Few cars have made such a dramatic impact on the motoring public as have Audi's TT Coupe and Roadster.
Some years ago, soon after the first TT was launched, I was driving home in one of the first test cars in the country and as I passed the local technikon about 20 students waiting for a bus cheered and clapped.
No test car before or since has produced such spontaneous approval and few of those students would have known was a TT was!
So, when the new-generation TT was being planned, I was a little worried that Audi's stylists might lose something of the original's unique appeal. Stylists usually can't leave a good thing alone but I needn't have fretted. If anything, the new car is even better-looking than the first.
The lines are crisper and sharper but that unique shape hasn't been compromised. I still prefer the looks of the coupé to the roadster but, having just lived with a roadster for a week, I think it might just be the better buy - but I'll get to that in a minute.
The model we tested was the two-litre FSI with S-tronic (formerly DSG) gearbox. The engine was the four-cylinder turbo unit also found in VW's Golf GTi which produces 147kW and 280Nm and is, I think, one of the sweetest engines in production today.
Combined with the S-tronic gearbox, it is one of the smoothest rides in the business.
The gearbox is an amazing piece of work. It essentially has three operating modes. You can leave it in drive (as you would in a conventional automatic), you can use the change paddles behind the steering wheel or you can flip the gear lever into sequential mode and change gears manually.
Thing is, the auto box is so good that it changes faster (up and down) than a human hand can so that's most likely going to be the mode that 99 percent of drivers will choose. Still, you do have the choice of the paddles or the manual should you find yourself in a mountain pass with a clear road ahead of you...
The new TT is fractionally bigger than its predecessor and it's made a world of difference, primarily because most of the extra space has been allocated to the cabin. Unlike the coupé, which has two tiny seats at the rear, the roadster is a pure two-seater because the canvas roof folds into what would have been the rear seats. The result is that there is plenty of space for the TT's two occupants.
The seats' power-adjustment can be set to precise requirements and the bottom of the steering wheel is flattened to give extra knee-room. I'm well over 1.8m tall and there was plenty of head, leg and elbow room. A very practical set-up.
So well-made
The soft hood is also a fine piece of work. The folding process is electronic and takes 12sec to pack itself away. And I'm told it will work on the move at up to 50km/h, though that was one experiment I wasn't willing to chance.
The hood is so well-made that, on the move, it's just like having a tin top. There's no wind noise and no hissing around the window. Also, when it's down, another electronic button provides an optional draught screen behind you that prevents wind-buffeting.
What really struck me about the roadster was just how practical it is. Provided you don't need to carry children, it could easily be used as a daily driver. It's quiet (too quiet, perhaps), comfortable, easy to drive and to park and relatively easy on the petrol card.
Which brings me back to my point about it being a better buy than the coupé. It can do everything the coupé can but on Sundays you can drop the top and just go cruising in real style. Even in winter you can lower the top, switch on the heater and seat-warmers and just enjoy the experience.
Two-litre better buy
Also exceptional is this new roadster's torsionally stiffness. Audi's engineers reckon it's twice as stiff as the original TT and they'll get no argument from me. Scuttle shake - long the bugbear with open-topped cars - is very minimal.
Indeed, at high altitude, I think the two-litre turbo, front-wheel drive roadster might be a better buy than the 3.2-litre V6 quattro. It's cheaper by far, lighter, easier on petrol and even with its front-wheel drive it handles like it's on rails.
One gripe, though - and this applies not only to Audi but to all the German manufacturers - and that's this business of optional extras. The base Audi TT 2.0T retails for R395 000 but our test car came with R76 770's worth of extras - 18" rims and tyres R15 090; metallic paint R1760; satnav R19 770; magnetic ride suspension R13 420; xenon headlights R7490.
You get the picture?
That's the price of an Opel Corsa Lite. So be really careful when ticking those option boxes or you could land up with a bill you most certainly hadn't bargained for.
THE VERDICT
Audi has done a remarkable job of revising one of the most iconic of cars. It's better in every way. Moreover, the roadster is so practical, sensible and fun to drive that every driving experience is pure pleasure.
It's beautifully built, the cabin ergonomics are a case study in clever design and the engine/gearbox combination is sheer delight.
Just go easy on ticking those option boxes!