Lone Starr (Ivan)

I wanted to wait until I had a real sense of the car, had tried some familiar off-ramps and roads to compare Mark I and II.

I can boil it down to this, to save you time...

If you love the go-cart handling, if you love the bumpiness of the Mark I ride and if you will NEVER go above 100 miles per hour in your TT, stick with the Mark I. Also, if you will go over 100 miles per hour and are a WELL-TRAINED driver with multiple driving schools under your belt and can handle the car at its limits due to real experience, stick with the Mark I.

If you find the ride to be too harsh and too sporty and would like more luxury in your TT's ride, go for the Mark II. Also, if you want early warning when the car is reaching the limits of handling and traction, get the Mark II.

There's the short of it, here's more...

Body roll is increased. Understeer is increased. The "Whee!" feeling of going through turns at full throttle is decreased.

Based on my 1 year of experience on this forum, I think that most of you will never see the track. If your TT is your daily driver, you will appreciate the ride of the Mark II, especially if it is a long commute and/or contains bumpy roads.

Is the difference immediately noticeable? I will have to paraphrase Brad Willis and say "Yes." Is the TT no longer fun to drive? No. Is the TT "castrated" as Larry puts it? Hell no. It's still a sporty car. I imagine it is still very customizable, and based on having driven one TT with H&R springs, those will still make a big difference. The Mark II just needs it more than the Mark I.

Do I regret my choice? No way. No reason to regret something I decided after long and hard consideration. I still enjoy the car, and I will continue to. Any TT I buy in the future will have this suspension or some newer version of it, unless I spring for a TTS, which I probably won't unless my financial fortunes go through the roof. I am guessing that car will be $55,000.

I will take her out to the track. I look forward to it. I feel like I need to relearn the dynamics of the car in a track situation. I ain't going to relearn the car in a traffic-laden daily commute like I can on the track.

As far as letting the driver know where the limits are better than Mark I, I have to say that Audi succeeded at that.

Direct comparisons of handling (range is go-cart to "Toyota Avalon-like") to other cars I have driven:

1993 Toyota Paseo: 100% better
1995 Lexus SC400: 60% better
E36 BMW M3: 20% better
1999 Mustang Cobra: 120% better
1980 Porsche 911: 25% worse
1999 MB SLK 230: 40% better
2000 Volvo C70 Convertible: 60% better
Mark I TTFWD: 20% worse
Mark I TTQ, H&R Springs: 30% worse
1999 Lexus RX300: Just kidding

That's all I can think of right now. I LOVE the look of the spoiler, and I felt it work, I swear at about 105mph. Or maybe it was the stiffer rear shock that kept the rear end down.

Humbly submitted for your consideration...<p>Ivan
<i>Jacksonville, Florida<i>
<img SRC="http://www.geocities.com/y2ktturbo/tinytt.jpg" BORDER=0>
"Zorro" 2000MY, 180hp, Fronttrak, Silver/Ebony, MKII suspension, spoilTT
K&N, Garmin EMap GPS, Audi "mask", Cobra R/D

EighTT

"If your TT is your daily driver, you will appreciate the ride of the Mark II, especially if it is a long commute and/or contains bumpy roads." My round-trip drive is about 70 miles or so, and I really miss my Mark I suspension. The only time I'm really digging the Mark II is at REALLY high speeds (never over the speed limit, of course).

So you and I will both enjoy our Mark II suspensions. And I'll bet we both buy coilovers, or the like, at some future date.<p><img src="http://home.san.rr.com/winefinds/1.jpg" border="0">

<B>Brad Willis</B>

<FONT COLOR="#FF6600">2001 225q TT Roadster
No Borla
No Garrett
No Stickers</FONT>

<A HREF="http://home.san.rr.com/winefinds">SoCal Audi TT Club</A>

evan

<p><A HREF="mailto:evan@evan.com"><IMG SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/EVAN_RING_SIG.gif" BORDER="0"></A>

BZ

<p><a href="http://www.auditt.org"><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/bz_sig_1.jpg" border="0">
AudiTT.org</a>

Lone Starr (Ivan)

<p>Ivan
<i>Jacksonville, Florida<i>
<img SRC="http://www.geocities.com/y2ktturbo/tinytt.jpg" BORDER=0>
"Zorro" 2000MY, 180hp, Fronttrak, Silver/Ebony, MKII suspension, spoilTT
K&N, Garmin EMap GPS, Audi "mask", Cobra R/D

BZ

<p><a href="http://www.auditt.org"><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/bz_sig_1.jpg" border="0">
AudiTT.org</a><ul><li><a href="http://www.auditt.org/faq/959912542">What is the Mark II suspension going to feel like?</a></li></ul>

jdan

Thanks and thanks to Brad for his also.

NexxTT

Thanks, Ivan - great perspective!!!

jgriff

<p>jgriff,atlanta

Episport

The Mark II handles better than an M3? I find this hard to believe. Then again, never driven an M3, just going on the reputation.

Regards,
Stephen