CAR OF THE MONTH February 2010

In short: A stylish and lovable sporty roadster.

Extremely popular in Europe, especially in Britain, the Audi TT Coupe and Roadsters' models could benefit from a little bit more attention in the U.S. Despite a hefty sticker price, you are getting a very quick, sexy and most enjoyable roadster to drive, especially on a nice sunny day wherever you might find yourself. It is a great city car due to its smaller size and ease of driving. The build is excellent and quality materials should please you for a long time.

Style is always subjective, but it would be hard to find any angles you don’t like on the TTS. The signature Audi LED daytime running lights establish a strong presence to begin with. Its swooped shape inspires a smooth movement through the air and the quad exhaust pipes remind us of something exotic, like a Lamborghini that Pininfarina would have designed. A driver oriented interior will give you the feel of being in a much pricier custom designed Ferrari. Quality leather, a racing-style squared off steering wheel gets you in the mood for errands of any kind and should put a smile on your face on your way to work and inspire you to go for a romantic drive. Set the 9 speaker 140 watt Bose sound system to your favorite hit and go.

There is a sophisticated and very quick-shifting dual-clutch gearbox with launch control that brings the TTS closer to rocket status, providing the software can deal with all of that as well as your insurance company. Cornering is one of the Audi’s specialties; with a well balanced automobile equipped with the ubiquitous quattro all-wheel drive system, you’re going to love that mountain road, paddle shifts and all, and enjoy a romancing exhaust signature in the process. Plus, the car comes with an array of active and passive safety systems that will put you in total cuddly confidence.

No doubt this cute little roadster will inspire driving, passing and who knows launch other passions, too. And yes, passion always comes at a price.

View more photos of the Audi TTS Roadster

Read a review of the 2008 Audi TT Coupe

Want more sexy automobiles? Check out our list of Romantic Cars.

Unmanned Mountain Climber On June 25, 2010, Audi researchers unveiled an exciting, experimental new take on the popular TTS coupe. Dubbed the Pikes Peak Autonomous Audi TTS, this high-tech TTS was specially designed to handle the rough and winding roads of the Rocky Mountains—all sans driver. The California-based research team is currently planning on conducting an unmanned high-speed test up Pikes Peak in Colorado in September 2010. Tentatively projected to follow the historic 12.42-mile Pikes Peak Hill Climb, this one-of-a-kind driverless test drive is meant to showcase Audi's state of the art driver assistance technologies, and assess the ways in which these technologies could be further implemented on new Audi models.

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