The 2018 Audi TT RS in Nardo Grey delivers supercar performance with a distinctive five-cylinder turbo sound and sharp handling. Its 400-plus horsepower with bolt-on mods makes it a bargain compared to actual supercars, though the styling divides opinion and the price tag is steep.
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The 2018 Audi TTRS. I've been looking forward to this one for a long time.
Everything is real. So hit me.
There's a lot to like about the Audi ttrs, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm biased because I'm in love with the color of this car. When I was a kid, I always wanted immersive in the shade of gray. Audi calls it Nardo grey and it's a really stunning color in person. But I can't get over the fact that Audi TTs have always looked like squished R8s. They're more cute than mean. At 165 inches, it's only half a foot longer than my Bart Spider, but somehow they managed to cram back seats over there. It's got all wheel drive, a dual clutch gearbox and a gnarly sounding five cylinder turbo. And yeah, it does sound pretty good. But this one's not stock either. Audis have always felt a bit clinical and the recent trend of forced induction has done away with the character in most modern sports cars. But man, this car sounds good in boost. It's unique in the same way my Triumph 675 sounds different than a typical Japanese sport bike. It can be a little raspy at times though, and the dual clutch gearbox makes it all very enjoyable. It's not Ferrari fast, But good enough for me. It's a big step up from both my Z06 and Abarth 124. Rumor has it though, that Audi underrates this engine from the factory. It makes the advertised 400 crank horsepower or 350 to the wheels on 91 octane. But throw some 93 in there and you'll see close to 370 wheel horsepower or a theoretical 420 to the crank. But underrating engines is something that German automakers have been doing for years now. This particular TT RS has a Unitronic Stage 2 tune and Catless downpipes. I don't have the exact figures, but I always take dyno numbers with a grain of salt. There's just way too many variables that can skew the outcome. But it should be making somewhere north of 520 brake horsepower. That's f king ridiculous. You know you're fast when you can break traction in second gear with all wheel drive. But I'm curious how it's stackable on my fast list. Maybe you can even make it to the 6130 board. Not today though. We still have a lot to cover. Previous Audi tts all looked very bubbly. And this one's no different. The front end is the only real redeeming part of the exterior. The battleship gray and black accents make it feel sort of like a baby R8. I would swap out these wheels, though you probably noticed by now that I keep comparing this car to the R8. That's because after Audi abandoned the V8 power plant, there was nothing to fill the void between the boring lineup of sedans and their fancy V10 supercar. I feel like this car might be the answer to that. There's definitely some attitude here. I have no doubt in my mind that this stage two car would outrun the eight cylinder R8. But what about stock for stock? Too bad. I'll probably never find out because I don't have any friends with R8s. So I normally don't do this kind of thing where I talk about the interior of a car. But I love it. It's elegant, yet simple enough to not distract me from the things I need to press like the start button and this go faster button. Everything I need is front and center here in the digital dashboard, including the navigation. The tachometer has two cluster styles and even though it's not as detailed as my Z06, it's more responsive. And the shift light setup actually works really well. The seats are great too. They're snug and they keep you tucked into the most demanding corners. I just like how driver centric it is in here. If I had to change something, it'd probably be these flappy paddles. They feel cheap, like they belong in a volkswage and they definitely don't inspire confidence when changing gears. Anyway, enough of me rambling. Let me just go drive this thing some more. So after a long weekend with the car, I'm sad to see it go. It's fast, luxurious and most of all, it's confident when pushed to the limit. I like everything about this car except for the way it looks, and that's kind of important. I probably would have bought one of these things if it were not for the price point. At almost 70 grand, you're in Cayman S Corvette grand sport territory and both those cars outperform the TTRs on the track and in the looks department. But the Audi does have all wheel drive and massive aftermarket potential. I guess it's almost an entry level supercar.
So hit me.
Jesus.
Hands tight, mouth shut, eyes wise. Baby I'm your. I said baby I'm yours.
