To create the 2012 TT RS, Audi stuffed a TT with a 360-hp inline-five, Quattro all-wheel drive, and wide 19-inch wheels; to create the racing version of the TT RS Audi ripped some of that stuff out, and the result is now available to order from Audi Sport.
What did Audi remove? For starters, the TT RS’s grippy all-wheel-drive system is out—rendering the racer front-wheel drive—as well as most of the interior. To offset those losses, Audi added a downforce-enhancing body kit and rear wing, a six-speed sequential transmission, an adjustable track-oriented suspension, a roll cage, and more power (what any lightweight front-drive car needs!). Audi increased the TT RS’s turbocharged inline-five output from 360 hp in stock form (335 hp in Europe) to 380 for the track iteration. The company has been developing the TT RS race car in the crucible of racing for the past year, and a prototype took a class victory at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in June.
How much more expensive is the lighter-weight, higher-power TT RS race car than the production model? A U.S.-spec RS rings in at a relatively attractive $57,725. Audi is asking for €180,000—more than $250,000 at current exchange rates—for the stripped-out, turn-key TT RS racer. Perhaps to help sweeten the deal, Audi Sport promises customers will receive “the Audi service for which they have become accustomed.” It might not need to do so—call us crazy, but the idea of the TT RS’s wild five-cylinder engine warbling through an unrestricted exhaust might just be worth the hefty outlay.
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