As an avid Audi fan and prior and current Audi (A4) owner go with the XFire on this one. The TT is a nice car though it's not all its summed up to be. Its a nice coupe plagued with an ugly bulbous front end. It shares a platform with a golf and beetle. If you opt for the Quattro, it's not the true quattro found on the A4, A6 or A8 which are permanent all wheel drive; they are those Haldex AWD slip crap that it only kicks in when it detects slippage.

In Handling, the Audi bogs and rolls quite noticeably on hard corners the suspension seems way soft for the nature of the car, whereas the XFire is always poised, takes corners at 100mph plus with ease and seems to be on rails with no body roll.

In Performance, the Audi has two wonderful 1.8 Turbo 4-cylinder engines that are great. The 180 hp single intercooled version or the 225 hp twin intercooled version (PLEASE NOTE: Both these 1.8T's produce way less torque than the XFire; 173lbs and 207lbs respectively). Now theres a 3.2 Liter V6 version that is a VR6 from the latest VW GTI R32 I wont mention that one due to that its about $10K over the price of a Crossfire however the funny thing is that is produces almost equal performance to the XFire but for $10K more). Due to the heft (2,987 lbs 180-hp or 3,230 lbs 225-hp) the Audi with the 180hp version is a DOG. The 225 hp version is the way to go with the 1.8T engine. The 225 hp version only has better down low acceleration that is actually noticeable over the 180hp, but thats about it, once underway it feels almost the same as the 180hp version. Now the XFire spares the turbo lag and small displacement with Mercedes-Benz 3.2 Liter normally aspirated V6 pumping 215 hp and a delicious 229 lbs of torque through a flat curve of 3,000-4,000 rpm's. Meaning you will be able to accelerate a manual version of the XFire in any gear and get impressive acceleration whereas the audi although it has a huge flat torque curve on both 1.8T engine's, you still might have to downshift to get a good passing gear. Also worth mentioning the XFire is faster in acceleration than both Audi 1.8T versions and equally comparable to the Audi 3.2 DSG, and has a higher top end, a true 150 mph.

Exhaust notes are also worth mentioning. The two versions of the Audi TT 1.8T sound like what they are; a 4-cylinder with a turbo whoosh coming from the right front of the car whereas the XFire has this mean deep growl as the rev's climb that make you want to drop clutch and floor the car every chance you get to hear that growl eminating from the rear. Its awesome.

Exterior styling: To start the crossfire is FAR WAY BETTER LOOKING, the audi looks like someone stretched a beetle from the front and back ends. Need I say MORE. Also the XFire has a great deployable rear wing for stability that is very effective and when not needed it stows itself whereas the TT has this ugly lip permanently fixed to the rear distorting the only nice part of the TT; the rear end. Audi noticed that lots of its TT's where not stable at high speeds causing accidents so they decided to install a permanently fixed rear lip for stability.

Comfort: Yeah the big plus the Audi has over the XFIRE is that you do have nicer fit and finish on the inside of the Audi and you have 2 extra NON-HUMAN rear seats that can carry addtl items. The stereo is better in the Audi as are the interior materials and the leather. The Audi features and creature comforts are better and at night the gauges illuminate in this beautiful red that is breathtaking. The XFire is just a previous gen. SLK nice for its time (late 90's) with a nice layout though lacking features like an on-board computer, or a Fully Automatic Climate Control (dual) with digital readouts as in the Audi. Also the interior dash facing and the console trim material is a cheapy plastic in the XFire where I wish Daimler Chrysler would have gone with some nice aluminum. Other than that interior goes to Audi.

Transmission: The Audi's transmission is rubbery, so it fairs comparably to the stubborn when cold XFIRE transmission. But both are good tranny's and get the job done with nothing great to note about either one. However the clutch modulation is far better in the Audi due to that is has a shorter travel nothing an experienced XFire driver can't duplicate .

As far as trade-in values are concerned, we can't really determine that in a comparison between the two. The XFire hasn't been in the market as long as the Audi to really determine which will weather better. I took two larger hits on prior Audi's i owned and they were only 7 months old, so don't go buy the "ITS A LUXURY BRAND IT'LL HOLD ITS VALUE BETTER CRAP" cause that's NOT TRUE.

Wheels and Tires: The suspension and setup is BETTER on the XFire though the ride is much stiffer than in the Audi. The Audi has softer springs giving you a nice ride until the road starts to bend where its poise starts to crumble and the car starts rolling and leaning heavily. The rims on the Audi are aweful looking and the sizes are small when compared to the XFire's great looking larger rims and meaty wide tires out back.

Warranty: The warranty is better on the Audi by far. A 4yrs/50,000 mi. bumper to bumper with service included for 4yrs/50,000 mi. The XFire has a crappy traditional American 3yrs/36,000 mi. bumper to bumper warranty with no service included. However, the Powertrain is better in the XFire with a 7yrs/70,000 mi. warranty, whereas the Audi's Powertrain is only 4yrs/50,000 mi.

Fuel Economy:

Audi 1.8T 180-hp Automatic: 21 City Mpg / 29 Hwy Mpg

Audi 1.8T 225-hp Manual: 20 City Mpg / 28 Hwy Mpg

Crossfire Manual: 17 City Mpg / 25 Hwy Mpg
Crossfire Auto: 21 City Mpg / 28 Hwy Mpg

So, for your money, if you want rarity, looks, a definite Collector's item, a car that will always have someone coming up to you for a short conversation of "how do you like it?" or "who makes this car?" , a car that handles incredibly, performs and sounds great and that shares lots with a great car maker, MERCEDES-BENZ, then go with the Crossfire.

P.S. Don't feel like you are not buying a luxury coupe by not selecting the Audi because if you get down to it, the XFire is way better - IT IS a reskinned MERCEDES-BENZ.

HOPE this Helped!