Audi TTS AWD

[dizzlesizzle]

i know its not the place to post this but looking for your thoughts...i was looking at getting an 2013 TTS quattro Convertible for the wife. One of my friends was telling me that the TT or TTS in convertible is FWD with partial AWD. Is this statement correct?

[IanVr6]

Yes and no. The TT has a Haldex, not a Torsen AWD.

They are really both AWD, but when traction is not needed the Haldex puts 100% to the front wheels.

There are more differences that will take me forever to type on my phone.

[audiblitz]

i know its not the place to post this but looking for your thoughts...i was looking at getting an 2013 TTS quattro Convertible for the wife. One of my friends was telling me that the TT or TTS in convertible is FWD with partial AWD. Is this statement correct?

He's correct. TTS is not permanent awd. The S4 has a torsen center differential with a 40:60 bias. The TTS has a haldex system, which is FWD until the computer detects a slip and then it will bias torque to the rear. I don't believe in part time AWD, unless it is implemented with a RWD bias, like on the BMW xDrive.

[Dubber4life]

Yep, the TT,TTS, TT RS, and A3 all are based on the vw golf platform and use a Haldex all wheel drive system which means that the car is FWD most of the time and the rear wheels only kick in when it detects slip.

[dizzlesizzle]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feed back. As long as it performs well in some snowy conditions I will still consider, it more for the convertible option than performance/awd.

[ENV²]

I think some TTs have FWD only option as well so please confirm.

[theKB]

I think some TTs have FWD only option as well so please confirm.

There are FWD only options for TT's in past years but I'm not sure if they still are selling those.

[dparm]

The Haldex is not a true quattro system. Nowhere near as capable.

[Brooklyn]

I actually received a TTS question from a friend who has driven in my car. Mentioned to him today that along with a B8.5, the TTRS is on my short list of replacements. He's interested in the TTS and asked whether a tune and exhaust would get the TTS close to the stock B8 S4 performance numbers. Anyone know the answer to that?

[dparm]

I would assume so. The TT-S runs to 60 in the mid-5s, and APR's (and others') tunes seem to bump the power up fairly easily.

[misc720]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feed back. As long as it performs well in some snowy conditions I will still consider, it more for the convertible option than performance/awd.

I think if snowy conditions are the concern, the haldex will perform just as well as standard Quattro

I had an A3 3.2 with haldex and it was an awesome little car.

[legbend]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxRHQ8mWhGs

Skip to around 1:40 and you can see it running 12.3's

This is a good series as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-KBjsi1WCg

[Alipor]

I would assume so. The TT-S runs to 60 in the mid-5s, and APR's (and others') tunes seem to bump the power up fairly easily.

Yes my TTS with a tune and exhaust runs a 4.2 to 60 on the V-box and runs a low 13 1/4 With decent temps I know it can break into the 12's no problem. The Haldex isn't bad at all, in fact my rear tires wear out fast than my fronts, for winter driving it isn't bad, it will get you where you want to go, it just isn't the same feeling that the S4 has.

[dbens]

FWIW last winter i had the tiguan as a loaner for a couple of my days in the snow and i did not feel nearly as confident in that (which is Haldex) as in my A4 which is quattro.

[John@Roc-Euro]

I can tell you that whereas the Haldex set up is obviously not true quattro, there is a bit of user involvement to discern the differences. If you very much so pay attention to your car, and push it outside of its traction range frequently enough to identify what is happening at each corner, then yes, you absolutely will notice that the Haldex is not the same.

quattro is mechanical- it is predictable and always engaged and there. In the snow, intentionally blasting around and sliding, there is no better

In daily driving, commuting, stop and go crappy winter traffic? The haldex would be fine.

The latest generation of Haldex definitely makes up for the short comings of the prior generations. MkV R32's (in my opinion) were some of the worst examples of Haldex in lost-traction situations. The car would understeer like mad (while in FWD mode) and then, when the ecu realized it was slipping, would dump power to the back, thus (likely) slipping the rear tires, inducing oversteer and rotation, which just led to hating everything once you started to slide.

A friend of mine with one phrased it as
"Well, so, you're about to come in hot and you know it, and then the front end is like 'lets hit the outside curb!!! and then the tail end is like, no lets hit that tree over there, backwards! But then they compromise and do both."

I've got a new golf R, with the new haldex, and it is miles better. It senses the potential for slip before it happens, and softly adds proper power to the rear wheels. With a little driver input, you can set the tail out lightly around a corner.

Plus, there's software for the haldex that can bias it RWD or have various set ups.


Is the wife a drift machine? No? She's gonna love the TT.

[ENV²]

This leads to an interesting question then. My mother picked up a 2008 TT convertible. Is there any true way to know if its Haldex or Fronttrak (not with making it lose traction, more like any thing that would tell you on the car itself)?

[John@Roc-Euro]

Well, the super easy way is to look for axles on the rear wheels or the quattro badges. I thought all the convertibles were quattro, but I can't remember.