# Ultimate 385-hp Lightweight Audi TT RS-GT Planned as Current Car Lifecycle Matures



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Paris car magazine L'Automobile is reporting today that Audi plans to bid a fond farewell to the current generation TT in the form of stripped down hardcore version with even more horsepower. If the French rumors are true, then details include a bump from 360 hp to 385 hp for the 2.5 TFSI. The story also suggests the car will drop some 125 lbs or more through further improve performance.

Remember the first-generation TT quattro Sport. Though no TT RS existed at the time, that lightweight and hardcore TT (a favorite of Audi board member Michael Dick) sported lightweight Recaro seats in the front and handsome aluminum upper strut tie bar in the back in place of rear seating. It was essentially a Clubsport model in all but name.










So what might such an ultimate TT RS be called? To be honest, we're not sure. One common suggestion is that it could bear the 'plus' name, and that's certainly not a new move at quattro GmbH. Audi's skunkworks team's first project was the V8-powered S6 Plus back in C4 days and more recent products like the RS 6 plus (both C5 and C6 generations got one) featured more power and more tailored accoutrements. Still, quattro GmbH already applied the "plus" moniker to the TT RS in Europe when it bumped the 2.5 TFSI mill to 260 hp this year. Americans got _that_ plus engine setup as standard for the TT RS, but the name's been used. On the other hand, the 'Clubsport' name has never been used in production but has adorned many other lightweight design studies including several TT speedsters. Then there's the R8 GT... could that spawn a TT GT with similar ultra-inspired theme?

What will it be? Time will tell if it is to exist at all. We're hoping it does though and if the last TT generation is a guide then Audi may just pull out such a car in the sunset of Mk2 TT production.

Could America get such a TT RS Clubsport, TT GT or whatever it could be called? Perhaps, but like the R8 GT we doubt it would get any changes that would require further homologation. The original TT quattro Sport had super light Recaros and rear brace that added complications and cost in the federalization process. Were Audi to drop those carbon fiber hoods we spotted at a lightweight tech day on a production TT GT, the result would likely be another complication for US homologation. Still, the TT RS will see a second year of production in the USA so maybe there might be a chance to get some sort of Americanized version. Time will tell.

* Full Story *


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## Marty (Jul 14, 2000)

Nothing we'll see in the US I'm sure.


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## Joelc (Aug 27, 2011)

Marty said:


> Nothing we'll see in the US I'm sure.


And that is the key question....


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## idiotsAVANT (Aug 18, 2004)

According to quattroholic - 



> Search Google News today for "Audi TT RS Plus" and you're likely to see headline after headline - some heavier on the hyperbole than others - signalling the arrival of a more-potent TT RS that sounds like something just short of a mini R8 GT. Specifically, we're pointing to an article from the French L’Automobile Magazine, of which many subsequent stories use as a source. The fact is, this is fairly old news. Allow us to elaborate after the jump.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

idiotsAVANT said:


> According to quattroholic -


I can't speak for them but I can tell you my thought process in determining if I should run the story and how to approach it. There are rumors all the time in the press, and when we see a rumor, we tend to reiterate it as such if we think it's worth passing along although I tend to qualify the validity of sources. Georg Kacher from Automobile/CAR comes to mind as he has the highest level board members talking to him directly and thusly we ran two stories from him earlier in the day when we ran across them. Also, if we have intel from one of our sources, we'll weigh that in and identify it as such while not always naming the source.

What we do know is that a 360 hp TT RS plus is on the books. That ETKA that was published by most of us months ago and reflects TT RS plus power levels and those levels match the US TT RS numbers. The l'Automobile story rumor suggests a car that goes beyond this, specifically a significant lightening of the chassis and greater bump in power.

How accurate is l'Automobile? They're a major French publication and may have an inside line but they're not a regular source of ours and as such I wouldn't exactly call them "E.F. Hutton" as I tend to do with Kacher. Still, they've got access to the same execs we do at world launches and they may have heard something real. It's possible they picked up on something at the S8 launch last week but no senior executives, quattro GmbH executives or TT product planners were at the S8 launch wave both the French and the Americans (including myself) attended so it's doubtful they got direct intel that way.

Also, it is important to consider that major publications also get these rumors wrong... and surprising get these rumors wrong on a regular basis. I'd classify this currently as rumor status and in the end we added the GT moniker as further speculation. I've got no intel to back that up but it made for a more interesting photoshop. I wrote the story in a way that I tried to be clear that it was our theorizing and NOT based on intel we had received directly.

Will Audi do this sort of send-off model for the TT? Time will tell. The TT RS plus is due this year or next. The l'Automobile rumor suggests the lightweight and higher hp car would come in 2013. That's consistent with the current TT's last year of production. Audi did this sort of thing last time around and such cars typically happen in the last year of production as it keeps the model's momentum going and the sales curves of such cars are often a quick spike. Further, I've heard rumor of final run TT models currently being discussed though that intel was not about a TT RS or about a lightweight clubsport, it does confirm that Audi is certainly planning special things for the current car's final model year.

In regards to the quattroholic piece, I don't think they've got any intel that isn't out there already. They quote an Audi of America PR rep's response to Automobile. This suggests to me that quattroholic is going on second hand information as are we. The real surprise here is that Automobile went to the PR person of an Audi's US importer. Automobile has Kacher on retainer and I'm surprised they didn't go to him directly since he probably already definitively knows the answer or could gain a VERY accurate answer via his sources in Neckarsulm. Given this is likely a Euro-only model, not officially announced or hinted to by board members thus far and also over a year out, I would assume that even if Audi's US PR team has been briefed on such a project they probably wouldn't talk about it and certainly wouldn't do so on record.

I'll be in Ingolstadt again this week and while I likely won't be around quattro GmbH representatives, I'll see what I can dig up on this... if anything.


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## JohnLZ7W (Nov 23, 2003)

[email protected] said:


> What we do know is that a 360 hp TT RS plus is on the books. That ETKA that was published by most of us months ago and reflects TT RS plus power levels and those levels match the US TT RS numbers. The l'Automobile story rumor suggests a car that goes beyond this, specifically a significant lightening of the chassis and greater bump in power.


More importantly, it doesn't just match the power output of the US spec car, it matches the chassis designation: 8J35R9.

I think the 385hp speculation is bogus, the most that they'll release is the 360hp engine. 385hp would put this engine at 154hp/l which is certainly possible as all of the tuners have shown but is on the aggressive side for a factory product. I also think there won't be much in the way of weight saving beyond some carbon trim bits (splitter and wing) and lightweight seats with rear seat delete like we saw with the mk1 quattro sport. Recaro Pole Positions would still trim quite a bit of weight from the factory Recaro sport seat and losing the rear seat would probably get them close to the 150lb target for weight loss.


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## Marty (Jul 14, 2000)

I just hope it doesn't ship with those wheels in the original post.


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## R5T (Apr 7, 2010)

There are a lot of ways to loose weight on a TT(RS).

The TT still have "steel" doors, so than make them out of aluminium.
The front fenders and bonnet are made out of aluminium they can be made out of CFRP.
In this case the weight is taken out at the most important place of the car, the frond end.

I already made this in may 2010 and this was the info back then.










Audi TT GT 380 pk (based on TT RS).
Ceramic brakes all around.
Ultra light weight GT wheels.
GT frontspoiler.
GT sport seats.
Rear seat deletion.
75 Kg lighter.


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## Dr. Bill (May 15, 2011)

R5T said:


> There are a lot of ways to loose weight on a TT(RS).
> 
> The TT still have "steel" doors, so than make them out of aluminium.
> The front fenders and bonnet are made out of aluminium they can be made out of CFRP.
> ...


Sounds like what Porsche did with the Boxster Spyder and Cayman R.
Other suggestions:
- delete the A/C (and then charge more to put it back)
- delete the radio (again, charge more to add it back)
- use lightweight glass or Perspex for the hatchback and rear quarter windows

If the TTRS was under 3000 pounds, it would be amazing!


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## Marty (Jul 14, 2000)

R5T said:


> There are a lot of ways to loose weight on a TT(RS).
> 
> The TT still have "steel" doors, so than make them out of aluminium.
> The front fenders and bonnet are made out of aluminium they can be made out of CFRP.
> ...


Where are those wheels coming from?


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

JohnLZ7W said:


> More importantly, it doesn't just match the power output of the US spec car, it matches the chassis designation: 8J35R9.
> 
> I think the 385hp speculation is bogus, the most that they'll release is the 360hp engine. 385hp would put this engine at 154hp/l which is certainly possible as all of the tuners have shown but is on the aggressive side for a factory product. I also think there won't be much in the way of weight saving beyond some carbon trim bits (splitter and wing) and lightweight seats with rear seat delete like we saw with the mk1 quattro sport. Recaro Pole Positions would still trim quite a bit of weight from the factory Recaro sport seat and losing the rear seat would probably get them close to the 150lb target for weight loss.












Remember this prototype? I wonder if elements of it were more than just a simple exercise now...

http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Features/article_6786.shtml


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

R5T said:


> There are a lot of ways to loose weight on a TT(RS).
> 
> The TT still have "steel" doors, so than make them out of aluminium.
> The front fenders and bonnet are made out of aluminium they can be made out of CFRP.
> ...


I don't know about all of this Hans. I suppose it depends on planned price. There's a lot of room in the R8 target consumer's budget to add carbon fiber bumpers and panels. The TT will be more price sensitive. We know they've made a run of carbon fiber hoods as I've seen them personally and the car I drove (linked above) had one. Still, I don't see them going full R8 GT treatment on this.










Are you certain the doors are steel? I recall the pitch being that the only steel in the chassis was the segment in the rear... shown in the diagram. Unfortunately the diagram doesn't include panels like hood and doors... but the hood is definitely aluminum. The display at the lightweight techday had a comparison between aluminum and carbon hoods where you lifted them and felt the difference.

I'm betting the doors are aluminum, but if they aren't there'd be little reason to develop aluminum equivalents for such a minimally produced niche TT. That would have happened with the launch of the RS IF they were steel... and I'm pretty sure they're aluminum.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Dr. Bill said:


> Sounds like what Porsche did with the Boxster Spyder and Cayman R.
> Other suggestions:
> - delete the A/C (and then charge more to put it back)
> - delete the radio (again, charge more to add it back)
> ...


Porsche did aluminum doors because it already had them from the GT3/GT2/RS program and they were interchangeable. Again, I'm pretty sure the TT already has aluminum doors but IF they are steel then don't expect a change simply for such a limited run TT at the end of production.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Marty said:


> Where are those wheels coming from?


R8 GT.


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## David L (Dec 23, 2001)

[email protected] said:


> Porsche did aluminum doors because it already had them from the GT3/GT2/RS program and they were interchangeable. Again, I'm pretty sure the TT already has aluminum doors but IF they are steel then don't expect a change simply for such a limited run TT at the end of production.


Trust me on this one, I did not glue this to the door. :laugh:










You can easily drop 30kg by just using other front seats. They are like 24kg/each. Rear seat is almost 17kg.


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## Stevelev (Mar 4, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> ... Are you certain the doors are steel? I'm betting the doors are aluminum, but if they aren't there'd be little reason to develop aluminum equivalents for such a minimally produced niche TT. That would have happened with the launch of the RS IF they were steel... and I'm pretty sure they're aluminum.


I can confirm that the mkII doors are steel (I was told that Audi decided to add some weight back into the chassis). Unfortunately, my swerve wasn't a good enough defensive manoever to avoid a metal rod piercing my door just above the side skirt. :banghead:


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## R5T (Apr 7, 2010)

[email protected] said:


> Are you certain the doors are steel?


In a TT 3.2 they are 100% steel, a friend of my use magnetic decals on his TT 3.2 doors.


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## R5T (Apr 7, 2010)

Marty said:


> Where are those wheels coming from?


Audi R8 GT.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

David L said:


> Trust me on this one, I did not glue this to the door. :laugh:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for clarifying.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Anyone wiht a TT RS want to confirm if those doors are steel or aluminum?


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## David L (Dec 23, 2001)

They are the same doors. Same part# and everything.


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## tdi-bart (Feb 10, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> Anyone wiht a TT RS want to confirm if those doors are steel or aluminum?


i just checked with a magnet, the doors are steel, along with the rear tailgate, the rest of the metal panels are alu including the roof

also have a b8 s4 right beside i checked, *all* of the panels were steel


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## TT--AUDI--S4 (May 11, 2004)

*Audi TT RS-GT*










Yes please. :thumbup:


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## Marty (Jul 14, 2000)

[email protected] said:


> R8 GT.


Ah, thanks! They do look much better from an angle than straight-on.


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## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Design is originally from the R8 V12 TDI show car.


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## gt2437 (Jul 29, 2000)

What is the weight distribution over the front and rear axles on the TT RS (in light of the ASF)?


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## JohnLZ7W (Nov 23, 2003)

gt2437 said:


> What is the weight distribution over the front and rear axles on the TT RS (in light of the ASF)?


Still about 60/40. Turns out the I5 is actually heavier than the 3.2 VR6.


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## gt2437 (Jul 29, 2000)

JohnLZ7W said:


> Still about 60/40. Turns out the I5 is actually heavier than the 3.2 VR6.


Thanks! Wow, imagine what it would be if the whole chassis was steel, ala MK6 GTI?


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