2012 Audi TT RS: First Drive Page 3

By Bengt Halvorson

Bengt Halvorson

Deputy Editor BIO

Bengt Halvorson is Deputy Editor of High Gear Media's portfolio of car sites, overseeing the production of reviews, evaluating vehicles firsthand... More

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2012 Audi TT RS

Audi is bringing the TT RS to the U.S. market on a very limited run for model-years 2012 and 2013; so far it’s sold out for the smaller run of 200 to be delivered by the end of this year, then the company expects to make no more than U.S. 1,000 RSs in all.

For an entry price of less than $60k, the TT RS includes all the comforts and features you’d expect—including Bluetooth and automatic climate control—and it adds a lap timer, power sport seats covered in a choice of Silk Nappa leather or Alcantara, and a host of special trims and showy wheel possibilities. Exterior colors are limited to eight different shades of black, grey, silver, red, white, and blue, with three different wheel finishes.

Order up a Tech Package, and you’ll get Audi’s MMI Navigation, upgraded Bose sound, rear parking sensors, adaptive headlights, and ambient LED lighting. Separately, heated seats, carbon-fiber folding mirrors, ‘aluminum optic’ exterior trim, a sport exhaust, and gloss-black wheels are among the standalone options. You can also opt to delete the larger rear wing and instead get the power-retractable spoiler that’s offered on the rest of the TT line.

Probably not a daily driver

Before you ante up, just be aware that this might not be the sort of vehicle you should buy as a daily driver, or as a vehicle that you intend to use to cover vast distances. Although the magnetic ride control system makes the ride tolerable and not nearly as busy as you might expect given the TT RS’s high-performance nature, the RS’s cabin hums with road coarseness—on expressways especially—and lets you know vocally of every little irregularity, even if you don’t feel it. And on that matter, we recommend the Bose premium sound, as the unimpressive sound coming from the base sound system barely passes muster.

Bottom line: If you like tail-out driving and glorious four-wheel drifts, then by all means get that Mustang Boss, M3, or older Porsche 911. But a certain type of enthusiast will love how surefooted, all-around athletic, and stunningly quick the TT RS feels. We’re among them.