Audi TT RS’ 400 horsepower is definitely a strength, but not its only one.
Before I got into this business, if someone told me, “This car has 400 horsepower,” that was all I needed to hear. I instantly liked the car. Unless I went to a dealership and feigned interest well enough to get a test drive, I was never going to truly experience the cars I lusted after, so numbers were enough for me. They had to be.
Not any more. For several years, I’ve been fortunate enough to review cars from a wide array of manufacturers for a week at a time. That’s given me the opportunity to evaluate them on a variety of levels that can’t be quantified. But I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t initially want to get the keys to the 2018 Audi TT RS because it has 400 horsepower. That appeal is always going to be there for me. The day it does is the day I should find another line of work.
To be completely honest, that magic number also made me skeptical. The regular TT has 220 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. Its more potent sibling, the TT S, gets down the road with 292 and 280, respectively. The TT RS has almost double the power of its most straight-laced sibling and almost 100 more lb-ft (354). I thought it might be a ridiculous, overboosted mess – an example of powertrain engineering coulda, not shoulda.
Without a doubt, the 2.5-liter I5 liked its air and fuel cocktails with plenty of PSI in them. The direct-injected and turbocharged power plant guzzled 19.6 pounds of boost. Once that got lit, the TT RS shot forward like a bottle rocket.
That kind of rush never gets old. There has to be more than that, though. After all, the TT RS is a modern luxury performance vehicle, not a 1960s American muscle car. Lucky for me, Audi paired the most powerful TT engine ever with equally impressive hardware.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
