Mike Lansing

I was driving over a brow (at Dentons, Oulton Park, a racetrack in Cheshire, England), lining the car up on the right hand side of the track, and backed off. I would normally have waited till the car was settled in a straight line before braking hard for the more than 90 degree left-hander coming up, but my brakes were shot and I wanted to lose some speed.

When it went, it went very quickly - nearly caught it, but over corrected. No damage done and I just drove back onto the track.

The points I would like to make are:

A. This is not a fault of the car - merely a handling characteristic. On that day Rob Gravett - ex BTCC driver - drove my TT (225) for a few laps and was very impressed with its handling and adjustability.

B. It is driver error. Very similar situation to earlier 911s. Great car to drive if you can handle it!

C. The problem is NOT isolated to situations where you:
i) Brake hard - as Brad Willis has claimed - (I only lifted off)
ii) Are travelling over 100mph - as Brad Willis has claimed- (I was doing circa 80 mph)

D. Wish it had stronger pads - they go off after a few miles spirited driving on the road - let alone on a track.

Instead of making ill considered (IMHO) litigious threats to Audi, owners should put their efforts into driving the car well. I went to a track to find the car's limits - and that's just what I did!

Enjoy a great car and don't talk the values down and your blood pressures up.

Mike

John J. Szobocsan

Thanks for Refreshingly Honest Response on Handling! (nt)

Brad Willis

I do not believe that you have to drive over 100 mph or brake hard to experience "instability". I believe that there are 2 seperate issues:

1. The rear of the TT is light (approx 60/40 weight distribution). Add to this, relatively high upforce at its aft, and this combined with factor #2 below can create instability. Factor #1 mostly comes into play when driven at the very high speeds necessary to achieve the aft lift. In other words, the faster that you drive, the more factor #1 would be contributory. It would be most pronunced at speeds in excess of 100 mph.

2. The neutral tuning of the TT makes it difficult for drivers to know that they are "at the limit" of the TT's handling capabilities until they go beyond those limits. There are few cues that the car's limit is being approached, and once exceeded, an immediate and proper response is required.

Do you disagree with this?

garyc

Mike,
Thanks for you interjection of sanity. Interesting imputs. One question; how were the tyres at the end of the session? Cooked?

I plan to take mine to Donnington, Brands or J Palmer autodrome, but don't want to pay for a set of 225/40/18 F1s afterwards.

Enjoy your car.

Simon - UK

J Palmer autodrome uses TT for those driving sessions anyway, so you can save your own rubber.


Simon.

scott

But there have been what appear to be contradictions from your numerous postings: 'there is no 300bhp tt period' a few days before saying audi will spring a 6cyl car on us......
However, don't be put off. It's all fun. Isn't it?

garyc

You're right, but they are 180qs. We had a customer day there recently which unfortunately I missed. The punters said that TT felt a little sluggish. They loved the S4 though.

Mike

Brad,

I read earlier today your comment on 986.org - "This is normally not a problem unless the car is driven under unusual conditions at extremely high speeds (well over 100 mph)."

I'm just pointing out that in the right circumstances (e.g. driving over a brow), one would not need to travelling "well over 100mph", nor - as I have read elsewhere on many occasions -though maybe not attributable to you - do you need to brake hard. Or indeed at all.

I do not make these comments to be argumentative. Merely to debate. What frightens me is a bunch of fine upstanding Audi customers driving along thinking that they are somehow isolated from the laws of physics by simply adhereing to an "ABC Book of High Performance Car Control". It isn't as simple as "you're okay up to x mph".

Anyway, the points you made in your last post, Brad, are, of course, flawless in their insight and reasoning.

You say: " The neutral tuning of the TT makes it difficult for drivers to know that they are "at the limit" of the TT's handling capabilities until they go beyond those limits." This is absolutely true but should not be interpretated as a criticism. Reducio ad absurdum - Its easy to tell when driving a London bus when it is near its handling capabilities, but this very symptom of blunt handling is why it is not enjoyable to drive fast; and the corollary is true - the sharp (even abrupt) handling of the TT is that very essence that makes the TT a great sports car - and not just a 'sporting' car.

Mike

Mike

Tyres not too bad at all - Did about 20 - 30 laps with minimal wear.

Brad Willis

A gentleman's dealer took a deposit for a 300 hp TT. As of now, this car does not exist, and Audi has not stated that it will ever be produced. So for a dealer to accept a deposit for such a car is entirely inappropriate. It would be no different than accepting a deposit for a V-12 TT.

That having been said, it is my opinion that a 6 cylinder TT will ultimately be offered. I think that Audi will "milk" their groundbreaking TT for all that it's worth. Assuming that some of the handling "concerns" can be addressed, it is likely, in my view, that a number of variations on the theme will be produced. I feel that this will include a more powerful TT in a year or two.

Hopefully you can see the difference between speculating that a car will probably be built, versus a dealer accepting a cash deposit for a "phantom" TT.