Editor's Rating: 
The Good: Quickness, improved exterior styling, automatic ragtop
The Bad: Little interior storage, six-cylinder version is too slow
The Bottom Line: Audi's iconic sports car gets even better
Reader ReviewsIf you're looking to splurge on a sporty convertible this summer, be sure to check out Audi's newly redesigned TT. It's quicker, better looking, and more fuel-efficient than the old TT, and you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on the '08 model to get a truly satisfying driving experience. This is one of those rare models where the least-expensive version may be the best.
I recently test-drove the 2.0T version of the '08 TT two-seater roadster with the smaller of the two available engines, a 200-horsepower, 2.0-liter, turbocharged and direct-injected four-banger. And I absolutely love the car.
While the original TT was underpowered unless you went with the six-cylinder engine, the '08 is genuinely quick, even with the smaller power plant. It also has an ingenious ragtop that folds down behind the passenger cabin in a mere 12 seconds while taking up virtually no trunk space. A couple can actually take off for a weekend jaunt in this two-seat convertible without having to choose between keeping the top up or leaving their luggage behind.
To my eye, the new TT is much better looking than the old one, which may have been an icon but resembled a gigantic bathtub toy. The '08 has hints of the old styling?the sculpted, rounded sides and hood, for instance?but it's less quirky looking. It's five inches longer and three inches wider than the model it replaces and has the lines of a classic sports car.
The '08 2.0T Roadster also gets reasonably good mileage. It's rated at 22 miles per gallon in the city and 29 on the highway, slightly better than the comparable version of the old TT (mainly because extensive use of aluminum kept the '08's weight down). The 2.0T is significantly more efficient than the 3.2T, which is rated at 18 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway.
In 503 miles of mainly lead-footed highway driving, I got a respectable 25.9 mpg in the 2.0T ragtop.
With the smaller engine, the '08 TT ragtop Roadster starts at $37,575. The hardtop version of the car, the 2.0T hatchback Coupe, is even less expensive, starting at $35,575. (The big advantage of the Coupe is that it has child-size fold-down rear seats, while the Roadster comes only as a two-seater.)
Of course, as always with a German car, you can spend a lot more if you want to. The 3.2 liter, 250-horsepower, six-cylinder engine is only available in all-wheel-drive versions of the '08 TT (the 2.0T has front-wheel drive). The 3.2 Quattro TT ragtop roadster starts at $45,275 for a stick shift and $46,675 with an automatic. The 3.2 Quattro version of the hardtop Coupe starts at $42,225 with a stick shift and $43,675 with an automatic.
Early indications are that the new TT is going to sell very well. U.S. sales of the TT were up 205.4%, to 1,652 units in the first half of 2007, even though the new model hit showrooms only in April. Sales were up 371.4%, to 495 units in the month of June.
Audi, a unit of Volkswagen, saw its overall U.S. unit sales rise 13%, to 45,711 in the first half.
The turbocharged engine in my loaner Audi TT was one of the most impressive four-cylinder power plants I've ever tested. It generates 20 horsepower more than the 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine in the old TT, which is enough to give the '08 significantly more pep. I got 0-to-60 times of a little over six seconds in the '08 TT with an automatic transmission, which is nearly two seconds faster than the old TT.
One reason the TT is so quick is that Audi's S tronic automatic transmission is one of the smoothest and fastest-shifting in existence. I got about the same 0-to-60 times whether I put the automatic into the sport setting and just punched the gas pedal, letting the transmission do the work, or if I had it in manual mode and used the paddle shifters to change gears myself.
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