2005 Audi TT-S Quattro

  Today's review was a very interesting one for me. There's an old saying that says: Never meet your heroes. Now I work in the car business and it's inevitable that I'd come across many of my dream cars that I always admired at various stages in life. Today I took the opportunity to review my original dream car. The Audi TT. And not just any TT but their no holds barred S line version. This was the 2005 year's cream of the crop.

  Now bearing in mind the fact that I'd never actually driven the TT until now, let me explain why I drooled over it for hours on end in magazines and Internet sites growing up and why any time I saw one on the street I had to stop and look lustfully at the interior and exterior of this machine. Starting with the exterior it's easy to see why it drew my attention back in the early 2000's. The smooth, rounded lines and the way every body panel, seam and exterior component fits together like one beautiful streamlined jigsaw puzzle. It's not just about the exterior beauty of the car though. As you look at the way every thing's fit together you can tell that it's a serious performance machine. That low stance, the cross drilled brake rotors, the high performance shocks and springs and light weight wheels indicate that it should be very fast and handle very well also. Under the hood we find a turbo charged five valve per cylinder in line four engine attached to a six speed manual transmission feeding the horse power to an all wheel drive system. So far we're still happy with our hero, but the real test is how it feels to drive. Will it really be as good as I always expected it would be?

   Stepping into the interior, I still wasn't disappointed. Every component was functional, but artfully pieced together to create one seamless flow of leather and aluminum beauty and functionality. As with the exterior you can still tell that this is intended to be a performance car with the short throw shifter, the racing styled steering wheel and the hip hugging seats, and yet they give you all the amenities that you'd expect from the German premium auto maker. Aside from the leather and aluminum, there's also a premium audio system by Bose, heated seats, automatic climate control and a very small but usable back seat. As with the exterior these are things I had already been aware of just by reading about it, but now comes the time to find out if it drives as well as I'd hoped.
  The short cruise that I usually take starts out on a low mph road with a couple traffic lights before reaching the on ramp. In town I found that the ride was, as expected a little bit bumpy with little give and body roll from the suspension. It wasn't uncomfortable though and would be something well worth dealing with as soon as I discovered the power and cornering capabilities as I entered onto the on ramp. The stiff suspension that was bumpy before, combined with the quattro all wheel drive enabled the TT to corner like a house fly, while the power combined with the light weight provided plenty of acceleration to put a smile on the face of even the most spoiled and serious driver. On the highway the light weight causes quite a bit of road noise and the still suspension again causes the ride to be bumpy, but overall it was a complete joy to drive, and the interior comforts make even long trips enjoyable.
  Well I finally got to meet my original hero. Was it perfect? Well if I had to nitpick, I'd say that the power could have been a little bit more, the ride could have been a little bit better and the back seat's kinda pointless, but as a whole, I was very impressed and greatly enjoyed the experience. Tomorrow I plan on writing about the current dream car, and you'll definitely want to be sure to join me again here in The Fast Lane.