Drop dead head-turner

It maybe for the younger set but there are those of us old ’uns who can still raise the roof with the best - even if some of us are not in the best of shape to do so.

And when I say the words Audi’s soft-top TT Roadster all will fall neatly into place except, maybe, for that last bit. But then when you look at my rotund form...

Last time I was in an Audi TT it was the coupe job. And I was wolf-whistled. Like in pheee-ewwww! Fair put me off my stride it did, but then I realised, naturally, it was the car. Unlike me - well, maybe not the younger me! - it draws out that sort of emotion.

Like the two-by-two coupe, except that there’s no cramped back seat, the drop-top comes equipped with a quattro four-wheel drive train and is available in two versions, both powered by a 1.8 litre turbocharged engine. One is tuned to pump out 180bhp through a five-speed box while the other, my test car, uses six ratios and delivers an exhilarating 225bhp. The price difference is £3,800 and it’s worth it if you are paying this sort of money - £42,600 (225bhp) and £38,800 (180bhp).

The Roadster retains the best of the Coupe. That gorgeous cabin with its 50s retro aluminium fest sporting polished alloy and steel details, red instruments with the blue back-lighting and finely-tuned plastics; sumptuous leather upholstery with Alcantara, leather steering wheel and gear lever electronic climate control, electric windows, Blaupunkt RDS radio/CD player and remote central locking.

The low driving position is delightfully sporty and the seat provides high lateral support. However, you first have to get into the car. The TT Roadster squats low and for a chunky lad like me sliding into the hot seat took some neck bending and back arching. Not quite as much, it seemed, as the coupe, the soft roof maybe fractionally higher. Once into the car and there’s plenty of room for two.

The week I had the car the weather was appalling. No chance to put the soft top down and enjoy the TT’s open-top pleasures. Although standard on the UK models, an electronic hood is a £917 optional extra here, which seems quite surprising for a car which costs £42,600. A motorised wind deflector, also fitted as standard on UK models, costs £538 extra here. And a cup holder is £83!

POWER: The engine is derived from the VW-Audi 1.8 litre turbo but retuned to deliver a whopping 225bhp. That gives it a magic 0 to 62mph in 6.7 seconds along with a top speed of 147mph. And it wouldn’t take long to get if you gave those wild horses full rein. I returned 28mpg. But then I did a lot of playing around with it.

Gearchanging is great fun. Short, swift, slick and precise with closely stacked ratios ensuring rapid, sporty progress.

On the road it handles it brilliantly. The steering is sharp and the finely tuned chassis ensures almost endless grip and stability on bends. Add the antilock braking, traction control and 17inch alloys and you have a car that glues itself to the road on the wet.

Reports of high speed stability problems on the coupe - nothing that caused me any alarm when I drove it - brought modifications to the suspensions. Audi engineers redesigned the front wishbones, modified front and rear stabilisers, uprated the dampers and then fitted traction control as standard.

Other safety measures include driver, passenger and side airbags, transponder immobiliser and factory fitted alarm.