With Solar Orange paintwork, one of three special colours for the car (the other two are Imola Yellow and Sprint Blue), the TTS is already loud. Throw in that souped-up engine and explosive exhaust, and it’s like an Audi public address system for enthusiasts.
Best of all, there’s real poise behind all that noise, with quattro permanent four-wheel-drive and Audi magnetic ride (advanced adaptive damping) harnessing the 272 horses put out by the heavily tweaked 2-litre turbo 4-cylinder.
Rapid-fire 6-speed S tronic, Audi’s version of Volkswagen’s renowned DSG dual-clutch transmission, delivers the horsepower in a fast and fluid manner. Incidentally, the development team probably didn’t do much to the gearbox innards for this application, so they were perhaps obligated to reposition the lever’s release catch from the side to the front.
Even before hitting the tarmac, the TTS already looks fast. That aforementioned paint job is only the appetiser. The main course is an aggressive redesign of the front apron, grille, air inlets, side skirts, bumpers and rear diffuser, with most of the reworking done for function rather than fashion. Dessert comes in the tasty form of quadruple tailpipes and bi-xenon headlamps with LED daytime running lights, the latter an Audi design signature that has supporters and detractors alike. Supercar spotters will also notice the matte aluminium housings for the wing mirrors. Racy new 18-inch rims complete the look-fast menu of Audi’s quickest TT model.
Inside the cabin is another feast for the senses, spun off the standard TT cockpit loved for its high quality and even higher style quotient. The Nappa two-tone leather, colour-coordinated with the exterior, is nice but less nice than the deeply supportive seats it covers. Another highlight is the flat-bottomed steering wheel, which is grippy and gorgeous in equal measure. Similarly sporty is the instrument cluster with its grey dials and white needles, the said pointers flicking across the meters on ignition and then returning to their idle positions. More unique, and also more useful, is the integral lap timer of the high-resolution on-board display. Weekend racetrack refugees will like this feature as much as weekday street fighters.
Even everyday drivers can appreciate the improvement in performance over the non-S TT 2.0, which by the way is no slouch on the road. Acceleration, both from standstill and on the move, is seriously quick and accompanied by a delicious “BRRAAAPPP” with each gear upchange. The pick-up is effortless, too. Just press firmly on the accelerator pedal and the TTS takes off like a guided missile.
Speaking of which, the car is equipped with launch control, perfect for the occasional traffic lights Grand Prix. In a real GP setting like Marina Bay, however, it’s smarter to activate the suspension’s Sport mode. This stiffens the dampers considerably and enables the TTS to demolish corners even more convincingly, but the rock-hard ride is a penalty best paid on a racing circuit. In Normal mode, the car’s handling is already sharp and stable, with well-weighted steering that is well-connected to the chassis. The grip benefits of four-wheel-drive are most obvious on slippery ground, but quattro always assists wherever the TTS is accelerating quickly.
Also helping the coupe fly is the S tronic transmission, which is so speedy in either of its two frantic-automatic modes that you don’t really need to play with the steering paddles or central gearshifter. Self-service shifting is fun, though, thanks to the snappy gearbox responses and those exciting engine blips between downshifts.
Like how the R8 gives the 911 a hard time, the TTS spells trouble for the Cayman, at least in theory. 
