A swifter TT to give the 350Z and Cayman a fright?
Right in one. Audi is busy prepping a brisk S version of its new TT, ready to make its debut at the Geneva motor show next March. We’ve already spied an even hotter RS version, but for the moment TT fans will have to make due with the S version. Not that they’ll have much to moan about. As previewed in the Clubsport Quattro, we expect the S to use a heavily tweaked version of the S3’s 2.0-litre direct injection four-pot engine, hooked up to a revised version of Audi’s double-clutch transmission. The hotter S will be easily identified by those large gaping front air intakes, deeper chin, bigger 19inch alloys and new exhaust pipes.
Only a four-cylinder engine…?
Yes, but it’ll pack a punch. A heavily modified inlet manifold and recalibrated engine management system should generate a healthy 280bhp – enough to fire the TT to 60mph in around 5.5seconds and brush up easily against its 155mph electronic limiter. And with an anticipated 265lb ft of torque kicking in low in the rev-range, in-gear acceleration through the closer-ratio six-speed box should put the frighteners on coupe rivals like the Cayman and 350Z.
And don’t forget that the four-pot motor is lighter then the sweeter but heavier V6 powerplant, and the S will come with Audi’s adaptive magnetic damping – which uses a magneto-rheological fluid that alters when a voltage is passed though it – as standard. Throw in uprated brakes, fatter anti-roll bars and a steering set-up tweaked for more off-centre feel, and the S should be a pretty sharp steer.
When does it arrive and how much do I need?
An early 2008 debut in Europe should see right-hand drive TT S models arrive here in late 2008, wearing a £38,000 price tag. That’s a little more than the Porsche Cayman (£36,220 and 245bhp) and a lot more than the Nissan 350Z (£26,795 and 300bhp). But throw in Audi’s top-drawer Bose sound system, DVD-based satnav, bi-Xenon headlamps and a full leather cabin with sports seats, coupled with the TT’s polished image, and we reckon Audi won’t be able to build the TT S fast enough to satisfy the dominant UK market.