I had my TT to Sonnen in Marin for their evening service yesterday to fix the signal flasher relay that was not working. MKK works in Marin, so I asked her to stop at the end of her work day to see if I needed a ride home. Of course there was another purpose--I wanted her to see the silver 3.2TT coupe' that Sonnen has received. I was pleasantly surprised at her design critique. She caught all the things I find wrong without any coaching from me. Her comments:
1) The bigger spoiler with the black edge is butt ugly. The 2000 TT had such a cute butt. Then they wrecked it with the spoler. Now they made it worse with the big ugly spoiler.
2) The wheels with the exposed lug nuts are wrong. They have the funny bump at the end of the spoke and the TT looks better with the Audi caps in the center that cover the nuts.
3) The gills at the side of the front spoiler are goofy. It is a car, not a fish. The original TT was so smooth, now they mess with stuff just like Detroit used to do. Why doesn't Audi leave the good design alone?
4) The battery is in the back and there is no spare tire. That's dumb. What are you supposed to do if you get a flat?
5) Why did they put that ugly black thing on the back down by the exhaust pipes. It looks funny and plasitic fake.

There you have it folks. I tried to interest her in trading for a 3.2TT with the DSG on the pretext that she could drive it too because it is an automatic, but she won't go for trading my pretty TT for an ugly revision. What did she like? She said an A4 with the sport option would be OK provided that I got it in the nice metallic beige color with beige leather upholstery and automatic and the V6. But she did not like the fin above the back window for the satellite radio, so don't get that option.

I love her all the time, but it is especially sweet and poetic when she is right...

 

To each their own. Would I rather have a beige A4 Sport, with or without the ugly shark fin? No way in hell. Two entirely different cars. And when she was commenting about the gills, did you inform her about RS4's having had that as well, or would either of you rather not have an RS4 if given the chance?

I think it's only natural that the higher the status in the lineup of a car line, the more agressive it should look and/or perform. I'm sure there are plenty of women out there that don't like the looks of 911 Turbos, but I doubt if Turbo owners lose any sleep over it.

 

I'd have to disagree with that.
If the look is there for a purpose I can understand it more, but if at all possible I personally prefer a more understated approach.

And that is all subjective of course.

I haven't spent much time around a 3.2 in person so I dont have much to say about it other than the DSG and engine peak my interest.

I really would have preferred not to have the surprise spoiler that came with mine when I picked it up. I'd rather have it retractable if any at all. Perhaps down the road I'll change it back to what I had wanted.

 

Actually she is quite correct in her critique of the design modifications.

There is no plan to purchase an A4 as a replacement for the TT. She might accept an A4 as her own car at some point in the future. Years ago she had an Audi 5000T sedan and she really liked that car. She does not expect me to want one because she knows I really prefer the TT.

I do plan to trade my TT for another one before Audi puts the ugly Novulari nose on the 2006 model. However, I don't mind shifting, and even though the 3.2TT with DSG is interesting, I prefer the external appearance of the model I have now, so if I do trade it will probably be for a 2004 or 2005 225TTQC model.

 

But then beauty in all its forms is subjective to everyone's interpretation. We all own one version of this work of art for our own reasons. I always get a kick out of seeing someone else in a TT on the freeway - you know that there's a little something special there. See ya on the 101.