I believe Porsche with the 964 and VW with the Corrado were the first german brands to have a speed sensitive spoiler. The current TT is available in 3 flavors, if you will. There is the "base"' model, which is powered by a 200hp 2.0t motor--identical to what is in the current GTI. A model up from there is the 3.2L VR6 (VW powered) 250hp TT, which has the same powertrain as a VW R32. The most recent addition to the family is the TT-S. The S version shares it's basic engine design with the base TT--2.0t, direct injection. However, the S model has a bigger turbo and a lot more power--~270hp IIRC. This motor is what is found in europe in the current Audi S3. The S badged audi's are kind of like the M or AMG cars for BMW or Benz. Though it seems like more and more, it's really the RS badged Audi's that compete with the other two performance badges. There are rumors of a TT RS, which is said to be equipped with a 2.5L 5-cyl turbo (similar motor to what is found in base model Golf/Jetta cars in the US). The big news on the TT front is that the VR6 model will no longer be available in the TT.

So, if you kept up with the TT, it definitely wasn't a TT-S. Likely a regular TT with a "quattro" badge in the rear? And if it was a TT-S, the guy likely wasn't really trying that hard. The TT is a nice car, but it's just too golf-like. I prefer the styling of the crossfire to be honest.