Audi TTRS - owning and modifying experience

Audi TTRS - owning and modifying experience

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Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
My TTRS: impressions of my first 40K miles



There are numerous build threads which run while cars are still in the project stage so this one is probably from a slightly different perspective as it’s my impressions on what has now been 28 months and 40K miles of ownership and gradual modification of what is now a completed project.

Before I bought the TTRS I had a Landrover or a Mercedes for the daily grind and a Porsche 911 for the weekend and driving trips.
The 911 was an epic drive but because it was kept for high days and holidays became a bit of a garage queen and only really got used for weekend or euro trips.
So the idea was to by a car that would cover all the bases of a daily driver but not leave me too embarrassed on weekend hoons.
The car is a 2012 TTRS S-tronic in Suzuka Grey with black leather and contrast stitching which I bought in August 2014 from Lake District Audi as an approved car.


Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
The factory specification has what were my must have options:
Matt Ali Styling Pack - £680
Comfort package; Auto lights and wipers, rear park sensors, cruise control and auto dim rear view mirror - £510
Privacy glass - £330
Titanium Rotors - £1360
Technology package: Nav Plus Audi MMI - £515
Mobile phone prep - £145


Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
First impressions
Out of the factory the car is a great daily driver. It is practical reliable and fast however as a driver’s car there is room for improvement.
The engine and S-tronic gearbox are brilliant.
Very little turbo lag and a wall of torque from 2000 rpm. The gearbox is great in D, manic in S and does what you want super fast in manual.
0-60 in 4.1 seconds as stock is pretty much supercar fast.
The exhaust makes a nice noise but not too loud for a daily – certainly quieter and easier to live with than my previous 911 with sports exhaust.
The first time I drove the car hard on country roads that I know well showed how unsettled and badly tuned the stock suspension is. The car took too long to settle after bumps or changes in camber and felt slow witted.
From what I know this is similar to the BMW M4 which has now been rectified by the performance pack suspension, so maybe Audi should have done a TTRS performance pack.
The brakes are a tad too much biased to the front with the standard 370mm front/310mm rear set up which does not help stability braking from high speeds.
Adding both of these together meant the car was not what I wanted in terms of a driver’s car.
Lots of owners will be quite happy but I felt the need to improve the car or find something else.

Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
The Mods
The biggest issue was the suspension so I did a good bit of internet research and came across the newly available MSS Kits.
www.msskits.com
After a fairly lengthy email exchange with William – the designer/developer/owner I decided to invest. A fully adjustable front and rear kit was duly despatched and fitting was a matter of four hours of garage time followed by settling, some height adjustment and a geo set up.



This is probably the best money I have ever spent on a car. The ride is much more refined despite being a good 20mm lower than a stock RS, the hesitation over bumps and camber changes has gone the car corners harder and faster and the car looks much better that bit lower.
So job one done.

Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
Next were the brakes so back to the internet. Fitting the rear discs from a C5 RS6 seemed a pretty good solution to move the bias back a bit and also they look much better.
I sourced a kit from 034 motorsport in the US and that made a big difference. Much more stable braking from high speed.



Some track spec pads completed the upgrade.
So job two done.


Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
Because it was cheap and easy I fitted a track spec polybush dog bone insert – more vibration at tickover but improves the already great s-tronic shifts when pushing on.

Next was an aftermarket panel filter – from revo – but they are all pretty similar.

Again because it was cheap and easy the next job were secondary cat delete pipes from Scorpion – a little bit more noise and less restriction to exhaust flow.

At this point I was pretty happy with the car. I’m not the best driver in the world but I’m not the worst and with the suspension and brakes sorted the car would quite happily keep up with 991 GT3s.





But more is never enough so as the final mod those clever chaps at APR have put one of their maps on the car.
The car was strong before but now it pulls very hard from 2k rpm all the way to the redline and from 30mph in 2nd gear it is just about untouchable to the speed limit – only GTR and 911 turbo get close.
As an overtaking tool it really is effortless.


Edited by Hoonmeister on Wednesday 22 March 18:02

Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
So although it has taken some effort I have a daily driver that is equally at home with my Ferrari Porsche and McLaren owning friends at the weekend.





Edited by Hoonmeister on Wednesday 8th February 18:37

Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
On winter tyres it’s a real weapon through the poorer weather so you can still enjoy the weekends when all the Ferrari guys have their cars in storage.


Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
What has gone wrong?
In my ownership the car has had three faults.
The solenoid for the carbon filter failed leading to a emission control light – fixed under warranty
The glovebox hinge failed – fixed under warranty
The rear hatch lock was beginning to play up - £50 part replaced in 20 minutes

Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
Would I recommend one?
In terms of build quality, efficiency, reliability and performance I think these are the bargain of the century.



Practicality is the same as any other TT which means a huge boot with the back seats down so mine does dump runs as well as it does trips to Lemans.





They are pretty rare and undervalued – I do wish Audi had not allowed so many lookylikey lower models but it just means you need to know what you are looking at.





So yes I would recommend one – and the mods I have done.
It would be interesting to drive a stock car now to see what I think but don’t regret any of the work done to mine.
What next?
Although I have done the perusal of Autotrader and Pistonheads – for the foreseeable future the TTRS stays – only a F-type SVR coupe or a Cayman GT4 or 991 GTS would be considerations and they are all considerably more money.



New TTRS might be an option in a few years but I suspect it would need some mods....its certainly slower out of the factory than my current RS.

ecsrobin

17,018 posts

164 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
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A good read, I notice quite a few photos have you in large groups of equally nice cars, are these arranged tours? Looks like a great car to take on a driving tour.

RammyMP

6,729 posts

152 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
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Nice car! I love Suzuka Grey, unfortunately it's quite rare, fortunately for you I suppose!

Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
ecsrobin said:
A good read, I notice quite a few photos have you in large groups of equally nice cars, are these arranged tours? Looks like a great car to take on a driving tour.
The tours are just arranged amongst a group of good friends so there is no cost to anyone for the planning that goes into the trips.
We do a lot of trips round Scotland and every year or so do a full euro trip to Lemans or Monaco GP.



Edited by Hoonmeister on Wednesday 8th February 19:53


Edited by Hoonmeister on Wednesday 8th February 20:11

Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th February 2017
quotequote all
One of my favourite shots...


Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Thursday 9th February 2017
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Hmmm, TTRS, modified, Suzuka grey, Scotland ? All sounds rather familiar :

http://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&...

smile


Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Thursday 9th February 2017
quotequote all
Slippydiff said:
Hmmm, TTRS, modified, Suzuka grey, Scotland ? All sounds rather familiar :

http://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&...

smile
Other forums are available thumbup

Don1

15,936 posts

207 months

Thursday 9th February 2017
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Hoonmeister said:
B
The car was strong before but now it pulls very hard from 2k rpm all the way to the redline and from 30mph in 2nd gear it is just about untouchable to 100mph – only GTR and 911 turbo get close.
That really is quite a claim. What is the car putting out?

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 9th February 2017
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I can believe it, having driven against a few of these on track they are monstrous in a straight line when they're mapped. Not the fastest things over a whole lap, but in a straight line you would need something really serious to keep up.

They do seem to be very cheap for what they offer at the moment. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted, very interesting to see the mods coming out to correct the perceived handling issues.

Nors

1,291 posts

154 months

Thursday 9th February 2017
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Hoonmeister said:
ecsrobin said:
A good read, I notice quite a few photos have you in large groups of equally nice cars, are these arranged tours? Looks like a great car to take on a driving tour.
The tours are just arranged amongst a group of good friends so there is no cost to anyone for the planning that goes into the trips.
We do a lot of trips round Scotland and every year or so do a full euro trip to Lemans or Monaco GP.



Edited by Hoonmeister on Wednesday 8th February 19:53


Edited by Hoonmeister on Wednesday 8th February 20:11
Do a car tour myself. Applecross in north west Scotland - done it a couple of times myself.

Like what you've done to the TTRS, excellent!!!

Hoonmeister

Original Poster:

5,185 posts

177 months

Thursday 9th February 2017
quotequote all
Don1 said:
Hoonmeister said:
B
The car was strong before but now it pulls very hard from 2k rpm all the way to the redline and from 30mph in 2nd gear it is just about untouchable to 100mph – only GTR and 911 turbo get close.
That really is quite a claim. What is the car putting out?
As I am sure charltjr saw, the key to the car's straight line performance is the torque.

A 991 GT3 weighs about the same (1450kg or there abouts) but has 460nm whereas a decent Stage 1+ or Stage 2 TTRS will have 600-650nm.






Edited by Hoonmeister on Wednesday 22 March 18:15