The long and winding road

Against the blue sky, the thin outline of a burnt snow gum has a raw beauty that is only exceeded by a forest of them. Each silhouette is unique, a cluster of skeletal structures, stripped bare of their leaves, blasted into oblivion by the searing heat of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. 

From the air, it looks like a light-grey carpet, almost fur-like in appearance. The closer you get, the more the raw devastation becomes apparent. Each fibre becomes a trunk, burned with such ferocity that the wood has become white. The destruction of that fateful day has permanently etched its mark into the countryside. Approximately 95 percent of the Lake Mountain plateau was scorched, but six years later it has left a very different landscape. There’s a bathing of green ground cover, from which these majestic, white figures rise. Walk amongst them and there is an eerie beauty to this backdrop. It’s quiet and calm, even when the breeze picks up; there are no leaves to rustle. 

Perhaps the only sound you’ll hear at the top of Lake Mountain is the echoing bark of a turbocharged four-cylinder as it climbs the winding road leading to the carpark at the top. There, it settles, emitting a low rumble as the bright yellow Audi TTS pulls up, brakes ticking as they cool off. Yes, these beautiful surroundings are the perfect place to showcase Audi’s most sporting addition to the TT line – there’s 10 kilometres of winding mountain road beneath us, replete with changing camber, a mix of surfaces, blind corners and tightening radiuses. 

As a bevy of new Audis arrive ahead of our drive, the trademark styling is what first grabs you. Inspired by facets, the intersecting angles and creases create beautiful shadow lines; in TTS guise, there’s even more detailing, with chrome grille accents, black brake calipers and honeycomb inserts for the lower bumper vents. Despite the straight lines and hard angles, it never loses the simplicity of its aerofoil shape. 

Open the door to step inside, and like the TT, the TTS has been cleverly designed around the driver. It was inspired by an aircraft, with the long, one-piece dashboard as the wing surface and the instrument binnacle as the fuselage. Even the air vents (which cleverly free up space by housing the climate controls) were designed to look like turbine blades. 

The dashtop now has a diagonal grain rather than the leather-texture of the TT and the dimpled aluminium trim in the base model has made way for brushed aluminium. The quilted leather seats echo the other S models, and in the TTS Roadster, there are heated seats and neck warmers. All of this adds up to a beautifully finished cabin and one that, as you’d expect, uses premium materials for all touchpoints. 

The ground-breaking virtual cockpit sits straight in front of the driver, showing both instrumentation and navigation and in the TTS gets an extra ‘Sports’ view mode that puts a tachometer front and centre. Perhaps the coolest part of the infotainment system is intuitive voice control. While you can enter via the MMI controller, it will navigate somewhere by speech – simply say the entire address in one go. Likewise, tell it you feel like Indian food tonight, and it will navigate to the closest Indian restaurant. Plus with twin USB ports, one of which is a fast charger, you’ll never stress about your phone going dead again. 

Now though, it’s time for our drive. Press the start button and the motor cranks quickly into life and settles into a low hum. With more power and torque, the TTS Coupe packs a healthy 210kW and 380Nm under that curvy bonnet, good for a 0-100kmh run of 4.7 seconds. Go for the TTS Roadster and it’ll run to 100kmh in 5.0 seconds flat; not bad for a convertible, though you’ll need to halve that speed if you want to drop the roof on the go. 

With instructions to set the car in ‘Individual’ mode using the Drive Select button, everything has been dialled up to 11, though the suspension has been softened slightly to accommodate the varying surface of the road ahead. With an Audi driving experience instructor leading the way, we begin our descent.

With a beautiful, warbly sound from the jewel-like 2.0-litre engine and more aural pleasure from the deep, bassy ‘whump’ every time you upshift, the TTS revels in tackling a challenging course. More remarkable though, is how well the TTS copes with bumps. The magnetically adjustable suspension keeps the wheels firmly planted on the tarmac, no matter what’s happening underneath the car. On the run back up the mountain in the TTS Roadster, its torsional rigidity makes it feel rock solid – judicious use of aluminium and hot pressed steel has made the TTS Roadster some 23 percent stiffer than the car it replaces. 

The variable ratio steering feels wonderful through the contrast-stitched leather wheel, and with a fifth generation quattro system shuffling power not just front and rear, but left and right, it punches out of corners with alacrity. 

Pull it out of sport mode, set the Drive Select to comfort and it settles down, going from racetrack hero to country lane cruiser. It shows its softer side, cosseting its occupants with creamy smooth gear changes and dual-zone climate control. 

With sizzling style, technology galore, beautiful build and a depth of ability unchallenged in its segment, the Audi TTS carries on the S tradition with aplomb, adding more performance but without losing any niceties either. Like Lake Mountain’s snow gums, the TTS is devastatingly beautiful.