Looks like those crazy jokers at Audi have a nice surprise for us this evening: the all-new 2017 Audi TT RS, which comes in coupe and roadster form with a thundering five-cylinder engine packing 400 horsepower. Thanks, Audi!
Audi unveiled the car ahead of the Beijing Auto Show, which happens this week. I don’t care if SUV- and sedan-loving Chinese buyers will warm up to this thing or not. I do care that the new TT RS—which appears to give the fine but somewhat soft-edged new TT the heat it always needed—has a beastly five-cylinder motor with more juice than ever.
Audi says the updated motor puts out 400 HP and 354 lb-ft of torque, all of it available between 1,700 and 5,850 RPM. That’s up from 360 HP in the last car, good enough to make the TT RS Coupe go from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. The Roadster does it in 3.9. Rad. Power goes, of course, to all four wheels via the quattro all-wheel drive system.
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There is a downside for the purists out there. Audi says the new TT RS puts power down with a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch gearbox; there’s no mention of a manual transmission at all, unlike the last model.
That is a huge bummer, but not surprising. Audi’s been pretty light on manual gearboxes in general lately. Ask the new A4, S3 and R8 where their third pedals are.
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But the rest of the package looks like a real riot. The car goes on sale in Europe this fall. We should find out more about the U.S. market later.
Think it will live up to the reputation for craziness that the old TT RS had?
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