Audi TT 2008

All-new coupe and roadster are bigger, better sports cars.

Audi has redesigned the TT for the 2008 model year. Audi's goal in the redesign was to make a bigger sports car with better handling characteristics. We think they succeeded. The new car is wider and longer than last year's model for more comfort yet it feels light and tossable.

The 2008 Audi TT will appeal to true sports car enthusiasts and weekend cruisers alike. Handling is crisp and steering is direct. With the standard 17-inch tires, the ride is quite compliant for a sports car, but it can be busy and bumpy with the available 18s and 19s. The interior is top-notch Audi. Tight panel gaps and soft-touch materials abound. The new, bigger TT is more accommodating to larger drivers than most of the other sports cars in this class. Both engine choices offer brisk performance, and the 2.0T is easy on gas.

The new Audi TT comes in a range of body styles, with engine and transmission options, and available all-wheel drive. You can choose anything from an affordable, high-mileage hatchback with plenty of cargo capacity to a more-powerful, high-end two-seat roadster with unique interior appointments. Watch your options, though, because pricing can run high. No matter what TT you choose, you'll be sure to have fun behind the wheel.

The TT is once again offered as a two-seat roadster or 2+2 coupe. Each is available with front-wheel drive or quattro all-wheel drive. Both body styles are 5.4 inches longer and 3.1 inches wider than the previous TT, which was last offered in 2006. The wheelbase has grown as well, up 1.8 inches to 97.2, but the weight is down more than 150 pounds, thanks to the extensive use of aluminum. V6 and turbocharged four-cylinder engines return, but the four-cylinder is a 2.0-liter instead of a 1.8.

Both the coupe and roadster are offered as front-wheel-drive 2.0T and all-wheel-drive 3.2 quattro models. The 2.0T models have a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 200 horsepower between 5100 and 6000 rpm and 207 pound-feet of torque from 1800 rpm to 5000 rpm. The 3.2 quattros use a 3.2-liter V6 that produces 250 horsepower at 6300 rpm and 236 pound-feet of torque from 2500 to 3000 rpm.

The 2.0T has EPA fuel economy ratings of 22 mpg city and 29 highway for the roadster and 23/31 for the coupe. EPA ratings for the 3.2 quattros are 17/24 for roadsters and 18/24 for coupes. Audi recommends premium fuel for both engines.

History of Ford Mustang : Fourth Generation (1971-1973)

Flat-featured and flabby, the 1971 Mustang was hardly beloved upon its introduction and has never really gained a place in enthusiasts' hearts. The wheelbase stretched to 109 inches and the car grew all the way to 187.5 inches long overall, and that was enough to kill the light, airy look and feel that had made the Mustang so engaging.

Still running on the Falcon-derived chassis, the '71 Mustang had engines ranging from the 250-cubic-inch six rated at 145 horsepower, through a plebeian 302 making 210 horsepower, two 351s at 240 and 285 horsepower and new Cobra Jet and Super Cobra Jet 429s pounding out 370 and 375 horsepower, respectively. Gone from the scene were both the Boss 302 and Boss 429 and in their place was a new Boss 351 with a (you guessed it) 351 V8 aboard that whacked out 330 horsepower.

Whether it was due to this new car's so-so appearance or the age of the Mustang concept is not known, but only 149,678 '71 Mustangs were produced. That's 41,049 less units than '70 and less than a quarter of the number sold during the 1966 model year.

While the 1972 Mustang was mostly carryover from '71, a change to net horsepower ratings and lower compression ratios (to reduce emissions) knocked the ratings of the 250-cube six to 98 horsepower, the lackluster 302 to 140 horsepower, and the three 351s offered to 163, 248 and 266 horsepower. Gone were both 429s, as well as the Boss 351. Sales slumped to just 111,015.

Power ratings dropped even further during the 1973 model year as emissions regulations began strangling output. The six now made a totally inadequate 88 horsepower, the 302 just 135 ponies, and the two remaining 351s (a two-barrel of Windsor design and a two-barrel Cleveland) just over 150 horsepower each.

Even though 1973 sales picked up to 134,867 cars, it was obviously time for Ford to rethink the Mustang.