Vegas-roadster

I always look at the BMW 3 series before I buy another TT. So here is my historical perception of BMW over the past decade. The Z series is an overpriced under-performing car compared to almost any TT. The 3 series has been a "car of the year" for most publications in the 4 seat coupe/cabrio category. A great handling car that is fun to drive. However, recently the car has become bigger and much less engaging to drive. Its price was in the same range as the TT.

The 1 series was offered as entry level BMW to cultivate new customers. My son bought a 2011 128 cabrio 6 months ago with 11K miles on the ticker for $25K. It's a nice looking daily driver but doesn't come close to the performance of my 2011 Mk 2 roadster. In 2011, the MSRP of my son's car was about $34K versus about $44K for mine.

Most expert reviewers say the new 2 series replaces the 3 series as the best bang for the buck in driving experience in the BMW line-up. True, the 1 series stopped when the 2 series appeared, but the 2 is a bigger and much better performing car, again according to experts. More comparable to the 3 of old rather than the outgoing 1. I have not driven any of the 2 series yet.

When the Mk 3 rumors were swirling, I was hoping that the Mk 3 would look like a mini R8 as opposed to a refinement of the Mk 2. So from a styling perspective, I see little incentive to trade in my perfectly good Mk 2. Then I look at the engine for the Mk 3 and it looks virtually identical to the 2011+ TT engine. Audi purposely under-speced the 2011 engine so as to not pirate sales from the TTS. Yeah the TTS was a significantly better performing car but the 2011 engine narrowed the gap substantially. The Mk 3 engine may have a few minor tweaks but its 0-60 times are identical to the 2011 Mk 2 and the 2011 weighs a bit more! So from an engine perspective, I'll stay with my Mk 2 for a while. So the only incentive left for me to trade is better handling and the virtual dash. Professional reviewers say the Mk 3 is much better handling than the Mk 2, but that and the dash is not enough for me to consider buying a base Mk 3 TT immediately.

I was really excited about the new TTS however. That excitement was diminished a bit when they de-tuned the USA engine down to 290 HP. Then I was totally bummed when there was "radio silence" about Audi USA ever selling a TTS roadster. There has been nothing, nada, from Audi regarding the Mk 3 TTS roadster. But if it were offered, I'd have to seriously look at the M235 whose 0-60 numbers are faster than the TTS and whose MSRP, equipped as I would want it, is about $5K less than a TTS. Similarly, the 228 has performance numbers comparable to the base TT and again the BMW has a $5k price advantage.

Finally, if Audi ever offered an S3 cabrio I'd have to look at it too. Based on pricing of the S3 sedan as compared to the A3, I'm estimating that the S3 cabrio would be nearly identical to the Mk 3 base TT roadster price but nearly a second faster 0-60. The trade-off would be more power for the S3 versus better handling for the TT.

visuar

I was also puzzled with the de-tuned engines for US, which impacts the TTS the most, but seems to be true for TT as well (227 vs 220).

Word from high up in Audi US is that there will not be a TTS Roadster coming to the US anytime soon. It was indicated that would likely not happen for MY2017 either.

Of course they can always change their mind....

Biggest problem I think is cost to get it certified on the roads here vs low volume TTS Roadsters they'll probably sell. But I can't help but think they would sell a lot more of em (coupe or roadster) if they were sitting in dealer lots and people could try them out. I've never once seen a new TT of any kind at my dealership whenever I was there.