Audi 2014 Annual Report Download - page 49

PHOTOS : Sjoerd ten Kate, AUDI AG
Last stage heading to the start-finish straight. Steep hills,
wildly winding roads and occasional oncoming traffic guarantee
a pounding pulse. The new Audi TTS – a rush of happy hormones.
The clouds continue to hang low over the road. Brief, heavy
downpours alternate with sunshine. But none of that fazes
Daniel Simon in the least. He is sitting in the new Audi TTS
and presses the start button.
A quiet rumble sounds. But it isn’t a thunderstorm gathering in
the distance, it’s the engine of the new sport coupe in which
he is sitting. Daniel Simon suddenly has an easy big-kid grin on his
face, for he can guess what awaits him : pure driving pleasure.
The rumbling becomes a sonorous roar as Daniel Simon fl oors
the accelerator. Tremendous thrust catapults the Audi TTS
forward. Daniel Simon is pressed back into the sport seat. “The
technology has now reached the groundbreaking level of
the design ! From a design icon to an uncompromising driving
machine. Wow !”
And the Audi TTS does indeed fully express its Trophy genes.
Curve after curve, straight after straight, it reveals its sporty
qualities. “I am sitting embedded in a supremely functional
cabin. The air vents, the virtual cockpit in the middle. Every-
thing is turned towards the driver. The digital tachometer and
digital speedometer, between them the route. Absolutely
futuristic !”
Daniel Simon sets the S tronic to “S” as in “Sport” and uses the
shift paddles on the steering wheel. The tachometer automatically
jumps to the foreground in the display. All relevant characteristics
of the chassis, steering, transmission, quattro drivetrain and
throttle response change at the same time.
The car handles very precisely. The roads become narrower , the
curves shorter and more di cult to negotiate. The Audi TTS
is now completely in its element. The quattro drivetrain ensures
that the wide tires really bite into asphalt. “The TTS is really
very agile on the front axle ; reacts immediately when turning
in.” The speed blurs the green shades of the landscape.
The sport coupe is now on the home stretch. A fi nal spurt.
Later, after he gets out, Daniel Simon looks back to sum up his
experience : “The current model is a spectacular and contempo-
rary reinterpretation of the fi rst TT. The edges of the aluminum
body are precise and sharp. Every sinew of the car is visible.
The front end shows the power of the sports car with head-
lights – optionally with Matrix LED technology – angled toward
the Singleframe. Emphatically horizontal lines underscore the
sporty width. The TTS appears determined, has a more athletic
architecture.”
“The TTS is evolutionary on the outside,
revolutionary on the inside – with a rigorous
orientation toward the driver and naturally
with the spectacular virtual cockpit. The third
generation – an uncompromising, futuristic
road athlete.”
TT_03
Fuel consumption and emission figures at the end of the Annual Report