BY MIKE AUSTIN
The roadster version of Audi's new TT comes as no surprise, considering that the old TT also came in hard- and soft-top variants. But the TT roadster still has a few good tricks rolled up its sleeve that are worth mentioning. The first is something you can't see, but you can feel it. On the roadster, the structure that runs underneath the door is made of thicker aluminum, with more internal reinforcement than the coupe, but the outside shape is identical to that of the coupe. Reinforcing the side-sill structure in this way to compensate for the loss of the roof - instead of using heavy cross-bracing - makes the new TT roadster lighter than the outgoing 2006 model (there will be no 2007 in the U.S.) but Audi claims a 120-percent increase in structural stiffness. We won't know exactly how many pounds the open TT saves until the car arrives here in late 2007, but extensive use of aluminum throughout the front structure could shave as much as 300 pounds. Pricing is unknown at this point as well, but it should be close to the outgoing model - base price should start around $36,000 and fully-loaded model will get close to 50 grand.
Common ground
Conceptually, the TT roadster shares a lot with the previous version, even though the structure and styling are all-new. As before, Audi fit the TT with a soft top with a glass rear window, and the top stows where the tiny rear seats are located in the coupe. Base models on the European-spec cars come with a manually-operated top but the power-operated top, which automatically unlatches and folds the roof in 12 seconds, should be standard on all U.S. models.
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