Monday 20th January 2020

Audi TT RS | PH Fleet

It's been a costly few weeks for Ben. Guess where it all went wrong?

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If Sam puts the words 'what could go wrong' in the standfirst of an article ever again, someone tell him to remove them immediately. GL09 CCU has cost me a grand in the past month. I know who I blame.

Certainly it's not the previous owner - although it was him who opted to lower the car after he discovered one of the front springs was broken. Rather than replacing it like for like, he decided to fit something better - makes sense. Unfortunately making a low car even lower, the rear tyres had a tendency to scrape on the wheel arch liners. Obviously I knew at the time of buying I'd have to resolve the issue - but hadn't factored in quite how expensive it would turn out to be. The dreaded noise only happened a couple of times on the test drive; as soon as I cornered at a moderate pace, I was met with constant scraping. It was fine accelerating in a straight line at least, so insert Audi driver-related traffic light racing joke here.

It has taken me this long to rectify it as I've been deliberating whether to put the car back onto standard springs or go down the coilover route. Ultimately I've decided that I'm not going to take the TT on track as the PistonHeads Racing Team are pursuing a second season of EnduroKA and my time and money is going to be focused on that.

The next frustration was that the car had been so poorly set up on the lowered springs that it had destroyed a pair of Michelin PS4 tyres in less than 2,000 miles, so that was another line item on the bill. A big consideration for me when buying a car is having an independent garage that I trust to work on it. Thanks to a recommendation in the Kent forum when I had my TT Quattro Sport (cheers piecost76), I went back to Youngs Garage in Wrotham. Not only did they remember me from three years prior, but they even recalled what work they had carried out on my car. Impressive.

With new standard springs fitted, a set of rear tyres, a full wheel alignment and £1,000 down, I can finally enjoy the car for what it is. So while it feels like I've barely had a chance to go out and simply enjoy driving the TT, I've at least been able to enjoy it as a fine place to be. The seats are super comfortable on a long journey and the heated seat switch is currently enjoying daily use. The Navigation Plus system is pretty woeful and really the only thing that feels dated - in fact the nav in my Renaultsport Megane of the same era was better - but the Bose sound system is a considerable improvement over what I've been used to in recent years, even if it does lack the Bluetooth streaming that the Megane also had.

One of the reasons I bought my first Mk1 TT a decade ago was that I could drop the rear seats and get a bike in the boot. The fact the TT has retained this level of practicality must have played to its advantage over the past 20 years as, lets face it, no one buys an Audi TT to enjoy as a fully-fledged sports car. Even without driving a Cayman, I'd put money on it being the better car to drive, but at least luggage space is one thing the TT would win at in a game of Top Trumps. We're heading to Wales this week with a bunch of other Audis, so I'm excited to finally get the car on some of my favourite roads to simply enjoy driving it.

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FACT SHEET
Car: 2009 Audi TT RS
Run by: Ben Lowden
On fleet since: September 2019
Mileage: 50,629

This month: Fixy, fixy
Last month:Buy, buy

 

[ogrodz]

I want to like these, but its a Titty...

[Daveyraveygravey]

It sounds like you are being kind on the previous owner to me. If that was my car I would now be panicking every time I heard a noise I didn't like. It sounds like the lowering was done by a clown or a cowboy, what else has been bodged?

[berlintaxi]

Looking very smart.

[ate one too]

A slammed, 10 year-old Audi TT... what could possibly go wrong ?

[downhillmalins]

I would have walked away after hearing the rubbing during a test drive! In what world is that an acceptable set-up for a car like that? The previous owner must have either enjoyed looking at it more than driving it or didn't give a f... or both!

[scottygib553]

While nobody likes a £1000 bill, the tagline to the articile suggested something truely borktastic.

[BenLowden]

Daveyraveygravey said:

It sounds like you are being kind on the previous owner to me. If that was my car I would now be panicking every time I heard a noise I didn't like. It sounds like the lowering was done by a clown or a cowboy, what else has been bodged?

The work was done at a well known reputable garage that I won't name so I was surprised by the bad set up myself. It has been fastidiously cared for though with full Audi service history so I don't have any other concerns!

ate one too said:

A slammed, 10 year-old Audi TT... what could possibly go wrong ?

It definitely wasn't slammed – I wouldn't have even gone to look at it if that were the case! You can see from the photos in my first article how it sat beforehand https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-fleet/audi...

downhillmalins said:

The previous owner must have either enjoyed looking at it more than driving it or didn't give a f... or both!

Definitely the former given how clean it was when I picked it up. I don't know what detailing products he used but I've never seen water run off bodywork like it does

[Jawls]

With respect to Bluetooth streaming, what connectors has it got in the glove box?

With 2012 TT’s with the same infotainment, you could stick one of these dongles in your glovebox and then broadcast music via Bluetooth on your phone.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00R2HZ1XU/ref=cm_sw_r...

Cheaper ones may be available, but that’s the one I bought years ago and it worked fine.

Doesn’t help with the ancient sat nav of course, but that’s what a phone mount and Waze are for!

Edited by Jawls on Monday 20th January 13:37

[culpz]

Christ tonight, Blue Monday is really kicking in on here, isn't it? The glass must truly be half empty

What's the gearbox like, Ben? I know the VAG manuals can be a bit numb to use.

[Drekly]

Can you reveal if the springs were a decent make like Eibach or H&R? Sounds odd for it to rub unless they exceeded the typical 30mm drop or the spring rates were wrong (which you'd hope the makes I mention would get right).

Also would love to read a "real world" comparison of this against a similar budget Cayman, if thats something you have planned for the future.

[steve_n]

ogrodz said:

I want to like these, but its a Titty...

More specifically, it's a Titty Arse!

[Mogul]

It’s also a Toupé.

[fido]

culpz said:

What's the gearbox like, Ben? I know the VAG manuals can be a bit numb to use.

I'd like to know this as well. Half-tempted to replace the S1 with a TT RS roadster but even though it's quicker I don't know if it would be as fun - a good shifter would partly make up for the FWD-ness.

[BenLowden]

Jawls said:

With 2012 TT’s with the same infotainment, you could stick one of these dongles in your glovebox and then broadcast music via Bluetooth on your phone.

Thanks for the recommendation on that, much appreciated! Will look into it

culpz said:

What's the gearbox like, Ben? I know the VAG manuals can be a bit numb to use.

It's pretty good actually Sam – it's no Civic Type R but it's enjoyable to use and I'm glad I opted for manual over DSG. There are a couple of kits you can get to sharpen up the shift by replacing the rubber bushes with billet aluminium parts but I don't really feel it needs it for road driving.

Drekly said:

Can you reveal if the springs were a decent make like Eibach or H&R? Sounds odd for it to rub unless they exceeded the typical 30mm drop or the spring rates were wrong (which you'd hope the makes I mention would get right).

Also would love to read a "real world" comparison of this against a similar budget Cayman, if thats something you have planned for the future.

They were H&R springs – seems to be a known issue with them on the TTRS. I had H&R springs on my Megane and they were fantastic on the road and track, so wouldn't have hesitated to fit them myself either if I was looking to improve the handling.

I need to have a chat with Mike Duff about getting together to have a drive of his Cayman S. Would definitely make for an interesting comparison! Although his running costs definitely look to be considerably higher than mine...

Mogul said:

It’s also a Toupé.

Any more puns whilst we're at it?

[Dave Hedgehog]

cheap, a set of front rotors and pads will cost you way more than that from audi

[redroadster]

A chip change and it's big power for reasonable outlay ,all weather daily driver I'm tempted it's on next car list .

[Gio G]

I do like the TT RS.. starting to appreciate it more as it gets older. What were sports springs on the car out of interest?

G

[Jon_S_Rally]

Lordy, some of the posts on here.... It's a set of lowering springs for God's sake, it's not like the previous owner was putting sand in the oil filler cap

A friend of mine had one of these, but sadly I never got the chance to go in it before he moved it on. It was a nice car from what I saw of it though. He changed the wheels which made it look a lot more racy and, with a stainless exhaust, it sounded glorious.

The problem with the manual box was that, once he had it mapped, the clutch slipped. I think the clutch in the DSG is a bit tougher. Still a nice car all the same.

[rossub]

Drekly said:

Can you reveal if the springs were a decent make like Eibach or H&R? Sounds odd for it to rub unless they exceeded the typical 30mm drop or the spring rates were wrong (which you'd hope the makes I mention would get right).

Also would love to read a "real world" comparison of this against a similar budget Cayman, if thats something you have planned for the future.

Me too - as someone who is considering a 987 Cayman S later this year...

Don’t think I could bring myself to buy an Audi, but would make a good article.

[cerb4.5lee]

I'd love one of these especially with a manual gearbox. I've lusted after one of these ever since I had a mk2 TTS. That was a DSG but its not that great imo(unpredictable doing small manoeuvres/it didn't suit the laggy turbo 4 cyl engine). So I'd prefer a manual even though I would lose more races at the traffic light grand prix!