Opinions of a TT for wife?

They appeared around 1998/9, if memory serves.

The Mk.Is were "improved", as apparently it was the car's fault if someone slammed-on the brakes and then turned sharp right at 100mph+ in the rain and the car skidded.

Quite.

The Mk.IIs (came on-stream in 1999, but earlier cars were retrofitted) have more "boring" suspension that understeers more obviously. None of them are unsafe. If it has a spoiler bolted on the back, it's a Mk.II. And less fun (the Mk.II is probably faster point-to-point, if you trust it, but I preferred the more go-cart feel of the Mk.I. I wasn't given the option.. I've been driving a Mk.II for the last five years)

From a personal perspective, I would recommend taking an interest in the tyres fitted - while by no imaginable means unsafe, the standard UK fit of ContiSports were quite the worst tyres I've had, on any car. I have no idea what were fitted on a standard US vehicle.

In absolute terms, the steering starts to get a bit light, top down, at

130mph or so, but firms-up at around 135mph. Your Speed Limits May Vary (this was, I hasten to add, outside of the UK!). *Everything* gets a bit tricky above 140mph or so - any faster, and you're relying on other road users and your brakes. Post-chip, still looking for an opportunity to exceed 150mph *safely*; ironically I get better fuel mileage at 100-110mph top-down than I do on the UK's M4. Below these speeds, everything is rock-solid, and likely to exceed your expectations by rather a lot.

The TT's brakes are some of the best around, as proven a depressingly large number of times (you can usually judge when they last checked their mirrors from the "wheredidthehellthatcomefrom" steering twitch ;o)

Both lateral grip and brakes are among the best you'll see on a non-specialist car for this sort of dosh. The only upgrade car I'd really consider is the Ultima

but I'mfeeling a bit poor this month/year/decade ;o) Final note - far from trusting a current owner to point-out flaws in their car, please remember that Google has the facility to search this (and many other) news groups. There is also the tt-forum.co.uk (haven't been there for a while, but there are others around, worldwide)

The one major bad point that I can think of is for the Coupe - the alarm doesn't cover the hatch area, and there have been break-ins in the UK where someone has broken the rear window. Not that you'd hear the damned thing if it *did* go off - EU regulations mean that my mobile phone is louder :o\

Consumer Reports has sufficient reliability data only for 2000, 2001, and

2002 model years. Of those years, 2000 gets an overall rating of average while 2001 and 2002 get below average ratings. There is a TT forum at audiworld.com where you can search for more info.

Robert, not sure what you mean by 'crash protection'..... There are plenty of airbags in the car, and knowing Audi, the structure is very robust. And I know the convertible has pop-up rollbars behind the seats. Of course, it IS a small car so in any major collision with an

18-wheeler, you know who will win. But then again, the point of these cars is accident avoidance.

My concern with the coupe would be outward visibility. I would get a convertible for my wife but not the coupe - she has trouble seeing out of her minivan at times!

Dan D '04 A4 1.8Tq MT-6 Central NJ USA

The bars are actually fixed in position.

The cars themselves are very robust - ScoTTy on the UK TT Forum had a high-speed "oops" on the Ring a few years back - the car looked a mess at the end of it, but he walked away uninjured.

H1K