It's Dreamy, if You're the Driver

2008 Audi TT 2.0 coupe

NEW YORK Mary Anne, my wife, called it the "age extractor, a car that makes you feel younger the moment you get into it."

But she had to bring lots of stuff to New York for an Easter week celebration. There was no way that the front-wheel-drive Audi TT 2.0 coupe, although it has been stretched and widened a bit for 2008, could hold Mary Anne's largess.

We turned over the keys to Ria Manglapus, my associate in vehicle evaluations.

Ria was ecstatic, as evidenced by her first text message about the TT.

"Hot and sexy car!" she wrote. She was getting favorable looks, especially from women drivers, some of whom thought the TT was "gorgeous."

I laughed.

Ria has two growing boys. She carts them everywhere. "Hot and sexy" was about to collide with sons Bori and Q, who, like many teenage boys, put a premium on leg space and ease of entry and exit. So, I wasn't surprised to get Ria's next text message: "Q is having a hard time getting in and out of the back seat."

And there you have it, the reason hot little coupes such as the TT are loved by many but bought by few. They are classic examples of the conflict between fantasy and reality, "me" cars in a life where "we" matters most, escapemobiles in a world strangled by traffic congestion.

Thus, the best way to enjoy the TT is alone. This has been true since the car's inception in 1995, when it was mostly a reconfigured Volkswagen Golf with Porsche pretensions. It's true now, when the vastly redesigned TT is riding on its own platform and imbued with a distinct Audi personality, evidenced by its wide-mouthed grille.

The TT is first and foremost a driver's car -- in this iteration equipped with a turbocharged two-liter, in-line four-cylinder, 200-horsepower engine, one that requires premium unleaded gasoline. It has four seats, but the rear seats are mere afterthoughts. At least one of the Manglapus brothers was bound to complain sitting back there.

The front passenger's seat offers ample comfort. But it is best left unfilled. As I said, the TT is a driver's car, a road nut's sanctuary, a tufted place where those of us who love driving simply for the sake of driving can retreat while moving forward.

This has always been the case for cars such as the TT -- little coupes and roadsters designed and developed solely for the pleasure of the driver. They are inherently selfish automobiles, engineered to respond quickly to the driver's input, as the TT does so wonderfully well. They are designed to thrill, to bring a broad smile to the face of the driver while rounding a curve at speed, perfectly confident in a car that is perfectly balanced.