Boy am I glad this topic has started to settle down a bit. It got pretty wild around page 6 or so....

It really is like this - The Crossfire, TT, RX8, and 350Z are all nice cars, and have their advantages and disadvantages. Except for the TT, I have driven them all.

I decided that the correct car for me was the Crossfire, others picked another, for their particular reasons. If there was one "best" car, we would all own it!! Since I own a Crossfire, I obviously think I made the best decision, and own the best car. The same goes for you, and I can appreciate that.

Can we at least attempt to stop the chest beating contest and just talk about our cars?

And as to racing, the person at the wheel has as much to do with how a car will handle as the car itself, so sometimes a car with more power will lose. That does not mean that in another contest between the same two cars the results will be completely different!

Jim

 

A couple of comments:

1. I don't care for the looks of the TT. To me it resembles a rather large portable speed bump.
2. If I had 40K to spend for a fast car I wouldn't have started with either one.
3. To the tuner dudes out there: The question of how fast you want to go becomes a question of how hard you want to flog your squirrels. The flip side of that same issue is how many times can you flog your squirrels hard before they die.
4. Yes they are sport cars. The folks at Road America let me on the track to tour with the other sport cars that ranged from MGs to Ferraris. I use the same definition that they do.

 

On most normal days driving you can only go as fast as the car in front. Not a lot you can do about traffic!

I'm not a fan of the TT either due to its looks. It reminds me of the VW Beetle but a bit smaller!
Someone I work with just got a new TT and he loves it. It does have its plus point like back seats his small kids can fit in, but I don't have a family yet so no need for them. Everyone has different taste but as far as performance goes there isn't much between them to really worry about. I looked at the 350z but it doesn't have the comfort and on a long drive for 2 hours to a customer meeting, I chose comfort over the extra performance. We all have different needs and desires even though we are all looking at cheap sports cars.

 

whether or not you like the TT's looks or not...you must admit that your car (along with the 350z) have definitely been inspired by the design of our cars. Without the TT, the Crossfire wouldn't have a market to exist in.

Have you ever seen our interiors? well, i will say that i've sat in cars 3 times the price of the TT and have yet to find an interior that's as nice.

like we've said before, for $500 you can add 50HP in the TT. for $10,000, you can make it close to 500HP. that *IS* performance whether you like it or not. With the right suspension upgrades it handles like a fly. It's a fantastic car and one that will be a classic in the future.

The Crossfire is a new car, and one with a mixed past...it's not exactly innovative, BUT it has it's own character. Hopefully you guys can get some good aftermarket parts to augment what's on your cars. I'm a bit discerned by all the Automatic transmissions i see on here.....but then again, maybe alot of you bought the car for other reasons aside from performance (cruising, style, etc..)

both cars turn heads. both cars stir a reaction. the TT is 5 years old, yet i still get asked about it constantly by people..people still stare and point. Another TT owner in Chicago got asked at a gas station if it was a prototype concept car. HAHA....

cheers! happy cruising.

 

Both cars are stylish cars, however, under some circumstances a CF killed a TT and was proud to tell us all here in this forum but not intended to address it to the general TT owners. But what sparked all these argument and tech banter is when some TT affecionado's farted inside this forum challenging us and telling XF'ers that we cant beat their car. Of course, there's no way they'll win here or have a royal welcome here in our very own forum. It's vice versa if some XF'er do it in their forum too. The fact that there are facts and data already about it, no XF'ers will ever admit to a TT'ers that they can beat our XF - in this forum because the fact / mag says so. But we all know its a driver thing - a skill in racing and if you wanna prove your skill then race it in the track and not on the streets.

XF'ers can be a friend and can have fun with other cars in this forum most especially when TT'ers think that we're a kin to them. Then we all can have a good time

It's a lesson to learn from outsiders that XF members in this forum love their Crossfires sooo bad that they'll gonna defend it whenever someone tries to take their love away It happens between members too anyway

Drive in peace now

 

i'll still rail any crossfire in a race :wink:

 

I agree the TT probably made the market and it has done very well and will go down in history. I'd also agree the TT has a better after market for mods etc.. But it has also been out a lot longer than the CF. I hope the CF aftermarket picks up in the same time.

I just love the character and different styling of the CF. The added factor that not may of them have been sold makes it more unique. I can drive just down my own road and see 3 x TT's. I'm the only CF in my town, never mind the street.

Respect to you though for sticking up for the TT. We are all passionate about our cars and that is great to see.

 

Well I would take issue with this point. If I wanted to trace the lineage of two passenger sport coupes I probably would start from postwar, British cars and not just back a few years to a TT. In fact if I wanted to trace the lineage from a German ride why not start forward from 2 passenger MB coupes which this comes directly from.

What exactly was the point that you were trying to make? I can barely make the connection between a 2 passenger sport coupe and a kiddie toting family buggy.

 

The SLK was here before the TT.

 

to be honest, the SLK was never taken seriously. It didn't have an ounce of performance in it aside from the AMG version. It's styling was nice in a very conservative MB sort of way. It didn't even come in a Manual transmission...and it wasn't quick or sharp handling.

The TT brought back retro and radical design to performance cars......the designer of the 350z (Ajay Panchal sp?) owns a TT himself. The low roofline used on alot of cars now (especially in Chrysler cars) is a result of Chrysler hiring the chief of design from Audi a few years ago. That Dodge Magnum is a total rip off of an Audi station wagon concept which was unveiled a few years ago. None of this is coincidental.

if you haven't driven a TT or sat in a TT, please do and you'll see what i'm talking about. it has very little to do with a Beetle aside from wheelbase.

Again, i'm not arguing here...i'm just stating our side.

 

I think what he means is that the TT was one of the first of the new wave of roadsters in the late 1990's. It helped to open up a new consumer market for a kind of sports car not seen in quite a few years.

 

If the TT was a bit more scarce i might have bought the 3.2 i test drove but as there are 5 in my street alone and 6 at work it's like owning a BMW, an over priced mass market car that every man and his dog owns. Of course the Xfire could sell by the thousands but i doubt it and for me thats the attraction.

 

Are we allowed to rub fenders?

 

i have to respond at least once to this thread. i personally think the thread is awesome. even when you were all talkin smack. and even better when it got constructive. i personally think the TT's are pretty cool looking. definitely trendsetters when they came out. i personally can appreciate any cool car. if i could have gotten a similar deal on a tt or a 350z, it would have been a tough decision. however, the looks of the crossfire in my opinion are the best of all of them. and i'm not a streetracer, so fast drag times are not a huge deal to me (however i can see autocrossing in my near future). hell, my dad in his new 300C will spank me in a drag. but at least the crossfire is quicker than 90% of the cars out there. i'd race one of you tt guys just to see how bad you would beat me. just cuz i'm curious. so in the end, i appreciate you guys coming in and stirring things up.

one question...what's the easy way to tell the different tt's apart? so if i have one pull up next to me, i will know how bad i will get beat. call me stupid for not knowing the difference...but i guess that's why i'm asking.

one more thing...please don't take the posts from Dan Root as typical of this forum. he is a jacka$$ and most people on this forum even agree.

also notice i do have a 6-speed manual...my opinion was definitely with a car like this, i needed a manual.

 

I have to agree with alot of comments... The Audi TT does have a great interior. I too still have no idea why someone would pick and autostick over a 6-speed, but obviouly the sell more of them.

I do pay my respects to the Audi group for getting the boat tail design going again and from that respective I can see where you say the influence came from. However what car influced it's design?

Although some inspiration likely came from you car and how well it has done in it's market, our cars heritage can actually be traced back to the 65 rambler martin - our back is and updated and refined version of it with all those crazy art deco lines they added all around the rest of the design:




There are some speculations that the crossfire came from the Dodge razor. But I am not sure which one actually came first in concept drawing at DC:



It's kind of neat to see all the modern cars that are based off of past influnces. There is no telling what the manufactures will come up with next.

-marc

 

I bought mine as my daily driver, not to race. So an auto stick makes sense......

I was attracted to the looks of the vehicle, and the performace is quite good in my opinion, for the type of driving I do.

If the purpose of my purchase had been to race this car, then I would be spending the necessary money to get the improved H/P and acceleration, etc.

But my impression of this forum and the other owners of the Crossfires is that the racers are most definitely in the minority. Of all the Crossfire owners that have posted here, I don't think there have been 50 that have done the ECU aftermarket upgrades and less than 15 that have made real performance changes to thier cars.

The rest of us like our cars just the wat they are!

:-)

 

There isnt a real easy way but there are a few starting points.

1. 180hp have a single exhaust tip and 225hp have two stock. But it's very easy for a 180 to add a twin tip exhaust or even a fake tip that audi used to sell themselves.

2. Quattros have a logo on the front and back but again real easy to add/remove

There are a lot of differences between the 180fwd,180q, and the 225q. But most are internal. If you pull up next to one you can ask if he as a 5sp or a 6sp manual. 225 only came 6sp manual. Then there is the 250hp DSG model, I don't know much about this one. It has a few ext. changes but probably not enough for you to notice unless you saw a turbo and v6 back to back. You could come across a 180hp auto quattro roadster(16sec car) and the very same day see a 225hp and a 250hp model and never know the difference.

Also thanks for calling out Dan, it's good to see guys like that don't represent the crossfire comunity as a whole. Cheers!!!

 

Do a search for autocross and check out the links to what I've done. In the Old Dominion Region (ODR) SCCA we haven't seen one TT to date. Why???? Because they are JUNK!!! Go look at my videos.... The links are on this forum... But you own a TT so I'll take you by the hand.... www.autocross.us ....... click on "Event Coverage" and click on any event you want. My name is Wes Michaels. Then if the TT is such hot stuff post a link and show us your stuff.... If not go back to your TT forum and think about how you screwed up by buying such a slug.

 

Wes,

I dont know about that... as it is I am afraid to follow my buddie in his A4 as he makes turns on a dime and that all wheel drive stuff keeps him planted espically in wet conditions.

I know your a better driver than me and maybe you would not hesitate to do it, after all it really is a drivers game. Based on that, you wont see me follow a TT quattro on quick turns. I am suprised you don't have any TT's racing. I know that there is one at my local autocross club. From what I remember it is in the B Stock class while we are in the D Stock class...

-marc

 

Road test ,Road & Tract, tt quattro3.2slalom 5-04,66.7mph.
Crossfire 1-04,69.6.....
almost 3mph faster !!

That is the QUATTRO .The best tt

Price as tested difference $13,000 List,msrp