Introduction: My 2012 Audi TT-RS

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, then you’ve probably already heard the news – I’ve picked up a new car! And not just any car, but a 2012 Audi TT-RS. For those of you unfamiliar with it, let me give you a sense of why I picked this car over a 997.1 Porsche 911 (my other top contender) as well as any other car on the market under $40k:

• Inline five cylinder turbo engine only available with a manual transmission (US)
• 409 hp & 438 tq on 91 octane with just a tune (APR)
• Only 1,346 imported to the US between 2012-2013
• 3,294 lbs, going 0-60 in 4.2 seconds (stock)
• Upgraded front brakes with 2 piece rotors, lowered, and ready for track duty “out of the box”
• Upgraded flat-bottom steering wheel, interior stitching, and seats
• A relative bargain with many low-mile examples to be found

Ultimately while I loved the 997, this car had more power, was several years newer, had a much nicer interior, and was more rare and unusual. It was a little unfair to compare the entry model (and older) 911 versus the top of the line Audi TT, but that is what my budget could afford, and sadly the Carrera S or (GTS) are a big price bump over the base Carrera. The TT also got bonus points for being an Audi, because as you might have guessed from the blog I’m a bit of an Audi fan…but most of all, I fell in love with the sound and experience of the 5 cylinder, and this particular car already had an APR tune which makes it crazy fast. I was originally tempted to get it in red, but after just a few days with the Ibis White I’m in love with it.

There weren’t a lot of options for the car, but this car was fully equipped including the carbon mirrors, technology package (RNS-E, iPod connector, Bose, backup sensors, adaptive headlights & interior LEDs), Titanium sport exhaust package (Sport exhaust, 19″ Titanium Rotor wheels, Titanium grille), and heated front seats. You could also choose to delete the rear wing if you wanted, but I think the fixed version looks much nicer. You can see the original sticker for my car here, but the beauty of buying used is that someone else takes the hit on deprecation – I picked mine up for far less than new but with only 20,700 miles on the odometer:

Stay tuned for many more updates on this car specifically and the MK2 Audi TT platform more broadly. I’ll still plan to update my B6/B7 DIYs too, after almost 9 years of owning B7s that car will always be important to me. Right now the car is completely bone stock, and it doesn’t really need much. I do hope to take it to the track, and will probably add a few supporting mods to help with that – and I would love to find a way to get rid of the amber reflectors, of course. I’ve already added a Tune2Air module so I could stream music via bluetooth, and as I already mentioned the car came with an APR tune already installed so it’s not completely stock.

I’ll be adding a permanent page to my site to track current mods and wish list like I’ve done with my previous cars, so be sure to check that out too. If there are any current (or former) TT-RS owners that follow this blog, I’d love to hear your feedback and recommendations in the comments below!