Joe Anthony
06-11-2000, 03:41 PM
I promised myself that when I finally took delivery of my 225 Coupe that I was not going to write one of these posts that are so seemingly redundant in pointing out the obvious virtues of the car we all love so much. I am now breaking that promise. Why? Because this car is like butter on wheels and my expectations have been exceeded so much that I am dumbfounded. Mmmmmmmmmmm…butter.
I know for those of you still waiting for a TT, these posts are bittersweet. They help to remind you of why you put down your hard-earned cash on one of these mobile sculptures yet, at the same time, make you yearn even more to be sitting behind the wheel of one with your name on the title. Believe me when I say, “I feel your pain.” My pining has just ended and I know you’re sick of hearing it but I’ll use the cliché anyway, man was it worth the wait. For those of you still waiting, forgive me…for the rest revel with me as I relate my first day experiences.
The process at the dealership was painless. My girlfriend and I arrived at 9:45 Saturday morning to find my gleaming Lake Silver 225 Coupe with Ebony interior (sorry Ivan, yet another on the road) sitting on the showroom floor with a “SOLD—please ask for assistance” sign on it. It was the only TT on the lot. By 11:30 I had signed all paperwork, THOROUGHLY inspected it, and pulled out of the lot. It had a total of 23 miles on the odometer.
Immediately upon pulling out of the parking lot, I needed to get in to the left lane to make a left turn to hit the ramp to Interstate 40 and begin the 100 mile trek home. Yet I was unable to change lanes. Why? Because two guys in Rolls Royce had pulled up next to me and matched my speed to gawk at the car. The irony of this moment alone was worth the purchase price of the car, and I hadn’t been on the road for 30 seconds!
On the way home I was frequently shifting between 4th, 5th, and 6th gears just to vary RPM’s while breaking in the engine. The torque in each of these gears surprised me. Pleasantly. Ecstatically! I was being extremely mindful of keeping the RPM’s relatively low but this car just wanted to wind-up and fly! In the disc player, an eclectic mix of Limp Bizkit, Santana, Alice in Chains, Steely Dan, and even the 70’s anthem Frampton Comes Alive provided my theme music. I know that sounds like a really strange mix but man was it great switching back and forth between them. I also know the Bose system has taken some hits on the forum, but to me it sounded sweet—crystal clear treble highs, and chest-thumping bass lows. Granted, it’s not going to jump-start your heart if you’re in cardiac arrest, but it has all the kick I’m ever going to need.
As my driving-a-new-$40K-car nervousness faded, I stopped staring like a fixated lizard at the road directly in front of me and started to gauge reactions from the people who were passing and being passed. Is there anything better than the double take? People quickly glance at you then snap their head back in astonishment at the futuristic craft coming up beside them. Curiously, it seemed to be the BMW drivers who were most impressed by the TT. I haven’t seen any living creature twist it’s neck that far around except for maybe a barn owl. I also noticed a Corvette weaving in and out of traffic behind me only to catch up and follow me for several miles before exiting.
After all the highway driving, it was time to see how sticky the Mark 2 is. Twice I had driven a 180FWD with Mark 1. That’s one of the main reasons I bought a TT. It was so sure-footed and glued-down that I knew no other car would do. After reading some negative posts about the new suspension, I was more than a little anxious to test it myself. Let me tell those of you with similar concerns right now—FORGET THEM! Yes, the car has a minuscule amount of body roll now. Let me emphasize—MINISCULE! It still rides on rails. It still feels like you can take any corner at any speed. It still has the steering sensitivity of a go-cart. Go ahead and flame away boys and girls. I don’t care. I absolutely love it. I put 300 miles on it the first day.
Details, details, details…Audi has put together a brilliantly detailed car. It’s amazing the minutiae you don’t notice until you spend some quality time behind the wheel. After three hours in the car, the seats were still comfortable. Is there a better feeling than the side support of the seat grabbing your rib cage and hugging you as you take a tight turn at 60 mph (no sex jokes here please)? The controls are right where they should be. Those beautiful brushed aluminum rings are everywhere—on the gearshift, steering wheel, air vents, even at the base of the tachometer and speedometer needles. The xenon headlights glow an iridescent blue and have a huge coverage area. The sideview mirrors reflect the headlights behind you in a blue tint that is the same color temperature as your headlights. Ingenious! No eye strain from looking at different colored lights than the ones in front of you. From the gorgeous body lines, to the art deco driver-friendly interior, this car is not only solid, it is intelligently engineered.
There must be down sides to the car, right? Of course the perfect car never has been nor will be built. Even if it were, no one would agree on it anyway. The TT is pretty close. I miss armrests. I know they aren’t practical for a sports car and quite frankly, I wouldn’t want them in the TT, but I still miss them. Brake dust—oh my God, brake dust! When my girlfriend (isn’t she great) and I washed the TT this morning, I could not believe how much brake dust was spackled to the rims after only 300 miles. Try as I might, I’m certain I did not get it all. The TT is also appears to birds as a bullseye. I had always parked my Pathfinder in the same place as I had the TT parked last night. Not once had the Pathfinder ever been nailed. I come out this morning and dead center in the middle of the TT’s hood…you guessed it—BULLSEYE! Hence the car wash this morning. We drive to our local hangout for lunch. When I come out—BULLSEYE…smack dab in the center of the formerly spotless Audi rings on the front grille. It was quite a statement from our feathered friends.
Finally (yes, I said finally), I need to thank everyone who posts on this board. Some have likened it to a family, and it certainly is that. I like to think of it as a team—everyone working together toward a common goal. The goal here being to share and enhance your enjoyment of something for which you are passionate—the TT. Reading the forum (and occasionally posting) for the last 6 months has been entertaining and informative. Just like a team, the personalities vary widely. Joe likes Duke. And like a team, the personalities sometimes conflict. But in the end we are all here because this is the place to voice our opinions and hear others. Whether we agree with them doesn’t matter. Our common ground is our appreciation for the TT—that’s why I’m here and that’s why I’ll keep coming back.
OK, I’m done. You can return to your respective lives now.<p>Joe Anthony
'01 225 TTC Silver/Black
I know for those of you still waiting for a TT, these posts are bittersweet. They help to remind you of why you put down your hard-earned cash on one of these mobile sculptures yet, at the same time, make you yearn even more to be sitting behind the wheel of one with your name on the title. Believe me when I say, “I feel your pain.” My pining has just ended and I know you’re sick of hearing it but I’ll use the cliché anyway, man was it worth the wait. For those of you still waiting, forgive me…for the rest revel with me as I relate my first day experiences.
The process at the dealership was painless. My girlfriend and I arrived at 9:45 Saturday morning to find my gleaming Lake Silver 225 Coupe with Ebony interior (sorry Ivan, yet another on the road) sitting on the showroom floor with a “SOLD—please ask for assistance” sign on it. It was the only TT on the lot. By 11:30 I had signed all paperwork, THOROUGHLY inspected it, and pulled out of the lot. It had a total of 23 miles on the odometer.
Immediately upon pulling out of the parking lot, I needed to get in to the left lane to make a left turn to hit the ramp to Interstate 40 and begin the 100 mile trek home. Yet I was unable to change lanes. Why? Because two guys in Rolls Royce had pulled up next to me and matched my speed to gawk at the car. The irony of this moment alone was worth the purchase price of the car, and I hadn’t been on the road for 30 seconds!
On the way home I was frequently shifting between 4th, 5th, and 6th gears just to vary RPM’s while breaking in the engine. The torque in each of these gears surprised me. Pleasantly. Ecstatically! I was being extremely mindful of keeping the RPM’s relatively low but this car just wanted to wind-up and fly! In the disc player, an eclectic mix of Limp Bizkit, Santana, Alice in Chains, Steely Dan, and even the 70’s anthem Frampton Comes Alive provided my theme music. I know that sounds like a really strange mix but man was it great switching back and forth between them. I also know the Bose system has taken some hits on the forum, but to me it sounded sweet—crystal clear treble highs, and chest-thumping bass lows. Granted, it’s not going to jump-start your heart if you’re in cardiac arrest, but it has all the kick I’m ever going to need.
As my driving-a-new-$40K-car nervousness faded, I stopped staring like a fixated lizard at the road directly in front of me and started to gauge reactions from the people who were passing and being passed. Is there anything better than the double take? People quickly glance at you then snap their head back in astonishment at the futuristic craft coming up beside them. Curiously, it seemed to be the BMW drivers who were most impressed by the TT. I haven’t seen any living creature twist it’s neck that far around except for maybe a barn owl. I also noticed a Corvette weaving in and out of traffic behind me only to catch up and follow me for several miles before exiting.
After all the highway driving, it was time to see how sticky the Mark 2 is. Twice I had driven a 180FWD with Mark 1. That’s one of the main reasons I bought a TT. It was so sure-footed and glued-down that I knew no other car would do. After reading some negative posts about the new suspension, I was more than a little anxious to test it myself. Let me tell those of you with similar concerns right now—FORGET THEM! Yes, the car has a minuscule amount of body roll now. Let me emphasize—MINISCULE! It still rides on rails. It still feels like you can take any corner at any speed. It still has the steering sensitivity of a go-cart. Go ahead and flame away boys and girls. I don’t care. I absolutely love it. I put 300 miles on it the first day.
Details, details, details…Audi has put together a brilliantly detailed car. It’s amazing the minutiae you don’t notice until you spend some quality time behind the wheel. After three hours in the car, the seats were still comfortable. Is there a better feeling than the side support of the seat grabbing your rib cage and hugging you as you take a tight turn at 60 mph (no sex jokes here please)? The controls are right where they should be. Those beautiful brushed aluminum rings are everywhere—on the gearshift, steering wheel, air vents, even at the base of the tachometer and speedometer needles. The xenon headlights glow an iridescent blue and have a huge coverage area. The sideview mirrors reflect the headlights behind you in a blue tint that is the same color temperature as your headlights. Ingenious! No eye strain from looking at different colored lights than the ones in front of you. From the gorgeous body lines, to the art deco driver-friendly interior, this car is not only solid, it is intelligently engineered.
There must be down sides to the car, right? Of course the perfect car never has been nor will be built. Even if it were, no one would agree on it anyway. The TT is pretty close. I miss armrests. I know they aren’t practical for a sports car and quite frankly, I wouldn’t want them in the TT, but I still miss them. Brake dust—oh my God, brake dust! When my girlfriend (isn’t she great) and I washed the TT this morning, I could not believe how much brake dust was spackled to the rims after only 300 miles. Try as I might, I’m certain I did not get it all. The TT is also appears to birds as a bullseye. I had always parked my Pathfinder in the same place as I had the TT parked last night. Not once had the Pathfinder ever been nailed. I come out this morning and dead center in the middle of the TT’s hood…you guessed it—BULLSEYE! Hence the car wash this morning. We drive to our local hangout for lunch. When I come out—BULLSEYE…smack dab in the center of the formerly spotless Audi rings on the front grille. It was quite a statement from our feathered friends.
Finally (yes, I said finally), I need to thank everyone who posts on this board. Some have likened it to a family, and it certainly is that. I like to think of it as a team—everyone working together toward a common goal. The goal here being to share and enhance your enjoyment of something for which you are passionate—the TT. Reading the forum (and occasionally posting) for the last 6 months has been entertaining and informative. Just like a team, the personalities vary widely. Joe likes Duke. And like a team, the personalities sometimes conflict. But in the end we are all here because this is the place to voice our opinions and hear others. Whether we agree with them doesn’t matter. Our common ground is our appreciation for the TT—that’s why I’m here and that’s why I’ll keep coming back.
OK, I’m done. You can return to your respective lives now.<p>Joe Anthony
'01 225 TTC Silver/Black