Herr Ramsey filled you in on the particulars regarding his experience with the hard-hatted TTS, but Autoblog also scored some quality time with its canvas-lidded variant, the TTS Roadster.
While Jonathon's TTS was slathered in showy 24 carrot paint, this author's roadster arrived resplendent in white with a stunning baseball glove leather interior. The TT has long endured the shopworn barbs of being a 'handbag car,' and our roadster seemed to play this up, outfitted as it was to be a showy runway star. Despite the fact that we Autobloggers are hardly fashionistas, it's hard to ignore that Audi makes some of the best interiors in the business – easily the best among their fellow German competitors.
Similarly, it's hard to overstate how viceless and forgiving this car's performance is. Ramsey talked a lot about turbo lag, but this author found it to be markedly less intrusive. Audi says that all 258 lb-feet of torque are available from 2,500-5,000 rpm, and thanks to the DSG's seamless gear-to-gear nature and the engine's willingness to rev, thrust is never far away. Better yet, the tractability of the dual-clutch transmission seems to have been improved since last we sampled it, with no odd parking-lot-speed judderings to harsh our mellows.
Historically speaking, chopping the roof off of a coupe has resulted in a bowl-of-Jello structure, but thanks in part to Audi's metallurgical marvels, rigidity isn't really at issue. While the coupe's structure is made up of 69% aluminum and 31% steel, the roadster is 58% aluminum and 42% steel (much of that change is the lack of a tin roof) and the arrangement just plain works – there's almost zero cowl shake, mirror flutter or other knock-kneed behavior.
Dropping the power top is a simple operation, and once down, it's easier to take in the 2.0-liter's bizarre yet endearing electric zizz soundtrack, periodically punctuated as it is by flatulent little exhaust blips during manual gearchanges. That may sound unbecoming, but it isn't – although it is a bit video-game-ish, not at all like the sonorous mechanical whir offered by, say, a Porsche Boxster.
In any case, credit to the Roadster's robust, unfussed ride must also be given to the Delphi magnetic ride suspension, which does a great job of firming up when you want it to, but not crashing our tester's optional 19-inch alloys over potholes.
All-in, we greatly enjoyed our time with our $57,125 Prestige package'd TTS Roadster. It still doesn't manage to be as engaging a driver's car as, say, a Boxster S, but it's a far better all-seasons car with a world-beating interior and a driving style all its own.
Smart has introduced the 2010 model year Fortwo that benefits from a revised diesel engine as well as from minor optimizations for the petrol units. The re-engineered 3-cylinder diesel now has an output of 54HP or 21 percent more power than before and a maximum torque of 130Nm, an increase of 18 percent. Even though the more powerful diesel makes the Fortwo more lively allowing the mini to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h (62mph) in 16.8 sec, combined fuel consumption still stands at 3.4lt/100km (69mpg US) while CO2 emissions also remain at just 88 g/km.
or the petrol range, Smart's engineers optimized the engine and the transmission management in order to comply with the more demanding EU5 exhaust gas standards.
