British Premier of TT MKII

[Kell]

Some of the TTOC committee members were invited by Audi UK to attend the British Premier of the MKII Audi TT.

We wanted to ensure that we covered off some of our members’ concerns and questions about the new car. So before we went, we asked what it was people wanted to know.

Having had discussions with several people at the event, here are the answers to some of the questions you asked:

ScoTTy asked:

Is ISOFIX present? Will it be if not?

ISOFIX and front airbag deactivation will be standard on the front seats only. It will be an option on the rears at launch and you can expect to pay around £30 for this.

What differences are there going to be for UK cars?

The answer to this is, we were told, that there are too many differences to list. You can rest assured however, that’s it’s good news for us Brits. Cars on these shores will be far better specced than the European models. German 2.0T cars for example come with 16” wheels and cloth interior whereas British ones have 17” and Leather Alcantara.

Are the metal fixings metal or plastic?

Inlays (console, glovebox) are metal, Air vents and steering wheel inserts will be metal effect. The steering wheel in particular is down to safety rulings. But what I can say is that they don’t LOOK plastic.

Will TTs have run flat tyres? Will it be can of gunk? Will it be a spare wheel?

With the battery in the boot, there isn’t room for a spare – not even a space saver. Initial testing has indicated that run-flat tyres could overly compromise the ride and, given that they’ve worked really hard on getting this car sorted, that’s the last thing they want to do. They may reconsider if tyres can be found that wouldn’t compromise the handling. So the upshot is that you get a can of foam.

Karcsi asked:

The Eos and Passat have Transverse 3.2 FSi engine. Will the new 3.2 be FSI?

The 3.2 FSi is a traditional ‘V’ configuration and, therefore, is too big to go into the TT. The 3.2 that’s due to be fitted is a narrow angle ‘V’ and therefore will fit and is being used.

If you could ask what the DVD/MMI satnav will look like, that would be grand. I guess it will be similar to the A4 setup - with the control knob on the HU rather than in front of the gear stick (A6/A8 stylee).

Exactly right, the MMI control will be on the dash to the side of the screen in the same way as the A3 and A4.

Genocidalduck asked:

How much room is there in the back?

Depends where you’re sitting and who’s in front. We all agreed that there is more room in the back compared to MKI. Especially on the passenger side. Steve (5’ 10”) sat in the passenger seat and Lee sat in the back and was reasonably comfortable.

Lee in behind shorter driver…

I sat in the driver’s seat and had to have it pushed back as far as it would go to get comfortable to drive. This meant the back of my seat was touching the front of the rear seat. However, Lee did sit behind me with his legs in the space behind passenger seat and again said he’d happily travel like that – on a short journey certainly.

Any hints towards an ‘S’ or ‘RS’ model in the future?

Hints, yes. Definitive answers, no. A figure of 300bhp was mentioned at one point and it was felt that it wouldn’t be enough in light of current competition. The open ended answer is that nothing has been approved, but IF it does happen, it won’t be before mid 2008,

Ezzie asked:

When will the 2.0 quattro be released – and how much hp will it have?

Mid 2008 was the timescale indicated for a quattro 2.0T and it will almost certainly have the same power as current – 200hp.

Toshiba asked:

What are the switches behind gear stick?

These are the controls for the climate. From left to right: temperature, fan speed and air direction.

Behind gear knob.

(Unless you meant these ones)

When will Audi Forum (Picadilly) have a car to play with?

Unfortunately the guy that dealt with the schedule of the car wasn’t there or had been on holiday and couldn’t answer that, but I believe it’s been answered in another thread and will be in London’s Forum from 18 May. We are hoping to get hold of the UK schedule so we can tell you where else (and when) it will be in the country.

We also asked about the possibility of a diesel engined TT and were told that it’s being talked about but again, not confirmed. What is confirmed though is that the V6 diesel engine will not fit and any future diesel TT will most likely be based on the 170bhp 4 cylinder unit in the A3.

All in all it was a great night and I hope we managed to answer all the questions you had to your satisfaction.

Picture requests:

ScoTTy asked:

Can we get some pictures of the real usable rear space by taking pics of the seat in position for a 6’ person?

Shots of both engine bays – side on maybe as Paul wants to see how far forward the engine is compared to the axle.

Toshiba asked for:

Concert and Symphony switched on if possible

iPod connector in glove box

Don’t think it was fitted, but that’s where the changer is.

Picture of centre console to see if it differs from LHD

Car was LHD I’m afraid, but we were told that it probably won’t differ.

Dash with warning lights (ie startup)

I know we took a pic of this, but it’s not uploaded yet – I’ll update when we find it.

Picture of some poor soul sat in the back

(There’s always one isn’t there – and it’s usually Lee)

Rob sat so he’s comfy = bit of room behind.

Steve sat so he’s comfy = fair bit of room behind

Me sat so I’m comfy = no room behind.

[Kell]

Here are some more shots of the exterior too.

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Fantastic, thank you. Any photos of the outside of the car?

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We have, but have only uploaded the specific request pictures so far.

Plus a few exterior detials which I'll post in a mo:

Petrol Blue 3.2 and some bird who's a lot less famous than she thinks she is.

Shark fin.

Dorr mirror indicators:

REar lights:

Front end:

Bi-colour alloys - these are stunning.

Rear lights on - these are very cool: