Audi TT Clubsport Turbo

Each yEar, audi comes along with something special for the huge  GTI meeting at Wörthersee. This year, the star was the TT clubsport turbo, the new TT coupé with a 5-cylinder engine boosted by an electric charger. Prof. Dr. hackenberg, who is the audi Board member for Technical Development, as well as having a similar responsibility for the whole  group, explained that TDI engines with electric chargers would soon  go into production and the TT clubsport turbo would be the first petrol engined car in the world to be presented to the public.

The 5-cylinder engine, used for the previous TT rS, has a displacement of 2480 cc and, with the electric charger, it develops 600 PS (441 kW). The maximum torque is 650 Nm (479 lb.ft.),  and more than 600 Nm is available between 3000 and 7000 rpm. The power is transmitted to the wheels via a 6-ratio manual gearbox and a haldex coupling four-wheel-drive system. The great advantage of an electric charger, which supplements the turbocharger of this engine, is that, like all electric motors, high torque is available as soon as it spools up and so boost pressure is available virtually instantly. This gives outstanding acceleration from low speeds and, at higher speeds, the exhaust-driven turbocharger, which only becomes fully efficient at higher engine speeds, takes over. The exhaust system is designed for minimum back pressure, with a side exit pipe from the racing silencer box.

The TT clubsport turbo has two electrical systems, the conventional 12 volt and a 48 Volt system to drive the electric charger. a small lithium-ion battery in the luggage compartment stores any energy which is generated while coasting and a Dc/Dc converter links both electrical systems. This results in outstanding acceleration times, the TT clubsport turbo reaching 62 mph in 3.6 seconds. More important is the rate at which it gets off the mark, covering 16 metres (52 ft) in the first 2.5 seconds, some six metres (one and a half car lengths) further than a comparable car without the electric charger. The coil-over suspension can be adjusted to give the correct ride height for different applications and the car also has an electric lift system so that the ride height can be raised to deal with things like road humps. The 9.5 x 20-inch wheels are shod with 275/30
tyres and the brakes have carbon-fibre ceramic discs. The tracks are much wider than the production car, 1736 mm (68.3 inches) at the front and 1729 mm (68.1 inches) at the back. Overall, the clubsport turbo is 14 cm (5.5 inches) wider than the production TT. The rear wing, which, like most of the other additional panels, is made from carbon-reinforced polymer, is manually adjustable. This is very much a concept car, but it won’t be long before we have a Series 3 TT rS and perhaps some of the styling of the clubsport turbo will be apparent with the new model. as far as the benefits of the electric charger are concerned, it won’t long before we will have the chance to drive production TDI models with this device and the clubsport turbo has shown how effectively it can be used with a petrol engine.