I went to an Audi GTG yesterday featuring a number of new TT-RS picked up by their customers. Good turn out, but I found these 2 parked next to each other to be quite an interesting matchup. the BMW 1M and the Audi TT-RS.
I love Audis and all….but that 1M is just irresistable!
definitely (along with the RS3) the best sounding production road car under $100k. There’s nothing like the 5 Cylinder gurgle. This car is tuned to 485hp. Slick video too.
Thanks to Skaala for posting this!
foto from Fourtitude! (via Audiphile)
Quattroworld has a great feature about Don Istook and his long-time Audi racing history–including Ur quattros, S4s, and TTs–culminating recently in his delivery of the 1st North American TT-RS. Fellow Audiphiles will surely appreciate the stories about his previous race cars that he built from the ground up, as well as some of his perspectives about these cars and experiences.
“Now, what I didn’t mention was that we got the truckload of parts on Friday…and we had to race Saturday morning! Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day…but I WAS racing at Road Atlanta in the early 80’s when Jo helped out Tom Brennan, after Tom had written off one of the Porsche factory D Production 924’s. Jo secured a brand new 924 D Production tub for Tom…had it shipped to the track…and that car WAS literally built in one day…made the DP race and finished 2nd!! So, with that in mind…we got all the “stuff” put on the car and just made the grid for the start of the race.”
LINK: quattroworld
Here’s a picture of the Audi TT-RS that just won the SP4T Class at the Nurburgring 24 Hour race. Excellent!
The engine of the year for us in the USA is most definitely the new 2.5L 5 cylinder turbo that is being introduced in the TT-RS this autumn. The TT-RS is probably the most exciting sports car being released on US shores in 2011 after the truly remarkable BMW 1M. I had a conversation with Audi Of America’s product manager today about the imminent launch of the car. The details are still in their final stages, but the first cars will be delivered in the early Autumn it seems. Exciting stuff—especially as I have a few friends ordering one. For anyone here interested—ordering guides are now available from Audi dealers across the US—pricing, however, is not finalized yet. The car will be arriving, however, with the upgraded 360hp “RS Plus” configuration. It’s gonna be an epic daily driver…
So here’s a car which shares the glorious engine….but a car which will never make it to US shores in this form—-that being said, the 2013 Audi A3 which is slated for US shores may end up with an RS3 version with the same glorious engine—so all is not lost!
I’ve heard the car in person, and it’s even better than in any video…
Vodpod videos no longer available.nice dark tunnel + epic Audi TT-RS + water = EPIC.
ALSO—there is a video showing some of the footage here (what a sound!):
http://www.abhd.nl/video/racen-door-de-noord-zuid-tunnel/
big thanks to Lukas for sending the tip! Apparently this was being filmed for a Dutch TV show called ‘AutoRAI’ (click to enlarge fotos)
for the full set of fotos, go here:
http://www.autoblog.nl/image-gallery?file=Audi/TT-RS_tunnelrun/
Car & Driver is improving!!—-good on them to test the 2 cars we have all been waiting to see a test of against each other—the wicked Audi TT-RS and the majestic BMW 1M. I love both of these cars—kind of torn because of my ‘Audiphile’ nature telling me to prefer the TT-RS, however deep somewhere in my head it’s the 1M that captures my imagination massively. I do despise the looks of the TT-RS, as i think they pretty much ruined the 2nd generation of the TT—a car that deserved to evolve better from the timless MK1. To me, the 1M’s styling makes it one of the best looking cars of my lifetime. Imaginative, toy-like, and just aggressive.
The Infiniti G37 IPL is also in this comparison, however doesn’t really match up to the other 2 in terms of size, style, or performance. The TT-RS posts a 0-60 time of 3.6 seconds (!!!!!) and beats the other two in lap times and most performance criteria. No surprise there, but by price, i have to say the BMW 1M is such a great car starting at $47k. I don’t think the owners of either of these 2 monsters will be dissappointed….i think the Porsche Cayman R would have been a good 3rd car in this comparison. Meanwhile….please excuse me while i continue to have wet dreams about that orange 1M.
(these scans were uploaded by Superchargedcarman from 1addicts)
CLICK TO ENLARGE
the Audi TT-RS has just made its official debut at the Chicago Auto Show as an official Audi USA product for this market. And what a car……360hp ugraded 2.5L 5-cylinder which howls like nothing else on the market at the moment….i know, because i saw one in person last summer at VW Waterfest. As an Audi fan, i’m always listening to some of the Audi corporate news feeds, and apparently the US market will ONLY get a manual transmission; however they are saying that the DSG version of the car does 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. 3.6 seconds!!!! BRUTAL! and with style that only the TT can have…..price? $60k. superb.
Not sure who the photographer is, but i absolutely love it.
(click to enlarge)
Well i’m not a fan of the MK2 TT’s weird styling….in fact i think the styling sucks! But holy hell i spotted this one linked to on QW today and i gotta say it looks great…probably the best modified MK2 i’ve seen and definitely the only NON TT-RS MK2 i’ve seen that really gets me going. So maybe it does have potential?
……but it’s no MK1….that’s for sure…..but this one looks pretty damn good.
link to more photos here:
http://www.tt-forum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=180735
Found out some info on the TT-RS:
$65-68k, 300-350 cars coming to the US market, all coupes, all manual transmission (unofficial estimates, taken from a couple sources IEDEI has spoken with)
The sound of the 2.5L turbo 5 is amazing. I saw this car today at Waterfest (VW/Audi gathering in held in New Jersey every year). It was brought there by the Fourtitude guys and was provided to them by Audi. It is the only TT-RS in the USA at the moment. I didn’t get any chance to drive it or drive in it…however the exhaust note is simply animal…love it.
some more pics (sorry about the crappy quality…forgot my camera and took cell phone pics!):
Well i’ve been gathering information about this for a few days, straight from Francois over at Horchaus (Official Canadian distributor of MTM (V.A.G. tuning company).
It seems that they have worked out a plan with Audi of Germany to be able to bring Audi RS6s (C6, current) as well as B7 RS4 Avants and R8s to North America directly from Germany! To any other Audi afficianados such as myself—this is HUGE news. For a very long time, we’ve been stranded by the products being provided to the US market when it comes to ‘special’ Audis. We did receive the previous generation C5 RS6, but only in sedan form (NO Avant in North America). We also received the B7 RS4 sedan (NO Avant in North America). We are not going to receive the C6 RS6 at all——until NOW!
After creating a working agreement with Audi of Germany in Ingolstadt, Francois and Horchaus have found a way for certain cars such as the current RS6 to be modified according to US Spec BY Audi themselves! After these modifications, the cars are imported into North America (Canada OR the United States) and undergo customs, duty, etc….and are brought here as legal, street-ready versions of these European cars. Since Horchaus is working directly with Audi to ensure the modifications are done to North American spec, this is a whole new way of getting these cars into the United States legally and safely. The OEM spec cars will have an AUDI WARRANTY, since they are brand new from the factory.
The prices of these cars vary, however If someone really wants a brand new C6 Generation Audi RS6 Avant, it’s gonna cost them $115,000 CAD (Canadian dollars) and $125,000 CAD with the 730hp MTM upgrade (including all import, shipping and duty fees).
******As of right now, they have already brought TWO C6 RS6s successfully; one into the US and another into Canada******
At the moment, they have another 4 cars on the way. one R8 (sold), a B7 RS4 Avant (sold), and one C6 RS6 Avant and a C6 RS6 Sedan; which are both available to purchase.
A further reason to be excited, is that Horchaus is currently also evaluating the possibility of bringing other Audis in the same manner; cars such as the current Audi TT-RS and Audi S3. Really exciting stuff, and groundbreaking progress in the world of importing Audis.
Stay tuned to IEDEI for further updates about this as I get more information. So far I only have the pricing for RS6s, when I receive further information about pricing for others I will pass them along! Meanwhile, if you are interested in these cars, follow the link to the MTM/Horchaus website for more information and contact info.
UPDATE: B7 RS4 Avants are CEO company cars, and will be titled as 2nd hand. They are $70,000 CAD (Canadian dollars) and the R8 V10 is $105,000 CAD (Canadian dollars) which is amazingly good pricing….the R8 V10 turns out to much less than a comparably ordered US version.
UPDATE 2: Some people have been asking “well why wouldn’t Audi bring these cars in the first place????”…..the answer was explained to me by Francois. Audi of Germany wants them to go everywhere, the reason why these cars don’t come to the US or Canada is simple; Audi of America and Audi of Canada don’t believe they have a market and do not readily import them here.
Horchaus Website: http://www.horchaus.com/Car_imports.html
New video, very cool.
IEDEI 