RE: Audi TT 1.8T (Mk1) | Shed of the Week

[Limpet]

Never wanted one when they came out, but I find them oddly appealing nowadays, especially for the peanuts they fetch. The design has aged really well IMO, and they offer a lot of performance and competence for not a lot of money. I know they aren't the last word in fun without mods, but they are grippy and capable, and the 225s still offer decent performance even by today's standards. There are lots of good VAG specialists, and a good supply of used parts out there too to help keep them going for sensible money.

Good shed. I reckon I will end up buying one of these in the next year or two, just to get it out of my system.

[AC43]

Limpet said:

Never wanted one when they came out, but I find them oddly appealing nowadays, especially for the peanuts they fetch. The design has aged really well IMO, and they offer a lot of performance and competence for not a lot of money. I know they aren't the last word in fun without mods, but they are grippy and capable, and the 225s still offer decent performance even by today's standards. There are lots of good VAG specialists, and a good supply of used parts out there too to help keep them going for sensible money.

Good shed. I reckon I will end up buying one of these in the next year or two, just to get it out of my system.

I genuinely like the design all these years later. Prefer them stock-looking as I think it's hard to improve the design or the detailing.

There. I'm being polite now.

A mate of mine had a lovely green metallic 225 on Avus's and I thought it looked the bollx.

The only thing I wasn't so keen on was the view through the windscreen which a bit slot-like compard to the 200SX I had at the time. But I guess you'd get used to that.

Edited by AC43 on Friday 28th February 12:22

[Rumblestripe]

PATTERNPART said:

Future classic due to shape and good build quality. I'm looking for one for a friend to replace another which had a mishap. Funny how we recoil from other people's custom touches. The TT which we are trying to replace had chrome number plate frames which were binned PDQ! The car had been well maintained however. Presumably the designers didn't incorporate any exterior chrome for a reason.

It's almost like teh car companies pay them the big bucks because they're quite good at deciding how to make a car look good...

[douglasgdmw]

My wife and I had a low mileage Mk1 TT 225 a while back as an interim car for just over a year and absolutely loved it.


Picture has the winter wheels on the car

Spent a fair bit of money on it (timing belt, water pump, bushes, new bilstein suspension) but had great Audi reliability and did not lose a massive amount when it came to sell the TT.

The bushes, Bilstein suspension with the cupra top mounts transformed the car and it was certainly more capable after that upgrade and a lot more entertaining on the back roads.

Ended up selling it and my wife got a B8.5 RS4 to replace her TT, however the TT was a lot more fun on the backroads as the RS4 just stuck and in the RS4 you had to do silly speeds to have any fun.

George

Edited by douglasgdmw on Friday 28th February 12:53

[grumpy52]

DrSteveBrule said:

ian316 said:

grumpy52 said:

Limited audience to those under 6 foot tall unless you're a contortionist.
I rarely see them driven by males .

I don't agree with the under 6ft part, I'm 6ft 3 and got in and out easily the second part about being driven by males is strangely true no idea why they're a lot faster than an mx5 and rot less

I'm 6'3" and didn't have any difficulty in getting in or out. I did have trouble seeing traffic lights & signs if they were close by; it was like looking out of a letterbox. Not that much of a problem that it put me off the car though, I think they are great.

Not this one though.

I have used two over the years , one RHD one LHD , I am 6 ft 1" and at the time about 14 stone . I banged my head pretty hard getting in the RHD one and the LHD one I actually split my ear on .
As others mentioned seeing traffic lights when stopped close to the line can cause problems.
I am a bit biased as I have yet to find a hard topped sports car that I have felt comfortable sitting in or driving .

[cerb4.5lee]

douglasgdmw said:

Ended up selling it and my wife got a B8.5 RS4 to replace her TT, however the TT was a lot more fun on the backroads as the RS4 just stuck and had to do silly speeds to have any fun.

That was a similar experience that I found with the TTS/M3 I ran together for a bit. I really appreciated the size/relative lightness/nimbleness of the TT compared to the M3. The M3 was a much better steer but you knew that it was a heavy car, and that only really started to feel interesting at daft speeds.

A lovely looking TT by the way.

[bungle]

Court_S said:

The pixelated dash is a shame. Still an expensive fix?

Not at all, cheap fix these days. You can get someone to fit a new one "while you wait" for around £100. (or cheaper if you want to send the dash cluster away for fixing, and then refit yourself).

[CDP]

grumpy52 said:

DrSteveBrule said:

ian316 said:

grumpy52 said:

Limited audience to those under 6 foot tall unless you're a contortionist.
I rarely see them driven by males .

I don't agree with the under 6ft part, I'm 6ft 3 and got in and out easily the second part about being driven by males is strangely true no idea why they're a lot faster than an mx5 and rot less

I'm 6'3" and didn't have any difficulty in getting in or out. I did have trouble seeing traffic lights & signs if they were close by; it was like looking out of a letterbox. Not that much of a problem that it put me off the car though, I think they are great.

Not this one though.

I have used two over the years , one RHD one LHD , I am 6 ft 1" and at the time about 14 stone . I banged my head pretty hard getting in the RHD one and the LHD one I actually split my ear on .
As others mentioned seeing traffic lights when stopped close to the line can cause problems.
I am a bit biased as I have yet to find a hard topped sports car that I have felt comfortable sitting in or driving .

Have you driven an S1 Elise much? They can be a pain to get in and out of, the TT is limo in comparison.

We perfected our quick Lotus exit when thick black smoke started pouring from the engine compartment - quite an incentive to get it right...

[Jon_S_Rally]

Rumblestripe said:

It's almost like teh car companies pay them the big bucks because they're quite good at deciding how to make a car look good...

Almost.

Just think, clear indicator lenses instead of orange, large alloy wheels instead of steels with wheel trims, aggressive body kits, shiny exhaust tailpipes, tinted windows.......not influenced at all by people modifying their cars in the 1980s and 1990s....

[blade7]

J4CKO said:

I had one, I documented it in readers cars, I loved it even though it was a stter.

Reminded me of my 944 in a lot of ways, and just as needy

What happens to cars when they are worn out, and nobody wants them anymore? J4CKO buys them...;)

[waynedear]

Design classic, on my list of ‘want to own’ cars
MK1 225 in that almost drab green colour.

[carinaman]

Thanks for the magazine scan s m.

[TTOBES]

Great cars, and better as someone's already said, to consider them more of a mini GT car.

Bought a 3.2 last year. Love it.

Surprised to see three or four mentions of Olive green on here already; I think of that as the least common/popular of the six or so launch colours.

[waynedear]

TTOBES said:

Great cars, and better as someone's already said, to consider them more of a mini GT car.

Bought a 3.2 last year. Love it.

Surprised to see three or four mentions of Olive green on here already; I think of that as the least common/popular of the six or so launch colours.

I may have mentioned it, honestly nothing at all to do with having 3 green cars already

[Augustus Windsock]

Reciprocating mass said:

The car you don’t no which way it’s facing, is the front the back or is the back the front, I have and always will think they are absolutely gopping ugly as ugly
It’s a no from me

Do you not mean the ‘Push-me, Pull-you’ of cars, the Porsche Boxster..?😜

[Rumblestripe]

Jon_S_Rally said:

Rumblestripe said:

It's almost like teh car companies pay them the big bucks because they're quite good at deciding how to make a car look good...

Almost.

Just think, clear indicator lenses instead of orange, large alloy wheels instead of steels with wheel trims, aggressive body kits, shiny exhaust tailpipes, tinted windows.......not influenced at all by people modifying their cars in the 1980s and 1990s....

Clear indicator lenses - fashion change, following a style change on "upmarket" cars like Lexus.
Alloys instead of steels - cost, customisers following the look of more expensive and exotic vehicles.
Body kits = no, as evidenced here good styling doesn't need fripperies, styling simply changes over time.
Shiny tailpipes - again just a cost thing, retro fitting was just immitating more expensive cars.
Tinted windows - people in the 70/80/90s immitating "desirable" high cost options

So no, not influenced by modified cars at all. Mostly "modified" cars of the 70s, 80s and 90s simply reflected the more expensive cars that were out of reach of the aspirational motorist.

[rosetank]

Regardless of its underpinnings and marque it remains a design classic. Remarkable value for an interesting car. I’m sure there are banana skins with ownership but the vast amount of info on them now probably makes them a fairly safe bet.

[J4CKO]

blade7 said:

J4CKO said:

I had one, I documented it in readers cars, I loved it even though it was a stter.

Reminded me of my 944 in a lot of ways, and just as needy

What happens to cars when they are worn out, and nobody wants them anymore? J4CKO buys them...;)

Pretty much !

Trying to do fast, interesting and cheap is difficult, going a bit newer these days, or might do older but properly.

Catching up on neglect is hard work.

[Huwbert]

It's lightning

[1781cc]

TTs make fantastic track cars for the money, big power potential, great all weather ability and loads of weight saving opportunities to be had (I’m currently at 1149kg) - we have several people in our group over the 500bhp mark with G25-660 turbos too

More people should buy them for track use IMO

Edited by 1781cc on Friday 28th February 19:34