Why do we continue to lust after the Volkswagen Scirocco when the Audi TT exists? They’re similar cars, with a similar shape and if the two were to be sold in North America, their pricepoints wouldn’t be terrible far off one another. The answer is simple – because we must fetishize every vehicle that doesn’t make it to our shores are a priori superior to whatever dull crap is being gobbled up by Americans. Except that the TT has just leapfrogged the Scirocco, and it will be coming to North America.
Based on the MQB architecture, the newest TT will use the same 2.0T motor as the Volkswagen GTI. The base model will come with 230 horsepower and 271 lb-ft of torque. Though it will come in front-wheel drive (all-wheel drive is optional), the base TT will weigh roughly 2,700 lbs, or as much as a Scion FR-S, thanks to the weight savings of MQB. A hotter TTS with 310 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque and gets standard all-wheel drive. Audi is even claiming fuel consumption of 34 mpg (likely highway, though they didn’t specify) for the base car. Suddenly, the Scirocco doesn’t seem so enticing anymore.
well i always thought that there would be a difference in price points with the scirocco being much more affordable. silly me.
could both of these be fun all day? yes. but so can the gti which i’ll bet is made on the same mqb platform – and cheaper to boot.
Your thoughts are correct, there is a difference in price points. A base current year FWD TT in Britain is over 20% more than a base Scirocco, ie; if a Scirocco were to cost $ 30k here, the TT would be over $ 36k.
I don’t buy the story’s argument at all.
Quite right.
The video game instrument cluster is a shame, I was hoping Audi was going to buck this trend and keep their real dials. Audi had some of the best gauges in the business, this looks basically the same as Jag’s LCD cluster.
You’d think the buyers of a roadster like this would prefer an old-school analog cluster instead of gimmicks. The rest of the car seems geared that way. Roadsters are usually no-frills cars.
Does this new TT still use a Haldex for AWD or did they get Audi’s Quattro finally?
MQB probably means Haldex. I can’t imagine Audi would want to develop a transverse quattro setup for one low volume car.
Not digging the new grille. It’s too flashy, almost dare I say American.
$10,000 to $20,000 less for scirocco keeps it from being obsolete. And a lot of VW buyers think Audi drivers are tools.
Not to mention that you can butch it up as much as you want, but the TT still looks like a roided out beetle and suffers from Girly-Car-Syndrome (at least to those of us who are around 30.)
Poor TT/MX-5/Boxster/SLK. Truly the Bitch-Baskets of the ’00s.
Yeah, I thought maybe Audi would stay away from the chick/beetle look with the new model.
Who cares what anybody thinks about one’s ride? Ideally, we could have them both…especially since they’re two different body-styles.
The kinds of people who the kinds of people who buy these kinds of cars buy these cars to impress?
Why, oh why, didn’t they make it look like this?
http://0.tqn.com/d/cars/1/0/m/6/2/audi_etron_detroit2.jpg
They needed to ditch the round flares and give the car a bit more edge. I am actually very tempted by it because I like the specs and the interior, but the outside is just too round.
I’m sorta over the TT’s design. It hasn’t evolved much since the initial restyle in 06 or whenever. It just looks kinda boring now.
However, seat heater controls inside the vent!? Cool!
Derek – the TT and Sirroco are at different price points about $10k apart. The Sirroco was supposed to be the peoples coupe while the original TT with its Bauhausian design was anything but. The question should be: Who wants a $40-$50K Golf R20 coupe with an Audi badge?
As best as I can tell, the 2015 Golf R, the Audi S3 and the Audi TT-S will essentially be the same vehicles. Same platform, same engine, and same transmissions/AWD systems. HP and torque should be pretty much identical for the Golf R and S3 (and probably close in weight as well), while the TT-S will be nominally more powerful and well as nominally lighter.
So if you want a 4-door hatchback, you get the R. Want a premium name and a sedan, the S3. Same upmarket name in coupe form? TT-S. And pricing? Expect $35-40K for the R; $40-50K for the S3; and $50-60K for the TT-S. I don’t see any room in this structure for the Scirroco.
Not disagreeing with you that the Sirroco makes no sense for the US. My problem is with the article’s assertion that the Audi TT is somehow a replacement for the Sirroco. As you said, the existence of the Golf GTI/R20 leave little room for the Sirroco but that is in no way related to the TT.
I’m probably the only car guy that would take an S3 over the TT or the Scirrocco, if not I’d take its cousin Golf R.
Though I really must ask what gives the base TT a 20hp-30hp edge above the GTiJettaBeetles? It is the same engine, I guess the TT bigger tacky grille?
No, you’re not alone at all. While a S3 hatchback would be at the top of my list, I did see the S3 sedan a few weeks back and it looked spectacular.
The TT and it’s derivatives just don’t do it for me–the Scirrocco’s lines are just so much better. All three TT generations somehow manage to look both feminine AND unsexy, making for terminally unappealing cars. I’ve even run into a few current gen TT-RS, and as cool as the machinery underneath is, I just couldn’t feel any enthusiasm for it.
The S3 sedans one of the few hatch-gone-sedans that looks good to me, I’d take it over the Jetta if it meant proper hood hinges or whatever to hold it up.
I should note that the A3S3 are simply TTs but with more practical bodies, think of them as literally up-scaled VWs.
I’m not the biggest TT fan due to it trying to hide its unsporty under-pinnings with a sporty exterior and shape, its not unlike a modern Karmann Ghia. The original concept looked nice, but the shape doesn’t loan itself to very good aerodynamics at higher speeds.
Then again, all of these cars sort of bug me since they’re largely clones of one another, thus much redundancy in VWAudiss line-up.
I can’t speak for the present versions of the cars, but when I had a Scirocco {75}, I could fit two people in the back. When I had a TT {2000}, I could not fit anyone in the rear seats. I know that the current TT was stretched a few inches over the original, but I believe that it is really still a 2+2. Of course, in the seventies, I was transporting college age folk, and now I am squeezing in people of a slightly older vintage. I switched to an A5 primarily to gain usable back seats for those few times a year when I need them.
The Scirocco is a shooting brake design, the TT is roadster/coupe. The Golf is a true hatch. The way I see it the Golf and Scirocco are much closer cousins then TT. As mentioned above the comparison is really more of “how many people fit in this thing”. As such the TT has a limited audience. The Scirroco has the space but with only two doors you have to squeeze in the back. The Golf since its available in 2 or 4 doors it really the winner here as you can have you cake and eat it too. Disclaimer: my brother has a 4 door Golf R, its pretty bad azz.
The TT *has* rear seats? I didn’t know that…
I know I am not alone in thinking that Audi just didn’t do enough with the design of the new TT, particularly after Jag has released the F-Type. Looks to me like Audi might be targeting the markets under those where Porsche and Jag will do battle.
Let’s say a TT-S with AWD standard starts around $50K with a manual. That could end up being a 2900 lb car with 310 hp and 280 lb/ft of torque for 555-60K out the door or on average, over $10,000 less than a Porsche Cayman S for similar performance.
You know you’re not alone, because I said it already.
Very true. Can’t see not being “underwhelmed” by this redesign effort
Can’t get the V6 in it anymore? My wifes ’05 had the 3.2 V6. That was a fun car to drive.
VAG has upgraded the 2.0T series to the point that the 3.2 just wasn’t relevant in the smaller cars. Slightly less power, but I’m certain less weight and better efficiency. The 3.2 gradually disappeared from the CC, A3, A4, A5, A6, Q5 and probably few others I’m not thinking of. The only 3.2 powered car I’ve driven was an A6, but I wasn’t all that impressed.
I test drove one with the turbo 4 before she leased hers. The sound alone was reason to get the V6. It was such a different car with the V6, Dr Jerkyll and Mr Hyde. Even if it wasn’t much faster, it was a lot more fun to drive than the turbo 4. She has that in her new A4, boring!
When are they going to put the engine in the right place (behind the front seats)? Until they do that I don’t get why anyone would get this over the cheaper, infinitely more practical and likely not much slower or worse to drive Golf R. This thing is pure profit.
Is it “Attack Derek” Day? Can you guys warn me in advance next time, I’d have bought a card at Hallmark.
The sad part is that you almost know how the review will go. Golf R? Too expensive for a Golf. Besides, when the GTI is such a great car, why spend the extra dollars for an R???
Audi TT. Styling remains hum drum, a true sports car is not built on a FWD platform, too much weight up front, and 300 hp is weak for a $50,000 car unless “Porsche” is on the name plate. Interesting dash design, but no substitute for performance.
S3, the right mix of prestige, power and interior/exterior design.
Of course looks are subjective but basically the tt has a strong rounded and feminine look to it while the roco is a bit more angular. Why do you think the tt has a reputation as hair dresser’s car. I see mostly oder middle aged women driving them. Seems audi is trying to force a square peg into a round hole.
“Why do we continue to lust after the Volkswagen Scirocco when the Audi TT exists?”
Pricepoint ~5k less for equivalent drivetrain, and the most unique/beautiful body to be had outside of Italy.
Sure, there is the forbidden fruit aspect, no accounting for taste, etc. But TT is derivative and expensive, particularly compared to the Scirocco in the flesh.
I’ll say it again: A company that wants to be taken seriously in USA needs to sell its best products in USA. No Scirocco feels like a snub. (Like I was going to buy any VW — ha, ha, ha…!)
There must be a design school out there which is telling students to redesign vehicles by changing every part, but not really making any change obvious. Audi and Chevy truck have hired them all…….