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1 out of 2 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Great looking and fun, but far from perfect"
Pros: Unique, beautiful design, relatively comfortable for front passengers
Cons: S tronic is slow, cramped cockpit that is hard to see out of, twitchy suspension
Summary: I had a long test drive of a 3.2 Quattro coupe the other day. It really is a blast to drive.
But in the end its faults stayed with me more than its good points. I know they say this one is less cramped inside than the old TT, but it's still cramped. The windows are short and the beltline/top of the doors is way too high and because the roof is so slow you can't raise your seat much; so you can't easily see out the sides or navigate in tight places with much confidence. I know this style is popular these days, but if you care about seeing where you are driving (obviously many people don't) then it's just plain annoying.
I was a little shocked to touch the speedometer panel and find it actually loose! It didn't seem tightly screwed in, it was just sort stuck in there and I could easily move it around. Quality?
I played with the magnetic suspension a bit. With it on, the ride was firmer but also a noticeably jittery; a lot of noise from the wheels and suspension. With it off the ride was a little softer and not so noisy, but a little less fun. It's much better than an A4 I tested a while ago - the suspension was so bad on that one that I even asked whether it was severely damaged in some way. On its own I think the TT's suspension is great; but compare it to a BMW suspension without any magnetic trickery and you'll see why BMW is the gold standard.
I also found that when you aren't pushing the car, the S tronic transmission is slow to shift when you tell it to. If you were really pushing the car it would shift faster. This may make some sense, but it left me feeling disconnected from the car.
And no matter how bad you think the back seat will be, it is worse. It's no good for anyone - not even small kids, or a baby seat. Even getting to it is a joke. I wanted a backseat just for my dog, but I'm not sure even he'd find it livable.
Despite its great looks, in the end I just kept comparing it to what you can find in a BMW, and despite how ugly most BMWs are today, they are much better driver's cars.
