To the mods: please place this thread into the Hi-res Hideout, thanks in anticipation
Audi TT RS: rebirth of the legendary "Urquattro" ?
Presented at the Geneva Motor Show in the Swiss on March 2009 Audi revealed the fastest and most powerful division of the TT (8J).
The TT RS features a turbocharged 2.5 liter inline 5-cylinder FSI developing 250 kW (340 PS) @ 5400–6500 rpm and 450 Nm of torque @ 1600–5300 rpm. The power is transmissed either with a 6-speed manual or a later available 7-speed double-clutch semi-automatic (since 2010). Like it is typical for an RS the new car features allwheeldrive . An electronic differential lock (called EDS) makes sure that the TT RS manages corners with minimal speed loss. New two-piece cross-drilled and radially vented front discs, sized at 370 millimetres (14.6 in) in diameter stop the 1 and a half ton 2+2 seat Coupe (2-seat Roadster) with a maximum of negative accelaration.
The Audi (8J) TT RS quattro needs only 4.6 (4.7 Roadster) seconds to reach 100 km/h (62.1 mph) and is electronical limited to 250 km/h (155.3 mph). There is an option to open up the limiter to reach 280 km/h (174 mph).
The TT RS is the first Audi in the RS range since the Porsche co-developed B4 RS 2 from 1993 not featuring a widebody. Built by the quattro GmbH in Neckarsulm it shares the production with the C6 RS 6 sedan and Avant and the brandnew B8 RS 5 coupe.
The body features a ground effects kit with custom front- and rear-fascia, side-sills and a 2-point fixed body-coloured rearwing. The frontspoilerlip, reardiffusor and pillars of the 2-piece rearspoiler can be painted either in bodycolour or be made of matte aluminium. The singleframe-grill features Audi RS-typical honeycomb-mesh and no filler panel like the C6 RS 6. Like the TTS the RS also features bi-xenon headlights with a daytime running LED-string. A trim package with black eloxed details (singleframe, reardiffusor etc.) can be ordered optional.
The interior comes with heated Alcantara/leather sports seats (Silk Nappa, Fine Nappa leather optional) or Recaro bucket-seats with RS-stitches on the rest. White stitches on all leathered parts, wholed leather around steeringwheel, gearknob and handbrakelever. The RS-logo can also be found as badges on several spots of interior/exterior.
Rims are available in 5 different designes from 18" till 20" diameter and can be also partly powder-coated with different finishes.
Audi also offers the so called magnetic ride system. It uses metal flakes inside the dampenig oil which change position and direction while beeing controlled over electromagnets. The system tweaks suspension from comfort until race-track stiffness within milliseconds and has been introduced at launch of the 8J TT generation.
The fixed rearwing can be optional replaced with a retractable one known from the lower spec 8J TTs.
Many people think the TT RS can be regarded as the successor of the legendary type 85q 80 Coupe quattro 20v which was the first street-legal allwheeldrive Audi ever built in the early 1980s since both cars feature a transversally mounted turbocharged 5-cylinder frontengine. But when you know that the TT doesn't have any predessessors except the 8N TT and it is just a 2+2-seater instead of a full-duty 4-seater the mystery of a rebirth begins to fade.
Since 1995 when the 89q B4 Coupe (S2) left the markets it took Audi 13 years to launch a midclass coupe again. The B8 A5 (S5) is - considering size, bodystyle and even design - much closer to the so called Urquattro than the TT RS will ever be. And if you think about the sportquattro, well even with a not shortened wheelbase and a V8 instead of a turbocharged inline 5, successor could be called the new RS 5 but never the current TT RS.
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