FIRSTDRIVE: AUDI TT RS:AUDI DOESN'T make many RS badges. Since 1992 it has only applied them to five high-performance models: the original RS2 estate and two versions each of the RS4 and RS6. Each had a monstrous engine shoe-horned into a saloon or estate body, and made BMW's Ms and Mercedes-Benz's AMGs look common.
So any new RS deserves attention. This new TT RS marks the first time the badge has been applied to a sports car; you can have it as a coupé or a roadster. And when Audi bills this as an homage to the iconic 1980 Quattro, expectations are high.
Audi wanted to use a five-cylinder engine in the TT RS for power and packaging reasons as much as heritage; the Quattro had a 2.1-litre straight five with a very distinctive soundtrack.
Audi doesn’t make a five-pot, so the RS has a virtually bespoke 2.5-litre five that shares only the design of its block with a US-market VW engine. In the TT RS it makes a massive 340PS between 5,400rpm and 6,500rpm and 450Nm of torque between 1,600rpm and 5,300rpm.
But its combination of direct injection and turbocharging is also good for efficiency: Audi claims average fuel consumption of just 9.2l/100km and emissions of 214g/km for the coupé.
Audi’s regular and twin-clutch DSG manuals couldn’t cope with all that grunt, so they borrowed the six-speed unit from the VW Transporter. Under the bonnet is an eyeful of red cam cover studded with five HT leads – very 1980s.
The car rides 10mm lower than standard on firmer springs with Audi’s switchable magnetic ride as an option. The brakes are bigger – 370mm at the front and 310mm at the back – and the speed-sensitive electro-mechanical steering has been recalibrated for greater weight and a quicker response.
The TT RS is properly fast; it feels every bit as quick as the claimed 4.6 seconds 0-100km/h. The Lotus Evora and SLK55 each claim 4.9 seconds but cost a lot more; Porsche’s Cayman S is its nearest price rival but gives away 20PS and 0.6 seconds to the TT. Its standing-start times are flattered a little by its quattro traction but it feels just as quick on the fly; the torque cap comes in at just 1,600rpm, so acceleration is almost equally furious wherever you are in the rev range and lets up very little before the soft limiter at 7,000rpm.
Fully de-restricted, engineers say the RS does around 290km/h, uncomfortably close to the 300km/h v-max of the eight-cylinder R8. It doesn’t need much space to hit that first limit, and feels utterly planted once there.
The noise of the engine – particularly once you’ve pressed the sport button to fully open both exhausts – is like an angry Norse god summoning some evil, destructive wind. You feel it too; a lot of vibration has been left in the pedals and there’s some driveline shunt as you come on and off the gas. The gearbox does a reasonable job – it’s quick, short and efficient, if not especially pleasant.
You wouldn’t expect the RS makeover to have transformed the front-engined, four-wheel-drive TT into a car that can outhandle a Cayman, and it hasn’t. Our test car had the standard springs and 19in rims wearing 35-section tyres. Ride quality is remarkably good – connected but refined. Steering is quick and accurate, if slightly anaesthetised, and brakes are sharp.
The biggest improvement is made by switching off the ESP. Fully engaged, it will have a corporate-liability panic attack and cut power if you turn at more than about 6km/h, exacerbating the TT’s natural understeer. You can switch it off completely, but the intermediate option stops engine intervention and raises the threshold for triggering individual brakes so that you can drive in a committed fashion without interference. Now the RS just grips and goes.
External changes are subtle. There are no RS-hallmark swollen arches, just bigger front intakes, flared sills, a choice of 18”, 19” or 20” rims and RS badging on the callipers, nose and boot. Inside – more RS badging; a lap timer and digital gauges for boost and oil temperature in the binnacle; sports seats and optional racier, winged hard-backed chairs that fold forward to let unfortunates into the tiny rear seats.
These can’t be removed, largely for noise reasons, though it would be good to see the RS shed some mass; it weighs 40kg more than the 250PS V6 and 55kg more than the 272PS four-cylinder TTS.
The TT RS puts a mighty engine into a competent chassis. The Cayman S puts a mighty engine into a mighty chassis, so remains a better car. But if you’re a TT driver and like the idea of all that grunt without compromising the standard car’s design-geek appeal, we’d fully endorse your decision to buy one.
Factfile Audi TT RS
Engine: 2,480cc 20v inline 5 TFSI; 340PS @ 5,400-6,500rpm; 450Nm torque @ 1,600-5,300rpm
Transmission: six-speed manual, four-wheel drive
0-100km/h: 4.6 seconds
Max speed: 250/280km/h
Fuel consumption: 9.2l/100km
CO2 emissions: 214g/km (coupé), 221g/km (roadster), tax band F (€1,050)
Coupé: €83,000 (pan-euro price – check Irish market)
Roadster: €88,500
Available here: July