Orlando Sentinel's view

I’ve always thought of German automakers as a rather somber and serious lot, never letting fun get in the way of efficiency and engineering excellence.

Perhaps the Germans have lightened up a bit now that the Berlin Wall is down, communism is gone and Germany is one big country again.

Recently German automakers have given us the terrific new Porsche Boxster, Volkswagen Beetle and Mercedes SLK.

And now Audi checks in with the biggest grin machine it has ever built: the TT Coupe.

I often mention character and style in my reviews of expensive cars. The Audi TT has more of both than I have seen in a long time in any car from anywhere. The TT is a neat little coupe, one that shows German designers know how to have a good time.

Performance, handling

The TT comes with one drivetrain: a turbocharged, 1.8-liter four-cylinder that is rated at 180 horsepower. This is a special engine. It uses Audi’s unique five-valves-per-cylinder arrangement.

The engine is smooth, quiet and fairly powerful when you wind it up to about 3,500 rpm. Once the engine gets spinning, it provides good thrust and pleasing performance. Audi says the TT can reach 60 mph in 7.4 seconds. The 2,655-pound car scoots away from lights and moves quickly when accelerating from 35 to 70 mph in third gear.

The five-speed manual gearbox is easy to shift. The clutch doesn’t take much muscle to work, and the shifter has a direct and solid feel.

The TT is a front-wheel drive car, but unless you floor the accelerator while turning, you won’t feel the drivetrain interfere with the steering. The TT lays the power down evenly.

Audi engineers have done a fine job with the TT’s independent suspension system. The car has a firm but quiet ride. Because it’s a small and light car, you can feel the bumps more than you would in a larger vehicle. But the TT remains civilized and easy to control on even the worst roads.

The power-assisted, rack-and-pinion steering can turn the car in a complete circle in 34.2 feet. A balanced machine that can be driven hard, the TT handles curves deftly. Anti-lock disc brakes on all four corners are standard. They are strong and work well, even after repeated hard stops.

Fit and finish

I can’t recall a car with an interior as innovative as the one in the TT.

With its mixture of leather, aluminum and stainless steel and flourishes of style almost everywhere, it manages to look both retro and futuristic. Except for the round gauges, there is not a conventional shape anywhere inside the TT. And that makes you feel you’re driving a very special car.

Those gauges, by the way, are traditional sports car items, trimmed with chrome rings. And the shifter pokes out of a round hole in the floor and is wrapped in a thick rubber boot, just like a vintage sports car.

The controls for the air conditioner are two spring-loaded knobs that you move to th e right or left. To change the fan speed, for instance, you hold the knob in one direction, and the system moves in increments. You see the fan speed in a bar graph between the knobs. Hold the other knob, and the temperature raises or lowers. This setup works well. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

The TT comes with a set of firm, leather-covered bucket seats. They are comfortable for the long haul. There are seats in the rear, but they are not habitable by any human with legs. And therein lies the TT’s weak point: interior room.

This low-slung car is not designed for people who are tall or wide. Several friends banged their heads getting in and out. Also, you have to move the seat all the way forward to fold down the rear seats. Once the rear seats are folded forward, the TT has plenty of cargo room. If I owned the TT, I’d leave the rear seats folded down permanently and treat it as a two-seater. It would be hard for a person to sit sideways in the rear area, because getting in and out is nearly impossible.

As you might expect, the TT comes with a generous amount of electronic equipment and safety items.

Exterior styling is another strong point for the TT. It almost looks like a hot-rod version of the new VW Beetle. It’s about the same size, but it looks as if someone chopped the roof down and stretched it into a fastback. The rounded wheel arches and the unique style of the headlights and taillights will ensure that no one confuses the TT with any other sports car.

I envision the TT as a car for singles and for couples whose children have grown. It isn’t much of a family vehicle, but then few sports cars are. Also, in light of what you get for the money, the TT has to rank as a tremendous value. Later this year, an all-wheel drive version will be available, and then sometime next year, a convertible TT will debut.

Audi has made a tremendous comeback in the U.S. market in the last four years. The TT arrives at a time when sports cars are hot and European cars are gobbling up giant chunks of the luxury car market. Couple that with terrific styling, great performance and superb value, and the TT adds up to one heck of a car.

2000 Audi TT Coupe

Base price: $30,500. Safety: Dual front and side air bags, anti-lock brakes, traction control, and seat belt pretensioners. Price as tested: $33,925. EPA rating: 22 mpg city/29 mpg highway. Incentives: None.