Audi S3 and Audi TT 2007 Review

Audi makes some wonderful large luxury vehicles.

It makes some even better large luxury performance cars.

Sadly absent from the Australian line-up since 2003, the S3 is back and it is, as Michael Jackson might say, b-a-d, bad. But that's a good bad, if you get my drift.

The S3 is on sale now from $65,500 with standard 18-inch wheels, quattro all-wheel drive, xenon headlights, sports suspension, sports seats and six airbags — front, side and curtain. That is slightly less than the exit price of the previous model.

You can increase that base price considerably with a range of options, including the full bucket seats at $6700 (and for that you lose the side airbags, reducing the count to four).

There is also the flat-bottomed steering wheel at $700, satellite navigation at $5300, two-tone leather for the basic seats ($400) and a sunroof ($1850).

“The S3 is not a car for everybody, it is one for the driving enthusiast,” Audi Australia managing director Joerg Hofmann says.

“It is a sports car for everyday driving and we expect to sell around 100 a year.”

There is nothing particularly mystical about the S3. It is a series of sensible, performance enhancements on VW's proven Golf GTi package that mesh together to provide a seriously fun whole.

The underpinnings of the car are the “standard” McPherson front end with a multi-link rear, a good splash of aluminium components to reduce unsprung weight, a 25mm lower ride height than the standard A3 and the firmer settings of the S-Sports suspension package.

Motivation is from the VW/Audi family's brilliant 2.0-litre direct injection turbo, which has been beefed with optimised injectors and an increase in turbo pressure of 0.3 bar up to 1.2 bar to give the little four V6 power of 188kW at 6000rpm and a cracking 330Nm of torque from 2500rpm through to 5000rpm. That may be 7kW and 20Nm down on the European tune for the engine, necessary according to Audi Australia because of durability issues in Australia's hot climate and 95 RON fuel, but it hardly diminishes the performance of the S3.

Keeping it all together and getting the drive to the road in a manner that allows a 5.9 second sprint from standstill to 100km/h and a limited top speed of 250km/h is Audi's quattro all-wheel drive.

The system utilises the electro-hydraulic Haldex clutch, modified for the S3, to distribute optimised drive through all corners.

The six-speed manual is a precise box with shortened throws and well-sorted ratios.

Ride quality is not plush but that is not what you would expect from this package. What the car does do is cling to corners like an obsessive octopus. The grip is something to behold and the envelope for forgiveness extreme.

That mechanical grip coupled to the array of electronic minders — stability and traction control, electronic limited slip differential, anti-lock brakes and brake assist — makes the S3 both exciting and secure.

Unlike many similar “hot” versions of mainstream cars the S3 does not announce its presence with wings, airdams and screaming badges. Some discreet badges, the purposeful stance and twin pipes are the limit of the car's boasting

Launching at the same time as the S3 is another of Audi's niche products, the Roadster version of the TT, which will arrive at $77,500 for the 2.0-litre turbo and $92,900 for the 3.2-Litre V6.

Not as focused as the S3, the ragtop TT is nonetheless a creature of some ability and considerably more overt presence.

One of the more sensible results of adding a folding roof to the TT is the absence of the two rear seats from the coupe.

Utilising the Audi spaceframe construction, the TT Roadster is a nicely balanced package with extensive use of aluminium to keep weight down. Audi says 58 per cent of the TT is aluminium with a bias to the front, while the heavier steel components are used in the rear of the car.

The result is a chassis 120 per cent torsionally stiffer than the previous model and 45 per cent lighter than an all-steel construction.

As much as it is a car for being seen in, the TT Roadster can hold its own in most equivalent company putting the 0-100km/h sprint behind in 6.5 seconds in the 2.0-litre FSi and an impressive 5.9 seconds with the V6 fired up.

All of that is with an automatic box because there is no manual option available. Not that there is anything wrong with the six-speed S-Tronic (read double clutch DSG) box.

The test car benefited from the addition of the optional ($3000) active magnetic ride dampers.

In essence the dampers are filled with a fluid which contains particles sensitive to electric charge.

When the central control unit deems it necessary, taking input from a battery of sensors around the car, a charge is passed through the fluid, changing its viscosity almost instantly, stiffening the rebound and providing the car with a totally new character.

SNAPSHOT

AUDI S3

Price: $65,500

Engine: 2.0L 4-cyl turbo FSI, 188kW, 330Nm

Transmission: 6-speed manual, quattro all-wheel drive

Performance: 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds, 250km/h top speed limited

AUDI TT ROADSTER

Price: $77,500 (2.0); $92,900 (V6)

Engine: 2L 4-cyl turbo FSI, 147kW, 280Nm; 3.2L direct-injection; V6 petrol, 184kW, 320Nm

Transmission: 6-speed manual with auto mode; front-wheeldrive (2.0), quattro AWD (V6)

Performance: 0-100km/h 6.5 seconds (2.0), 5.9 seconds (V6); 237km/h top speed (2.0), 250km/h limited (V6)