2001 Audi TT 225 Quattro Roadster
Audi TT 225 Quattro roadster shapes a car into a work of art
by Bob Plunkett

JEROME, Ariz. -- Romping down a cliff-hugging course over Arizona's Weaver Mountains on a trek to the hillside mining camp of Jerome, a souped-up rendition of Audi's new TT two-seat roadster claws a no-skid track around all the hard corners.

Four oversized performance tires stick to the blacktop like a tiger traipsing through tar because the engine's substantial power is constantly channeled to all wheels, thanks to the vehicle's all-wheel-drive system that in Audi lingo is called Quattro.

The sophisticated device employs a torsion-sensing center differential to direct up to two-thirds of the power to whichever axle, front or rear, maintains a good tire grip. Another mechanism applies electronic locking to front and rear differentials in a process that can sense and block an individual wheel from spinning, then redistribute the driving torque from one side of the axle to the other.

As a result, tires manage to hold a serious bite of pavement at all times.

To test it, we deliberately propel our TT too fast into a sweeping bend. But rubber never breaks contact with pavement, as the power flows not only to one set of wheels, front or rear, but to both or perhaps a single wheel through the sophisticated controller.

It translates into supreme confidence for a driver, whether running on wet or dry roads, and we think it's a superior choice over the TT's front-wheel-drive system.

Come to think of it, though, the higher horsepower version of TT links only to the Quattro driveline.

The two-seat roadster convertible is the latest treatment of Audi's roly-poly TT, which debuted last year as a low-slung two-door hardtop coupe cast in front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive Quattro editions. Chop the top off to reach the roadster variations as 2001 models, and they too come with front-wheel and all-wheel drivelines.

Front-wheel-drive TT packs the original engine, a 1.8-liter turbo four of long stroke design with dual overhead cams and five valves per cylinder. It's rated at 180 hp and connects to a five-speed manual transmission.

All-wheel Quattro TT massages the same engine, but with a pair of intercoolers attached.

The intercoolers are added to chill each specific charge of incoming air before it reaches the turbocharger. Cooling the air increases the air density but also the amount of oxygen in the air. More oxygen condensed into a specific quantity of air enriches the mixture of oxygen and fuel that's required for combustion and ultimately generates more power with each cycle of ignition. This process further extends the turbocharger's efficiency and results in virtually no detectable lag in the timing between throttle depression and actual acceleration.

What you end up with is juicy action -- to 225 hp, as factored through a six-speed manual stick.

It's good enough to send the TT 225 off the line from zero to sixty miles an hour in less than seven seconds, which is about a second quicker than the TT 180 manages.

So it's this powerful TT 225 Quattro that produces our sure-footed charge down the mountains to Jerome.

We've got the top powered down in back, a disc in the CD changer and the Bose audio system cranked high to match the road action as wind whips in our ears.

But there's one more too-cool aspect: This particular TT carries optional seat leather unlike the hides in any other vehicle. Deep red umber in tone, the rich material resembles fine glove leather of a baseball catcher's mitt, even down to details like seam stitching in red rawhide.

Tie that unusual leather concept to the sculptured nature of TT's stylish interior trimmed in polished aluminum plus a dark-tint paint job dubbed Nimbus Gray Pearl, and the result becomes a mobile work of automotive art.

Exterior styling mirrors the coupe, its curvaceous skin stretched tautly over exaggerated wheels and all geometric shapes organized in a theme of circles.

In profile, the form with those extravagant wheel arches looks vaguely like a squashed and stretched version of the Volkswagen Beetle, which shares the platform of the TT along with the VW Golf and an Audi A3 sold in Europe. But it also resembles a vintage Porsche 356 Speedster.

Then too, with an eye on the historical perspective for German automaker Audi and its Auto Union predecessor, the overall shape of the TT -- particularly that rounded and stubby prow -- evokes a distant image of Auto Union racers like the Type C from the 1930s.

The name of this car also has historical ties, as the twin initials represent the Tourist Trophy, a race for motorcycles and touring cars conducted on the Isle of Man from 1905 to 1922. In 1967, a sporty version of the Prinz compact car by NSU (which later merged into the Audi union) carried the TT name to commemorate the Tourist Trophy.

Inside, the TT's cockpit turns into a creative exercise of form following function with an innovative design that extends the exterior theme of circles.

Machined aluminum rings, each dotted by eight circular indentions simulating screw marks, show up in multiple locations, like a clamp for the stick shifter's leather boot, four vents across the central dash or the steering wheel's hub. Further, the silvery metallic theme continues with metal bezels ringing analog gauges in the instrument panel and dash control buttons, plus an aluminum cover over the face of audio controls and the perforated stainless steel foot pedals studded in rubber.

The layout pits two front bucket seats between a console defined by twin leather-padded sport struts tied from dash to console to floor.

What in the coupe amounts to a pair of miniature jump seats tucked behind the two cockpit buckets has been eliminated in the roadster to provide space for the foldable soft-top, which operates with power controls for the TT 225.

The front-wheel-drive TT 180 roadster carries a load of standard equipment:  Foglamps, automatic climate system, a leather-wrapped steering wheel that tilts and telescopes, power windows with one-touch up and down controls, an 80-watt sound system with eight speakers, plus power mirrors with heat element added, rear lip spoiler and 16-inch cast aluminum wheels with 205/55WR16 performance tires.

The Quattro TT 225 increases the gear with that six-speed manual transmission, power convertible top and 17-inch silver alloy wheels with P225/45YR17 performance tires.

Optional equipment on our tester TT 225 includes Xenon headlamps, the baseball leather seats and a premium Bose audio package with six-disc CD changer.

Expect TT's pricing to range from $32,850 to $42,725.