I think the TT is "uncool" simply because its quite popular. Its also generally owned by people earning far more than the people that dislike it, kind of a reverse snobbery if you like.
Me, I quite like them, but wouldn't own one.
unwashed.........?
I drove a Rover 620 turbo, and yes it was jesus fast, but inside was a bit boring, and it was fairly noisy, and creaky etc, but I think the reason people like em, is that they look so standard but are so fast, a bit like why Audi make a S4 avant and Volvo make the T5R, its because people want a fast, but fairly plain looking car, thats my view anyway.
Oh and there 4k :)
Ron
snip
RIGHT YOU LOT, LISTEN!!!!
Stop mixing up the T-5 and the T5-R!!! The T5-R was a limited edition 250bhp version of the T-5, only available in yellow and (very rare) green, with gorgeous black 17's. It did NOT look fairly plain - for a Volvo, it looked loonytunes!
Since the Avus concept, I *heart* the TT shape. It's absolutely drop dead gorgeous.
Took one for a test drive when they first came out and came pretty close to buying one until sanity clicked in and I remembered our two small kids - two doors and kids' car seats don't go IMO.
I still think it's a very cool shape, although I can see how the uncool image has come about - very common now, lots of twenty-something girlies driving them etc. etc.
As for the ti, can't say it does anything for me one way or the other. A wolf in Grandad's clothing if anything. It's only due to the fact that there are more proud owners in here than any other specific model that it gets the visibility it does.
Of course, it's all just IMHO.
Something like:
The TT looks fast, but isn't as fast as it looks, and isn't driven that way The Ti doesn't look fast, but is...and normally are driven fast...
Ok, in English...The Ti is as quick as the TT looks.
unwashed.........?
I think its coz the TT had/has a lot of hype associated with it. Its in the same league as the Z3, there may be super-quick, super-handling models, but there are also some totally s**te models at the bottom that poor people buy to try and pose/look richer/whatever. People look at these cheap versions and they're relative lack of speed/power and it tarnishes the whole range. However the 620Ti just kind of snuck in to production a decade or so ago, no hype, no fuss, no expectations. Due to this they have fallen in price, and now represent a true performance bargin. Whether they handle as well as a TT, or are built as well as a BMW, or look as good as a Ferrari is irrelevant - it gives you 200bhp for a couple of grand - now that IS cool!
Personally i'd have neither, i find many other cars cooler than these!
Just my 2p anyway
Enough to bite though.......................;-)
Neither are cool as such. The TT's too bling now, which makes it uncool. The 600's just looks bland, and has a old man image like most Rovers so can't be considered cool.
I can challenge that. I'm driving a shagged mk3 astra.
James
Bob Sherunckle waffled on in a quite bewildering manner to produce...
620Ti's are actually quite good cars, they handle better than anything else that Rover through that engine in, and they've got a kind of tweedy englishness about them, which isn't bad going for a Honda Accord in a saville row suit. They look good, they go well, and they're understated. Seem to be quite rare as well.Whereas..
The Audi TT.. When I first saw the concept car with the leather seats that looked like huge baseball gloves, the beautifully made interior, the nice wheels, and heard it would have a 230 bhp turbo engine with a well sorted
4x4 chassis I thought "NIIIIIICE". Was almost tempted to put my name down for one. [1]What stopped me?
The fact that the first 20 or so I saw were all driven by hairgelled blokes with razor sharp sideburns, black Ralph Lauren polo necks and a hint of the Julians about them. That is possibly the worst thing that can happen to a car. Immediate visions of wine bars, brunches, expense accounts, filofaxes, pads in the city and "fathers place in the country". Not promising. Then they started appearing in the motoring magazines because they'd flipped the TT at 100+ on the motorway and wanted their money back. [2] Next thing I know is the local yuppie gobshite gets one. The fate of the TT is sealed. It's uncool. This guy is actually called Julian, works in PR, and spends 60% of his wages on the TT [3], and 5 nights a week he's to be seen in the local wine bar talking about film noir trying to chat up women who work for Granada TV. [4]
[1] I had money then. [2] Hmm, lift off oversteer @ 120 , faith in 4wd, no driving talent. [3] £18k p.a wages, huge debts, but designer shoelaces, you know the type [4] as above, but a StreetKa, and the blokes buy the drinks.
Where did you get your English lessons? Let me replace the word Ti with Rover...and you tell me what is says..
The Rover 600 Ti goes as quick as the Audi TT appears to be able to.
Basically, i reckon that 600Ti Rovers are generally driven quicker than an Audi TT (despite the fact that most 600Ti's probably are quicker than a TT, excluding the 225). Think of it another way - A Ferrari/Porsche/etc doing
78mph on a motorway is a darned sight more likely to get nicked than a...Mondeo/Vectra/Take your pick of any family saloon...
If there's any chance of a slanging match, I'm in ! :)
620 TI isn't "cool". But it is the only high-performance car in it's class, available for next to nothing. If you want a big car, that's quick and modern, and you want it cheap, then the TI is an excellent (the only) choice.
And it's big, comfortable, easy to maintain/fix, cheap to insure, highly specced, and handles the power very well with it's TorSen diff. What more could you ask for ?
Price (lack of), is EASILY the TI's biggest talent.
I've had my TI for about a year now. It's an immaculate '97 R (there were plenty of revisions here), in Zircon Silver. Had 45K on the clock, full history, and one owner from new - I couldn't go wrong for £4000 (well, £3000 cos I gave them my Pug 405 :) I had to travel 100 miles to get it - they're VERY rare in Silver (but I only wanted Silver or Black). Nothing has gone wrong (touch wood) in my year of ownership, and I'm VERY pleased with my purchase. They're easy to buy too - the only major weak-point is the gearbox. Providing this is ok, the rest of the car should be fine - they don't rust, and the engines are bullet-proof. Electrics are good, and build-quality is fine.
I tend to defend them pretty fiercely, because most of the folks slating them, have no idea what they're talking about - it's a FAR removed car from a stock Rover 600 !
You got it in one Ron !
my mate had one for about a year we were most impressed with the sticker that said no one over 4'11" could sit in the back seats :)
^^^^^^^ ITYM only.....
I prefer my finely balanced, Italian styled RWD classic to that heap of s**te Accord in drag.
OK, so a good Ti can be found for very little cash, but the same sort of money would buy a slightly older, but much better BWM. Hmmm.... decisions. Accord in drag or 2.5l straight-6 Beemer?
Easy. The Accord in drag.
It won't leave a muddy-looking pool of water after it rains, as the Italian "classic," it doesn't shout "tosser" as an old BMW and invite everybody to cut you up at roundabouts / traffic lights / junctions, instead it has some elements of the Japanese reliability in there, respectable performance and handling*, great value and best of all, oh yes best of all, to 99% of people it looks like, well like any other Rover 600. This is good news if you want a sleeper, or a stealthy machine, or if you want to "bend" the speed limit with a copper watching you.
Put a flat cap on and people will probably let you out at junctions too.
Your anti-Ford, anti-Rover comments are sounding more and more like a jaundiced, closed-mind opinion of anything _not_ Alfa Romeo. I'm a fan of certain cars and brands, but I do try to keep an open mind** about some things.
*Respectable - in the grand scheme of things, quicker than the majority of other cars. **I'm working on it, okay?!
So he's right, your saying the TT looks faster than it goes...
>
Neither are cool -- the Audi is just nasty kitsch, totally ersatz a bit like Jag making a Ford Ka that looks like an SS100, while the Rover 600 is just a lot of very reliable bang per buck nothing else.
Wrong actually, the cars were understeering at *very* high speeds. These models were not ESP equipped because the owners chose not to fit it. Audi took the line that if people were going to drive like nutters it may be better if they made the car a bit safer, a little more numb. This is why the S3 and TT both understeer, its very predictable, easy for the average driver to handle and still go relatively fast.
Audi revamped the TT, changed front suspension components ( AFAIK this was partly planned anyway ) and added the small spoiler on the back. They also put ESP into almost all cars. Ironically most people that have experienced the so called Mk1 suspension actually prefer it to the revamped
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