All Audi TT reviews

"TT customers want a car that drives as well as it looks. At which point you may expect the TT 163 Roadster's case to fall a little flat. Not a bit of it"

One suspects Audi knew just how popular the TT Roadster would prove when they initially introduced the car to the UK with a choice of two hugely unappealing colours. Despite the choice of grey or green, customers queued round the block to get their hands on the car. In the intervening years, the TT Roadster's popularity hasn't waned ' a remarkable feat in a notoriously fickle market sector. To broaden the car's appeal still further, Audi have uprated the entry-level 150bhp version's output to 163bhp in a bid to prolong the TT Roadster's reign as the drop top du jour.

A school of thought reckons Audi have hit upon the narcissist tendencies of TT Roadster drivers, anxious to bag that shape regardless of what engine powers it. This seems an intriguing theory until Audi wheels out figures that show sales of the visually similar 250bhp V6 version virtually match those of the more affordable 190bhp car. TT Roadster drivers, it seems, aren't a bunch of superficial attention seekers. They want a car that drives as well as it looks. At which point you may expect the TT163 Roadster's case to fall a little flat. Not a bit of it. Despite being shorn of the TT's previous trademark four-wheel drive, the £22,240 TT163 Roadster is still an entertaining car to drive. Part of the reason for this is that the additional weight of the propshaft and differentials to direct drive to the rear wheels have now been excised and as a result the power-to-weight ratio of the front-wheel drive TT163 isn't far off that of the TT190 quattro. Performance is brisk, the TT163 Roadster hitting 60mph in 8.2 seconds and running on to a top speed of 135mph. The engine is a similar 1.8-litre turbocharged four as used elsewhere in the TT range and power is transmitted via a five-speed manual gearbox. In case you're worried about traction off the line, Audi have fitted an Electronic Differential Lock traction control device and, like all TT models, the TT163 Roadster features an Electronic Stability Control system. So, you go without four-wheel drive and a few horsepower for your pains. What else goes? In truth, very little. Obviously there's no quattro badging and there are only 16-inch seven-spoke alloy wheels, although buyers can upgrade to seventeen or eighteen inch wheels via Audi's options list. The interior is trimmed in a sturdy fabric with leather costing around £800 extra. Otherwise it's much as you'd find in the plusher cars. Electronic climate control is standard as are electric windows and mirrors, an electrically powered hood and a powered glass wind deflector better than you'd find in a £90,000 Mercedes SL.

That's just one example of the attention to detail that has made the TT Roadster such a success. No, it's not as elegant as the Coupe, but then neither does it suffer from the suspicion that it's just a Coupe with the roof sawn off. The TT Roadster has a very different feel, the decapitation process radically altering the essential character of the car. The well sculpted but chunky hood gives the car a profile that best resembles a Tonka rendering of a Porsche Boxster. Hood down, the car maintains its aggressive, almost caricature, buggy look. The wheels appear larger, the frontal aspect more bullish and the unfashionable lack of tension in the flanks suddenly becomes a laudable design aspect. The hood itself is not as slick as rival offerings from Mercedes or Porsche, and although single skinned, is built to an impeccable standard, and resists wind noise beautifully. In the raised position, visibility to the three quarter is almost non-existent, and the Roadster shares the coupe's forward visibility shortcomings. Want to anger a TT driver? Just let them go first at a traffic light queue. There you will witness Darwinism reversed, as human momentarily becomes Galapagos tortoise, craning the neck forward in a desperate attempt to see the traffic signals. On the other hand, there's a proper glass heated rear window and the electrically operated hood stows flush with the rear deck. It glides neatly down in 15 seconds or so to hide under a manually fitted tonneau cover that's not the easiest in the world to click into place. While we're complaining, the top's not lined inside, so you get to see all the supporting metalwork when it's up; nor is it hidden from view when folded up behind the seats. Better to admire the superb chrome hoops behind each seat that protect occupants' heads in a rollover crash. These are an integral part of the body structure and are supplemented by strengthened windscreen pillars. Being able to remove the roof at will eliminates one criticism of the Coupe. Climb in to the tin top, or the Roadster with the hood up, and it feels claustrophobic, particularly when trimmed in dark Teutonic upholstery colours. Looking out of the windscreen and particularly out of the side windows makes you feel like you're peering out of a machine gun turret; so narrow is the field of vision. Despite being about £5,000 cheaper, the TT163 Roadster actually gives very little away to its TT190 sibling and the saving can't be sniffed at. Doubtless some will plump the price up with leather trim and bigger wheels but the car still looks good value. Though the TT 3.2 V6 quattro Roadster at the other end of the range remains appealing, right now the TT163 is still where the smart money goes.