Wetterauer Audi TT - Performance Trends - German Car

The Audi TT is a very good vehicle right off the assembly line. It's beautifully styled, has ample power, and is a hoot to drive on twisty roads. Despite reported high-speed stability problems that Audi addressed by adding a small rear wing to both the hardtop and roadster, we think the car's handling is near perfect (with or without the wing).

The engineers at European tuner Wetterauer felt they could modify the TT without hurting its performance-the first rule of tuning any vehicle. Wetterauer started with a Euro-spec 2001 Audi TT front-drive Roadster fitted with the 1.8-liter/180-horsepower four-cylinder engine. The simple, yet effective power upgrades include a high-flow exhaust system, Oil Extreme engine oil, a Wetterauer performance computer chip ($695), and a Roar carbon fiber cold-air intake system. The result, according to Wetterauer, is a bump in horsepower to 210 and a boost in torque from the stock 173 pound-feet to 245 pound-feet. This translated to better 0-60-mph and quarter-mile acceleration numbers (see chart).

To aid handling and looks, Wetterauer installed H&R stage 2 sport springs (about a 20-millimeter drop) and fitted a subtle Cord Design body kit, BBS 18x8.0-inch wheels and 225/40ZR18 BFGoodrich G-Force KD tires. On the handling course, the changes helped improve both skidpad and slalom numbers. Test driver Mac DeMere said, "This car was perfect in the slalom: lots of grip, loads of power, and a handling balance toward understeer. I could really whip it back and forth with no thought of losing the tail."

At the end of our test, it was nice to see that Wetterauer had started with a great product, installed some carefully chosen parts and ended up with a better vehicle. This should be the recipe for all tuners.

Source: Wetterauer America 219/477-6806www.chip-tuning.com www.wetterauer.de

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