We’ve been hard on the poor Audi TT. ‘Too like the old one,’ we whinged. ‘Not original enough,’ we bitched. ‘Not enough fun to drive,’ we howled. We were right, of course, because we expect a lot from our premium coupés and in many ways the TT didn’t live up to our expectations. In convertible form, however, things are very different. For a start, I couldn’t care less which wheels drive the car and whether or not it darts around the place like a spooked hare.
Convertibles, particularly premium cabrios, are all about image and sex appeal. All I’m concerned with as I slink through town in my convertible TT is how good it makes me look and how many envious/ admiring looks I attract. With a few hours of picking the car up I had already lost count of the amount of sideways glances I’ve clocked and I’ve also been amazed to see many people openly studying the TT Roadster’s delightful form as it rolls by. The BMW Z4, Nissan 350Z and Mercedes SLK might all be better driver’s cars than the Audi TT Roadster but none look as effortlessly stylish nor as achingly adorable. Not even close, in fact. So what is it about the TT that makes it so delectable? Where do I begin? Whereas the Coupe’s steeply raked roofline doesn’t quite gel with the car’s rounded ends, the Roadster’s elegant roof is shorter, rounder and taller than the Coupe’s and suits the TT’s squat bodywork better.
The TT is better proportioned in Roadster form, considerably less mundane when viewed from the rear and a perfectly cohesive piece of design regardless of whether the roof is up or down. You sense that the TT was designed to be a Roadster first and then the roof was added on later.
One body style always tends to lead the other and it’s obvious which the designers favoured here. A surprising upshot of the Roadster’s roof design is that it’s a lot easier to get in and out of with a big, round opening replacing the narrow, sharply-tapered aperture of the TT Coupe. Because the roofline is taller the cabin is a lot less oppressive, too, but it’s only when you drop the roof do you appreciate the excellence of the TT’s cabin design – it’s ergonomically flawless and oozes quality from every orifice. Delightful touches abound, like the super-quick, one-touch roof operation and the electronically retractable wind-deflector, but there are a few questionable details as well. Why, for example, is the deflector made from mesh material instead of perspex and why didn’t Audi bother to engineer the handbrake for RHD, thereby depriving us an armrest? Small points of contention, perhaps, but irksome ones nonetheless. Our TT was powered by the Golf GTi’s excellent 2.0-litre turbo engine, and while we expected it to feel quick (0-100km/h takes just 6.7 second) we didn’t expect it to feel as urgent as it did.
A quick glance at the stats reveals that the Roadster is actually reasonably light at 1,300kg, which helps to explain why it’s such a willing performer. It also seems to be riding on softer springs so it handles better than the too-stiff Coupe, too. No, it’s not going to worry Nissan 350Z Roadsters, but the TT Roadster is nonetheless engaging and curiously sure-footed in a way the Coupe can’t match. It could just be we weren’t trying as hard, I guess. The TT is such a perfectly executed convertible that you soon forget about carving up the road ahead and concentrate instead on enjoying the journey.
Audi has a curious knack for making ordinary cars into great convertibles and with the TT it has struck gold once again. We may have been tough on the TT Coupe but with the TT Roadster we’re feeling a lot more lenient. It’s quick, it’s pretty and it’s fun in the sense that it bestows an inexplicable sense of well-being upon its owner even when it’s standing still. Best Roadster on the market, you ask? No, not in the new car sense of the phrase. Most desirable, though? You’d better believe it.
INFO
Audi Roadster TT 2.0 TFSI
Engine 2.0 litre 4-cylinder turbo, 200hp, 280Nm torque
Transmission 6-speed manual
Acceleration 0-100km/h 6.7 seconds
Top speed 237 km/h
Economy 7.8 litres/100 km CO2
Emissions 186 g/km
Weight 1,295 kg
Boot Capacity 250 litres
Base Price €54,340
Price as Tested €60,520 (est)
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