability, available 4G LTE mobile Wi-Fi, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

Adaptive cruise control and advanced semi-autonomous driving aids are not part of the TT RS experience. Of course, that’s probably for a good reason. You’ll want to drive the TT RS yourself.

 Photo by Ron Sessions

Photo by Ron Sessions


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