\u00a0But with the engine amidships, the Porsche lacks the front-engine TT\u2019s hatchback roominess \u2014 not to mention its all-wheel drive dexterity. Throw in the RS (for rocket ship) 5-cylinder mill and the TT RS is a compelling alternative for a similar $60,000. For the more aesthetically minded, the hatch also makes the base TT compelling against a similarly priced \u2014 if very boxy \u2014\u00a0
all-wheel drive Golf R hatch<\/a>.<\/div>\nBy week\u2019s end the weather gods gave us a brief thaw between deep freezes. The respite let me do a couple of zero-60 launch control runs in the TT RS just like my buddies enjoyed in Lime Rock: the seven-speed tranny barked off shifts, the 5-holer screaming like a possessed buzz-saw to 7,000 rpms.<\/p>\n
Happy at zero degrees or zero-60 launches: That\u2019s all-wheel drive bandwidth. When I shut down my salt-caked Audi TT it would make a signature, heartbeat chime: BUM-BUM.<\/p>\n
An echo of my racing heartbeat.<\/p>\n
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch \u201cCar Radio with Henry Payne\u201d from noon-1 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.<\/p>\n
2018 Audi TT RS<\/strong><\/p>\nVehicle type:<\/strong>\u00a0Front-engine, all-wheel drive, two-passenger (honestly) sports car<\/p>\nPrice:<\/strong>\u00a0$65,875<\/p>\nPower plant:<\/strong>\u00a02.5-liter, turbocharged, 5-cylinder<\/p>\nPower:<\/strong>\u00a0250 horsepower, 295 pound-feet of torque<\/p>\nTransmission:<\/strong>\u00a07-speed, dual-clutch automatic<\/p>\nPerformance:<\/strong>\u00a00-60 mph, 3.6 seconds (mftr); top speed, 155 mph\/optional 174 mph<\/p>\nWeight:<\/strong>\u00a03,306 pounds<\/p>\nFuel economy:<\/strong>\u00a0EPA 19 mpg city\/29 mpg highway\/22 mpg combined<\/p>\nReport card<\/strong><\/p>\nHighs:<\/strong>\u00a0All-season athlete; dashboard re-imagined<\/p>\nLows:<\/strong>\u00a0Back seat is more storage than seat; frankly, a $20,000-cheaper TT is just fine, thank you<\/p>\nOverall:<\/strong>\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I couldn\u2019t make it to the Audi TT RS media test at Lime Rock race track last summer, I was bummed. I read report after report about the nimble TT\u2019s raspy five-banger at full throttle around the challenging Connecticut race track. \u201cIt\u2019s an easy little car to toss and place with precision,\u201d wrote Car […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21843"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21844,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21843\/revisions\/21844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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