2019 Audi TT RS
 

Well it happened a lot more quickly than I expected, but my broker was able to get a decent deal, which was more than I was expecting for a car like this. They even gave me some good money for the Z considering some of its issues. I will definitely miss her and am not to afraid to admit I shed a few tears on my last drive.

On a side note, they initially gave me the wrong car. It was identically spec'ed, with the exception that it had the RS Fixed Suspension. After a day with it I have to say that mag ride suspension is the right choice for me, but the fixed would be great for the track. I am glad that this mistake happened.

With only 150 miles on it, and observing the engine break-in instructions I really can't give a review on how it drives when you push it, but I can give you some initial impressions/thoughts.

The car is very small on the outside, but surprisingly roomy for me on the inside.

Visibility compared to the Z is almost shocking at first, as I was doublechecking blind spots due to the disbelief that they were almost non-existent.

Driving it conservatively it feels a lot like a quick turbo GTI or some type of hot-hatch, but it seems to be quicker than my Z still.

The interior and exterior are exactly what I wanted, and after two days I feel I have figured out most of the infotainment and general controls of the car.

It is just so enjoyable to actually be able to listen to music while I drive (my Z was the worst when it came to road noise).

Just trying it out a bit, the manual mode seems like it will be a lot of fun.

The passenger side seat heater control popped out while I accelerated slightly aggressively to merge.

Reaching the speed limit is instantaneous especially since you just can press on the gas pedal while turning.

The dealer managed to break two of the cargo covers, which indicates a poor design on that part for me.

I can adjust the seat and steering wheel to the perfect position, which I never felt I could do in the Z.

I actually like the wheel aesthetics, but I would prefer them to be all black, BUT I really hate the 20 inch wheels in both how they look on this particular car and how they feel. Everyone is up for more feedback from the road, but even in the moderate drive mode you can feel every pebble, every crack and every coil of the shocks when things are compressed (and you can actually feel which side). I don't like that at all, even though some of it is due to it being an AWD. So considering that, and there is only one choice in winter tires (expensive Pirellis, no thanks) I ordered some budget 19-inch HREs and some Michelin Alpin 4s to get them here quick for the winter. That will let me evaluate how 19s look and feel on it, and either sell or paint the OEMs.

There are things I will definitely be missing about the Z. The best way I can put it is the Z is like driving a smooth powerboat where the TT feels like I am riding in a mining rail car...a REALLY fast and luxurious rail car. But to be fair, I haven't even put the TT in Dynamic mode, or reved it past 2/3 the redline.

Stay tuned!

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:santasleigh::santasleigh:



Sweet!!!. Looks like you're having a Merry Christmas!

I’ve never heard HRE’s described as “budget” lol

Congrats!

Darth Vader's personal road rocket that is!!! With serious "Force"!! :)

They have a "Flow Form" line which are glorified cast wheels. Probably not as strong as forged, but more than adequate for street driving and almost as light. Those were even on sale and they are immediately available.

The thought has crossed my mind that it is more tie fighter than X-wing!

Sounds like some sort of personalized plates are in order...
;)

DARK SIDE perhaps?
Or SITH?

Very Nice Ride. Keep us up to date on things. Look forward to seeing the wheels on the Car. Now get out there and Enjoy!! :tup:

Congrats. The better half of 10 years, I'm sure you made the most of the Z.

That TT, as well as many cars, seems like a well-deserved upgrade in creature comforts. Enjoy.

Beautiful car. I want!!

Nice. Show us the interior and the dash with google map.

Wouldn't you know it, we received some unexpected snow, so with summer performance tires it has been parked over the weekend. I will get a mini photoshoot done when I get the new wheels and I will include the dash.

Reading about your mods on the Golf R has me perusing all the interesting options out there. But I will keep it new for at least a couple years.

Just a stage 1 on your TT RS without any bolt-ons, will give you additional 70+ HP, but you will void the warranty. Also you might want to check out OBDEleven dongle, just google ODBEleven and read on.

The forged 20s are boat anchors that weigh over 27lbs each. And the pirrellis suck.

We went with 19” neuspeed rse 102s in gloss black with oem audi gloss black center caps to match, dropped 22lbs of unsprung weight and the 255/35/19 series tires are worlds better than the oem 255/30/20s. Tires are Michelin ps4s, later we’ll move to sport cup 2s since it’s a track car. Neuspeed wheels have a long history of race proven reliability and the prices are very reasonable.

Apr has their apr plus tunes which are 91 octane stage one and come with a 4 year power train warranty thru them, (since oem is voided). One of the local Audi dealerships here is looking into becoming an apr dealer too, so something to think about.

Btw, audi post diesel gate has a hard on for voiding warranty’s for tuning, anyone who tells you you can get away with it is wrong, pay to play if you go that route. They do a deep scan and send it to Germany whenever they have a question about warranty coverage.

If you decide to do lowering springs, there are plenty of options that are designed to be compatible with the mag ride

Check out 034 Motorsports, I’m a big fan of their suspension stuff, ran it on our old s3 and will be doing so again with our tt rs.

Just to let you know what we’re working with stock in case you haven’t looked into it yet...

0-60: 3.2 sec (with oem 19” wheels); 3.4 sec with oem 20’s

1/4 mile: 11.5 - 11.7 time slip verified, the faster times are in the fall, slower in summer, it’s a turbo car after all and not all tracks are equally well prepped.

Stage 1 93 octane tune: (tune only, zero parts modded)

0-60: 3.1

1/4 mile: 10.9 at 124 mph this is with the heavy 20” wheels

Stage 2 93 octane tune: (includes tune ecu and tcu, ic, hfc dp, cai, stock cbe)

1/4 mile: 10.6 at iirc 126ish

Stage 1 e85:

1/4 mile: 10.4 don’t recall trap speed.

Stage 2 e85:

1/4 mile: 10.0- 10.1 don’t recall trap speed.


Stage III hybrid turbo setups run mid 9’s and stage III BT (full frame big turbo) we’re cracking into the 8’s last I checked about 6 months ago, haven’t been keeping up with my Audi info too well recently. Check out Iroz Motorsports they’re really pushing the boundaries on this platform. It’s this decades GTR, only way cheaper to mod.

Stock power:

Hp: 400 (394 for ‘19+ :-) )
Tq: 354
/\ these stock numbers are on 91 octane. On 93 octane, it’s 438 hp and 380ish tq.

Stage 1 93 octane gets you 505 hp and 480ish tq

Stage 2 93 octane gets you around 560 hp can’t recall tq numbers

E85 stage 1 is around 93 octane stage 2 numbers and e85 stage 2 is 580sh iirc.

The stock fuel pump/injectors are good to about 560-580 hp.

The stage III hybrid turbo setups are maxed out around 750 hp due to egt temp issues caused by restrictive stock sized dp. On the BT kits, they already at 1000hp or knocking on the door last I checked.

The stock engine and trans have proven to be good to about 700 - 750 hp, beyond that, time o crack them open and throw parts at them. Trans only needs clutch packs so far tho, at least as of 6 months ago.

Lots of interesting information there, thanks! I am finding driving a single turbo and the tuning very fascinating. So does the tune void just the powertrain warranty, where the factory warranty would still cover the rest of the car?

Finally got both the rims and tires in and am rid of those awful 20 inch wheels! Also I now own a snowmobile! HRE certainly designs some beauties.

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Yes, well in theory, yes. The tune won’t affect non power train parts like dash, windows etc so every Audi dealership I’ve ever gone to has said if I were to tune, it’d just be the power train portion of the warranty voided.

That said, I’ve heard horror stories at some other dealerships in other parts of the country.

If you’re thinking about tuning, I’d get to know your service advisor/mechanic at your dealership and just ask them what’s what. Obviously you’ll want to ask before you do anything and make it clear you haven’t done anything yet either but are researching stuff.

If you’re going to be a VAG (Volkswagen Auto Group) guy now, you’ll become familiar with the term TD1 in short order.

Hint: it’s their internal code for voided warranty due to tuning.

After careful consideration, I am going to skip the tt for now. ��

1500 Mile Report
 

Here is my 1500 mile report; I will make this more of a comparison with the 370Z than a general review respecting the forum that we are in.

First a little Michelin Alpin A4/HRE FF15s review:

They are AWESOME! They seem to have all the grip of the Blizzaks, but when the weather turns warm, you would never know you have winter tires on as they do not get mushy or noisy at all. The HRE FF15s look incredible and feel like they are half the weight of the stock wheels. They will be used with my summer tires when I swap them out.

Now for the TT RS:

This car has a ton of tricks up its sleeve making it an VERY fast and quick car. It is a single turbo, so it has noticeable lag when starting from a standstill, but if you ease into the gas it is more than manageable. I would describe the sensation as lighting a very short fuse; once the real fuel is ignited, the power is explosive. But the power is only the part of the story; that little bit of lag allows the driver to aim at where they want the rocket to travel, and it will go to exactly where you are aiming. At first I felt the steering was as reported, tended to oversteer until I started pushing things realizing that the progressive steering (which is definitely needed) tames the push. It should be noted that you are already up to speed through a turn, where a rear-wheel drive sports car couldn't even think about it without spinning out unless you want to drift on a daily basis and destroy your car. I would say that the TT RS could be a fun track car, but not optimal, but as a daily driver I don't think it can be beat. The AWD, visibility, interior design, compact size and drive adjustability are just not to the level in other cars I test drove, although you are paying a big price. Included in that price is Audi's incredible service and you get an Audi as a loaner! Where the car really shines is in the snow and ice. In a few inches of snow you it feels like a very controlled hovercraft. It is actually a lot of fun when I see the white stuff coming down, and it is superior to any SUV or truck in terms of control and safety thanks to it relatively low weight.

Now for the negatives. The stock 20" wheels are attractive, but they are insanely heavy especially on a FWD biased car causing uncomfortable amount of unsettlement when encountering flaws in the road. Driving it in Colorado makes it a bigger issue since the winter months does a number on the asphalt and concrete alike. There were a couple minor interior defects which were promptly take care of, but 500 miles in a "Malfunction Indicator Light" came on, which indicates a fault in the exhaust system. Audi service told me that this is a known issue in the RS 5 cylinder models and that there would be an update that would address it in the near future. They cleared it, but it came on again shortly after. I am somewhat disappointed that this would be an issue in such an expensive car, but since it doesn't affect performance and doesn't hurt anything, it is more of an annoyance than anything.

Compared to my 2010 370Z Nismo:

Visibility: The Z was laughable in the lack of visibility, where I developed "Z sense", needing to constantly scan and take note where all cars around you were at all times. The TT RS has a laughable amount of visibility, so much so that my "Z sense" made things a bit disorienting at first. Of course, being a 2019 you get all the modern sensors and indicators letting you know exactly where other cars are. The backup camera is great, but having the screen directly in front of you, being obscured by the steering wheel slightly isn't ideal.

Interior: BMWs and Mercedes can't even compete with Audi's interiors. They look like Camrys by comparison, so sadly the Z doesn't stand a chance. Unlike a Lexus all that luxury doesn't seem to add a half ton to the total weight. The phone charger tray is the only thing I am not too keen on as it barely fits my iPhone 11 Pro and you actually have to attach the lightening cable in order to use Apple CarPlay. I bought a Pro Clip which is far superior, but I wish I didn't have to spend that much money. There is effectively no back seats, but they do make good storage as you don't have to reach too far when the contents invariable shift towards the back of the seats. The fastback/hatchback in combination with the folding rear seats make an incredible amount of usable storage space to the point where I could easily fit all four wheels when I swapped them out. No heated steering wheel, but great heated seats. The seat adjustability is endless. I would say that even though the TT's steering wheel is cool and looks awesome, I do prefer the Z's slightly. The infotainment system is a bit complex at first, but it definitely has more functions than you could ever need. Everything is accessible from the steering wheel and center console.

Drivetrain: The Z's standard transmission and normally aspirated engine were great and made driving it very pleasurable, although it suffered greatly in Colorado's high altitude compared to a forced induction engine. It took a lot of cash money and work to get it to even function properly especially in the heat making it an expensive car when it shouldn't have been. Even though it was slightly underpowered, I would prefer it over a dumb muscle car or Corvette. I wish I could have kept it, but it just didn't make fiscal sense. Also I found that with the performance clutch that I installed it wasn't the easiest thing to launch perfectly. The TT RS is a whole different animal in that every function can be tweaked with a press of a button or a flip of its surprisingly functional shifter. When driving by myself (which is the majority of the time) I have all components in sport mode. I sometimes switch the transmission to normal driving ("D") mode as you would be wasting gas due to the sport mode keeping the engine in the higher RPMs. I haven't really had the desire to switch to manual mode as the sport mode is more than aggressive enough and much smarter than me finding the optimal power. The DCT is the real deal compared to even a ZF auto transmission. I haven't time it, but I feel that the advertised 3.6 second 0-60 is a bit conservative. It feels to be that fast at altitude, so I can imagine it is faster than that at sea level. Almost needless to say the TT RS is dramatically quicker and faster than the Z and it is all usable in any weather and driving situation. Muscle cars and Subarus don't harass me like they did while driving the Z because they either know of the speed, or they don't know. VWs invariably will try to race me, but even at 3/4 speed they don't have a chance. Some souped up ones have come close, but to their dismay the TT RS will just continuously outpace them making them mad, and pass me eventually going 100. It's pretty dumb in that yes, the proved to me that they eventually can get up to speed. Well done! Driving in traffic is much better in the TT.

Handling: This is where the Z is superior to the TT RS. The Z feels like a smooth speedboat, being comfortable and precise at all speeds. The standard transmission is just more fun as you lay down the power at your leisure. After few mods the Z just accepts and excels when encountering road defects and is stable at all speeds thanks to its amazing aerodynamics. The TT RS is very capable and precise on the highway, side streets and cramped city streets where its quickness makes it a better passenger vehicle especially considering you can crank down that suspension for the comfort of the passenger. At higher speeds, being used to the Z, I feel a lot more nervous since the AWD is a disadvantage; the FWD bias is a bit too eager and active and high speed turns feel like you need to stay on top of the oversteer, but by now I know it is still stable. It just doesn't FEEL that way. What it gives up in performance driving it makes up in that it REALLY is greedy when it comes to grip. It always wants to keep all four tires on the road at all times and I would be shocked if it ever gave up control unexpectedly. Again, driving in the snow, ice and rain is infinitely more comfortable and controllable.

Aesthetics and sound: Both are subjective, but the Z and the TT have both been my favorite non-supercars when it comes to looks. The Z is a bit more sexy and the TT RS is a bit more sophisticated. Dare I say the TT is more masculine being that it has been described as a "hairdresser's car". The stock Nismo exhaust is Ok, and even with a custom Fast Intentions exhaust and cats the sound of the Z left a bit to be desired. The TT RS's exhaust is downright obnoxious in the way it wants to tell you that it has a unique 5 cylinder engine. It burbles and cracks and I can only imagine how stupidly amazing it would sound with a custom or straight pipe exhaust installed. Of course with a press of a button you can tone it down significantly.

Overall, after 1500 miles I am very please that the Audi TT RS has met and exceeded my expectations as I wanted a fun and capable daily driver. Compared to the muscle cars and Corvette it feels much more nimble and quick much like the Z. I do really miss my Nismo and I do feel I will be owning a Z of some sort again in the future. I am especially impressed by the Audi service department, but I don't think I would feel the same if the car wasn't under warranty or a service contract. With that being said, you are paying a LOT of money for an Audi, but I had been spending a lot on the maintenance of the Z, so it remains to be seen how they compare in value in the long run.

Also, VW drivers are annoying and Audi drivers are a******s. I suppose I am now the latter :rofl2:

What's the difference between an porcupine and an Audi? The porcupine has its pricks on the outside!

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Very nice thanks for sharing. We came down to this a supra and a few other cars as my z replacement. They are so rare too!

I want one too... but no space :eekdance:

I love the Supra after seeing a few of them in the wild. I would have been interested, but the AWD and a pretty good discount had me choose the TT RS over it and the BMW M240i xDrive. The BMW was much more cramped and felt heavier.

Have fun shopping!

You only have 1500 miles since Christmas 2019?

Nice write up. ..

You can have a career in motorsports journalism! Imo.

I also miss my Z. I should have not sold it but the wife wanted a SUV so I did bought her one! Now she wants a divorce!!! Lol

Well I have to agree with your comments about the Corvette vs the TT and 370Z
I liked driving the Z better at the dragon I feel confident and probably drove faster than the Corvette its like driving a very fast tank.. not that is heavy actually the C7 is lighter than the Z yet with shorter WB the Z is nimble and composed.

The C7 has rediculous power but it wasn’t as fun as the Z. Yes the c7 is a looker.
But nobody drives it faster than 70 miles at the highway! Otherwise you get a snare of a look from grandpa!

Again nice write up.. I wonder how the R8 v10 feels like?:tup:

As much as my wife and I both want the TT, we did the right thing and bought an EV instead. It doesn't handle or feel like the TT or the Supra, but it has enough power and traction to make up in a straight line. Plus my days at the track are limited at this point, so I took the practical route over the fun route. I am going to miss the looks and feel of a sports car, but I really like the flexibility of AWD and instant torque. I cant believe the amount of traction I have with these AWD cars out of the corner. There is no way my Z could keep up even with a drip of moisture. I should say that it rains like 10 time a year here, so it's probably pointless to have it. Still, :roflpuke2: I do miss how close I was to the Z after 9 years. With the new car, I feel like a kid learning how to walk again. Of course the virus thing put a damper on any sort of drive. I drove the car 400 miles in 3 weeks. :icon14:

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I had a C6, I sold it to get my Z (after another disaster named RX-8). I know the C6 was faster than the Z in every way, but I never got comfortable with it and I could never tamed that beast the way I wanted. I think I lost control in the Z only a handful of times in the Z in 9 years, I think I spun my C6 Z51 more than that in 2 or 3 months. It was bizarre how I never got comfortable with it. I just hope I can tame the new car and not end up with another Z (I went from 350 to C6)

What EV you got Tesla? Porsche Tus...cant even spell it fast enough! Lol
Pictures pls. If OP doesn’t mind using his thread.

Great write up @BlackZeda. A new ride is not in my immediate future (the wife up next) so I often wonder "what am I missing". First-hand reviews like this help me a lot :), so thanks. I've always admired the TT for its unique style.

I got a Tesla since they currently have better track support. I was just playing with their track mode v2 the other day.

My wife is using the vehicle every day, she prefers smaller cars. That's why she really wanted the TT, plus I only have about 190" in my garage. THe Porsche is too long

I live less than 5 miles from my work, and only go into the office 3 days a week, so it has actually been a challenge to get to 1500 miles so far.

The interior of the TT is spacious compared to the Z, so it took a bit of seat adjustment and time to get comfortable driving it. It probably has to do with the insane amount of visibility and feeling the Gs a bit more. Driving in a muscle car or a Vette that sensation is even more pronounced, so I guess I just like driving smaller cars.

Getting to 60 is instantaneous now, so I imagine that the R8 would mean the loss of my license. I would see the R8 as track car as it probably would make daily driving pretty boring.

Even though I probably would get used to it, I feel that the Vette would never be the right fit for me on a few different levels. I like that you see very few Zs and even fewer TTs on the road. There is something to that. Although I have to say that I haven't had a Vette driver act like a fool around me in the Z that I can recall.

Glad you enjoyed the little review.

Definitely super hard to find TT, especially the TT-RS. Matter of fact, I think they only made 3000 of them? In a year, you will see Corvette everywhere. Also I don't know how old you are, but I hate the stigma of driving a Corvette. I much prefer to have a lower key car, well unless someone gives me a Ferrari. If you live in teh Bay Area, you will see Model 3 everywhere. They are more common than Camrys now

That Vette stigma was probably one of the main reasons why I went for Z when I bought it to be honest. It was actually a good thing because to this day I would rather have a Z (or Supra) than a Corvette, unless it were purely a track car, but even then they still feel big.

In regard to lower key; if I were to order a TT RS I probably would have gone with the spoiler delete. Don't get me wrong, the fixed spoiler is really sharp looking, and it is probably the best stock one I have seen, especially with the cool winglets, but the TT looks amazing with the pop-up one and it would be a true sleeper.

Teslas are pretty common here in Colorado as well. We are kind of east California nowadays anyway, but I think people don't spend the type of money on cars that bay area people do.

I am the opposite, I love the TT with the fixed wing. No wing TT looks like a giant turtle shell, similar to the Model X.

Gas is expensive here, our climate favors EV and our infrastructure is good. That's why it makes sense to have it. Plus cars have come a long way, we can have reasonable fun at the track while truly driving home the next morning. My wife still wants a Porsche Boxster in all electric form, but that might not come for 5-6 years. I figure the performance 3 will get by until then, I am hoping there is another power bump in it. 2.9 sec 0-60 maybe

Zoren,

Anytime you wanna check out a tt-rs just let me know man. When the ‘rona is over, I’ll let you know when the next monthly Audi meet is at ace cafe and you can see 8 or so tt-rs’s that are in our club. When we got ours, we were the only MK III but now there are a bunch and some are quite modded. Also a couple r8’s show up too so it’s a good time.

Unlike our western brethren, Audi peeps here are chilled out and kinda shy and laid back and the VW crew keeps to themselves and are harmless, alhouth online the golf r folks are delusional and think their car is better than anything else on the road.

How does a broker get u a good discount? I mean how doesbut work? I assume they a little piece of the pie

I'll be in my bunk!

It all started when I stopped by the Audi dealership to see if they would show me the different shades of gray as I was still considering either the RS3 or the TT-RS, but would order it. While looking at a couple RS3s I noticed that they had two identical black TT-RSes, so I called my broker to see if I could test drive one of them. The next day the broker had the TT-RS and we did the test drive, but I let him know I was looking to order a gray one, and I wasn't all that interested in the black one, even though it had every option and it did look really good. So, the next day my broker called me up and informed me that he could get a pretty big discount as I assume the dealer didn't want two identical and expensive cars sitting in their lot at the end of the year. I actually declined the first discount, but the dealer kept cutting the price until it made sense. I am very pleased things worked out, but it is still a very expensive car in the end. But this is my introduction to European sports coupes and it is a snow/ice beast.

So I assume the discount is much better than what the dealer would give to the customers.

Does the broker only work with people that are local or can he work with other people from other states?

I'll be in my bunk!

The broker I deal with is very much no pressure. He just stated that the dealer kept coming back with a bigger discount and I could take it or leave it. I would try a local broker, since he will deal with anyone that can get the sale done.

Does your broker deal with people out of state? I'm located on California

I'll be in my bunk!