ourlee

I shopped for a GTI/R/TT/TTS for 5 months. My advice is Cars.com. Only difference between 16 and 17s is no CarPlay on 16s. HAVE FUN!!
I bought a 17 CPO TT for $37k with 8000 miles. Yesterday I bought an AWE downpipe and used TTS brakes. Mid December I’m driving to Excelerate for MSS springs and I’ll probably buy the JB4 from the same guy who sold me the brakes.
To give you a head start, there’s a spotless red TTS at Warwick Audi in RI for sub 40k. Ask for Louis, the great guy who sold me my TT.
Things to consider:
I’m 6’1 225 and don’t fit in the sport seats, TTS only have these seats.
The B&O is a must have.
All stock wheels are super heavy, don’t fall in love with them, swap them.
There’s debate over the TTS suspension being too stiff even in comfort.
Voiding your warranty is crazy talk if you’re talking about “saving up” and affordable payments, my opinion is don’t F with the ECU.
20” TTS wheels will be a disaster in Chicago (lived in Glenview for a few years) and nothing neuters a fun car like Chicago’s boring flat straight roads. DDing my tuned Miata in Illinois was misery. TTS may be an overkill light to light monster.
Can’t wait to see what you get!
Rick

ourlee

If you tune your ECU, you’ll void your warranty. There’s no way around it. There’s a ton of info on vwvortex.com. You can learn lots about the TTS platform by reading the Mk7 Golf R section.

-Yeti-

Hey thanks for the thoughtful response! I'm technically in NWI, but to anyone not from the area saying I'm from Chicago gives a good idea. That being said, our roads are ****. There's a good chance that i'll be moving to the Indianapolis area before i get the car for work. Not sure what the roads are like there but i would manage. I have an end goal to be in Arizona, just don't want to make that move first (want to get married and semi established before we swing across the country.)

I'd take that deal you got any day and i've heard similar things about the TTS suspension being extremely stiff. As far as seats go, i'm 6'2'' but very athletically built (mountain biker/casual weight lifter) so i think the seats will hug me well.

I initially was going to get a new R next spring or whenever the facelift hits the states, but figured for $41k i might as well save a bit more and get a CPO TT or TTS and not take as much of the initial depreciation hit. I'm just worried that because the TT is essentially the same car and engine as the GTI, i'll be left wanting more and wishing i would have went TTS or Golf R.

ourlee

You’re the only Gary IN resident I know who can afford a TTS. Good work

-Yeti-

Hey i said NWI, not Gary! If i were to buy a house in Gary i'd be working on getting a TTRS!

ourlee

Vegas-roadster

Even flashes that enable you to return to stock mode are now detectable by Audi and will void the warranty if they feel like voiding it. However, everything I have read about Race Chip is that it is not detectable since it is a "piggyback" system that gets added between several motor connectors to modify the ECU-generated signals. You remove the system (about 15 minutes) and there is no trace of a tune.

That said, major engine warranty work has been very rare on any TT since I've been following multiple TT boards beginning in 2001. The most common engine warranty issue is coil pack replacement which are not that expensive. There were frequent emissions control sensor issues circa 2000-2001 models but my last 2 (2004 and 2011) have been trouble free in that area.

ourlee

Wow, didn’t know Race chip was a piggyback. Should be good to go

-Yeti-

Also check out the JB4 from BurgerMotorSports. Not sure if its compatible with the TT system, but i would assume it is as its the same engine as the GTI/R. Its a piggy back system as well and is extremely customizable.

Huey52

Yes, it is compatible. See related Audizine threads. Page 3 and on: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...os-black/page3