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Kinetic
Guest
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 Posted:
Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:02 am Post subject:
Opinions of a TT for wife? |
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Hi everyone. Don't see much posted about the Audi TT here. My wife has her
heart set on one for a daily driver. I'm concerned about crash protection
and maintenance. What year did they start selling the TT and is there any
years to be avoided?
Thanks in advance,
Robert
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Hairy One Kenobi
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:49 am Post subject:
Re: Opinions of a TT for wife? |
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"Kinetic" <kinetics@centurytel.net> wrote in message
news:mPmdnQvYv-n-V-benZ2dnUVZ_sCdnZ2d@centurytel.net...
| Quote: | Hi everyone. Don't see much posted about the Audi TT here. My wife has her
heart set on one for a daily driver. I'm concerned about crash protection
and maintenance. What year did they start selling the TT and is there any
years to be avoided?
|
They appeared around 1998/9, if memory serves.
The Mk.Is were "improved", as apparently it was the car's fault if someone
slammed-on the brakes and then turned sharp right at 100mph+ in the rain and
the car skidded.
Quite.
The Mk.IIs (came on-stream in 1999, but earlier cars were retrofitted) have
more "boring" suspension that understeers more obviously. None of them are
unsafe. If it has a spoiler bolted on the back, it's a Mk.II. And less fun
(the Mk.II is probably faster point-to-point, if you trust it, but I
preferred the more go-cart feel of the Mk.I. I wasn't given the option..
I've been driving a Mk.II for the last five years)
From a personal perspective, I would recommend taking an interest in the
tyres fitted - while by no imaginable means unsafe, the standard UK fit of
ContiSports were quite the worst tyres I've had, on any car. I have no idea
what were fitted on a standard US vehicle.
In absolute terms, the steering starts to get a bit light, top down, at
130mph or so, but firms-up at around 135mph. Your Speed Limits May Vary
(this was, I hasten to add, outside of the UK!). *Everything* gets a bit
tricky above 140mph or so - any faster, and you're relying on other road
users and your brakes. Post-chip, still looking for an opportunity to exceed
150mph *safely*; ironically I get better fuel mileage at 100-110mph top-down
than I do on the UK's M4. Below these speeds, everything is rock-solid, and
likely to exceed your expectations by rather a lot.
The TT's brakes are some of the best around, as proven a depressingly large
number of times (you can usually judge when they last checked their mirrors
from the "wheredidthehellthatcomefrom" steering twitch ;o)
Both lateral grip and brakes are among the best you'll see on a
non-specialist car for this sort of dosh. The only upgrade car I'd really
consider is the Ultima (http://www.ultimasports.co.uk/canam/), but I'm
feeling a bit poor this month/year/decade ;o)
Final note - far from trusting a current owner to point-out flaws in their
car, please remember that Google has the facility to search this (and many
other) news groups. There is also the tt-forum.co.uk (haven't been there for
a while, but there are others around, worldwide)
The one major bad point that I can think of is for the Coupe - the alarm
doesn't cover the hatch area, and there have been break-ins in the UK where
someone has broken the rear window. Not that you'd hear the damned thing if
it *did* go off - EU regulations mean that my mobile phone is louder :o\
--
Hairy One Kenobi
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed in this opinion do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the highly-opinionated person expressing the opinion
in the first place. So there! |
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Ian S
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:48 pm Post subject:
Re: Opinions of a TT for wife? |
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"Kinetic" <kinetics@centurytel.net> wrote in message
news:mPmdnQvYv-n-V-benZ2dnUVZ_sCdnZ2d@centurytel.net...
| Quote: | Hi everyone. Don't see much posted about the Audi TT here. My wife has her
heart set on one for a daily driver. I'm concerned about crash protection
and maintenance. What year did they start selling the TT and is there any
years to be avoided?
Thanks in advance,
Robert
Consumer Reports has sufficient reliability data only for 2000, 2001, and |
2002 model years. Of those years, 2000 gets an overall rating of average
while 2001 and 2002 get below average ratings. There is a TT forum at
audiworld.com where you can search for more info.
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Dano58
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:59 pm Post subject:
Re: Opinions of a TT for wife? |
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Robert, not sure what you mean by 'crash protection'..... There are
plenty of airbags in the car, and knowing Audi, the structure is very
robust. And I know the convertible has pop-up rollbars behind the
seats. Of course, it IS a small car so in any major collision with an
18-wheeler, you know who will win. But then again, the point of these
cars is accident avoidance.
My concern with the coupe would be outward visibility. I would get a
convertible for my wife but not the coupe - she has trouble seeing out
of her minivan at times!
Dan D
'04 A4 1.8Tq MT-6
Central NJ USA |
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Hairy One Kenobi
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:12 am Post subject:
Re: Opinions of a TT for wife? |
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"Dano58" <dan.dibiase@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132235955.190035.276870@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | Robert, not sure what you mean by 'crash protection'..... There are
plenty of airbags in the car, and knowing Audi, the structure is very
robust. And I know the convertible has pop-up rollbars behind the
seats. Of course, it IS a small car so in any major collision with an
18-wheeler, you know who will win. But then again, the point of these
cars is accident avoidance.
My concern with the coupe would be outward visibility. I would get a
convertible for my wife but not the coupe - she has trouble seeing out
of her minivan at times!
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The bars are actually fixed in position.
The cars themselves are very robust - ScoTTy on the UK TT Forum had a
high-speed "oops" on the Ring a few years back - the car looked a mess at
the end of it, but he walked away uninjured.
H1K |
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