Thrusting my athletic, little performer from one bend to the next was Audi's potent 225-horsepower intercooled, turbocharged

Audi's potent 225-horsepower intercooled, turbocharged 1.8-liter inline 4-cylinder powered my little tester. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

1.8-liter inline 4-cylinder. Producing 207 pounds-feet of torque, this all-muscle mill is connected to the TT's four corners by Audi's polished, quattro drive technology. Audi also offers an optional, naturally aspirated 250-horsepower V6 engine with the quattro setup joined to a sequential-manual paddle-shift actuated transmission.

The dynamic little mill propelling my tester held the heart of a lion and expressed a lion's roar. Acceleration from a standing stop, or from any speed for that matter, was brisk to say the least. Even in the rpm-basement the four-banger pulled with decent bravado; but once the tachometer shot past the 3,000 mark power came on with a vengeance and refused to back off anywhere under the 6,600 rpm redline. It's in the mid- to high-rev range that the full meaning behind the TT's turbocharger and 5-valves per-cylinder becomes evident. This technology allows an engine to breathe with far less restriction than a non-turbocharged conventional setup.

Very little turbo lag accompanied an immediate demand for power. Apart from a muted whistle, which was overshadowed by

A 6-speed manual gearbox connected to Audi's quattro all-wheel drive system puts the TT's power to the road. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

the TT's aggressive exhaust note, the turbo's operation is seamless and mostly undetectable. And I say mostly, because there is no difficulty in detecting the considerable oomph it brings to the TT's I-4. Putting that oomph to the roadway is a 6-speed manual gearbox connected to Audi's quattro all-wheel drive system. Although Audi now offers a clutchless 6-speed manual transmission, termed a Direct Shift Gearbox, or DSG, I prefer the real thing when it comes to mixing cogs, especially when the mix-master works as well as Audi's. The stick I palmed over and over in the TT moved with great definition, clicking solidly into one gear after another, until all six had been granted a spin or two. The throws were on the short side, but not as short as other 6-speed sticks I have danced with, such as that in Chrysler's flaming Crossfire. What the Crossfire doesn't have over the TT, though, is traction at all four compass points.