Audi TTS Coupé 2.0 TFSI quattro – On the Dynamometer

Hendrik was looking for something fun, something fast. “I didn’t have to go all out on horsepower or anything. I just wanted a nice car. Fun to look at, fun to drive. One in which driving still gives some pleasure.” He came home with an Audi TTS.

“I also seriously looked at a BMW Z4,” he says. “But yes, you really can’t do anything with it except drive. A convertible, I don’t care much about that and of course you don’t have a back seat with that BMW. This Audi is just a bit more practical and now the dog can go with me in the back seat when I go out with my wife.” There is also a Passat at home, so the Audi is really Hendrik’s toy.

TTS came in 2008, with 272 hp standard

Hendrik does not really wear an Audi cap in everyday life, but he can appreciate the brand from Ingolstadt. Let’s take a look at the success story of this German sportsman. In 1995 the public got to see him for the first time. The reactions were positive, after which Audi decided in 1998 to take the TT into production. The coupe was the first, the roadster followed a year later. The TT was only available with four-cylinder turbo engines, such as Hendrik’s, with front-wheel drive or as a quattro. Only in 2003 was there a six-cylinder: a version with a 250 hp 3.2 V6. In 2006, the second generation of the TT appeared with a significantly sleeker design. Less cuddly and also less spherical. This extra sporty TTS came on the market for the first time in 2008 with a boosted 2.0 TFSI engine with 272 hp in the front. The top model was the TT-RS, first shown in 2009, with a completely newly developed five-cylinder 2.5-liter turbo engine with 340 hp. At the end of November 2014, a new generation of the TT appeared in the showroom. The current model saw the light in 2019, still as a coupe and as a roadster. The top model now is the five-cylinder turbo of 2,480 cc, with 400 hp and 480 Nm, the TT RS Coupé quattro. For this you now have to take more than a ton to the Audi dealer.

Bought TTS from an elderly man

Hendrik is the go-getter type. “I went looking for a used Audi TT and I came across this one online. It belonged to a private individual from Limburg. I go there with my brother-in-law. We ended up with a neat, elderly man, with a garage and a spacious house. Then I already saw that it was all right,” says Hendrik. “That man was super careful with his car. He almost thought it was a shame to drive it because it would get dirty, haha. You could safely eat off the floor in the car. And all the booklets were there.” Hendrik bought the TT. It was no problem that the car originally comes from Germany and that an original, official chip tuning was released. “I had and have every confidence in this white rascal,” said the proud owner. That rascal dates from 2009 and Hendrik bought it last year with an odometer reading of 73,000. Since driving it, a cruise control has been put in and something has been done with a muffler and a valve in the exhaust system. “That in turn improves the experience.” Good, because that’s what Hendrik was all about.

Still less than promised, but 303 hp is enough for Hendrik

After a round of calibration, dynamometer chief Ghisbert van Ginhoven presses the accelerator towards the bottom plate for a test of power and torque. The thick two-liter holds up bravely, sounds great, even roars nicely. Hendrik is enjoying himself, because when can you hear your own car performing at its maximum while you can stand next to it? Ghisbert manages to squeeze out 303 hp. Less than the total that the previous owner had carefully suggested, but he had also heard it said. No measurement has been performed after the chip tuning. Hendrik thinks it’s fine. “Nice to know, but he is getting tired of it.”