Piers Daniell

As we are in the depths of another snow storm I thought it would be a good opportunity to discuss the merits of my car again! I have covered the engine and DSG gearbox in previous posts but now there is another part which is making a real impact at the moment. Audi has always had a reputation for rallying and one of their major developments out of the sport in 1980 was their Quattro technology.

By delivering power only to the wheels that have the most grip means it is one of the most intelligent four-wheel-drive systems currently available. Driving back from the Cotswolds on the weekend I was wondering if it was working as I hadn’t seen any flashy lights on the dash, until I got out of the car and promptly slipped over. I honestly struggled to get back in the car and had driven, at not an insignificant pace, across the country without realising exactly how treacherous it was.

The secret behind Quattro is the Hadlex clutch which moves power between the front and rear axles as required. ESP and other systems then brake each wheel to ensure only those with grip actually spin. It is a similar system deployed on soft roaders from VW and other manufactures, Volvo for one, I know have used this technology extensively with their AWD and XC cars. It is a brilliant piece of technology and one I am surprised more people don’t invest in. Mercedes for example have ‘4matic’ and BMW ‘xdrive’ which are available in all their salon models on the continent but unavailable, for some reason, in the UK.

If as a country we aren’t going to switch to winter tyres during these now wintery months then I believe there is going to be more of a demand for four-wheel-drive in our regular cars. It is incredible what a difference it makes and now will reduce my choice for future cars when I look for a replacement – happily though both the R8 and Bugatti have this system in place as standard.

Well the MX-5 has gone to be replaced with the new Audi TTS. Couldn’t quite stretch to the R8 this year but I do feel I am getting closer to it and eventually the elusive Bugatti. Took a few months deciding on the car I wanted and considered a wide range of different cars (a lot from the Volkswagen Group) before taking a brave pill and getting the TT.

I appreciate it has the same appeal of the Mini (ie every other car is a TT), but in this latest incarnation i.e. the ‘S’ version it is a little rarer and a different beast to the standard model. My main aim was to go for a big engine as I had never owned anything larger than a four cylinder but after the sales man did his bit (and sales people are the easiest people to sell to!) I could see the benefit of choosing the smaller engine. This motor is the latest upgrade from the infamous Golf GTI and offers 272 PS while still delivering nearly 36 mpg and a 0-62 time of 5.2 seconds. Another benefit of this car was the Quattro four-wheel drive giving me the confidence to journey back home on the weekend during a snow storm – something I didn’t enjoy doing in the Mazda.

My most controversial decision however was to choose the S-Tronic gearbox instead of being a proper petrol head and opting for the manual. I had read up a lot on this subject and ordered it without even trying it but the fact that even Jeremy Clarkson liked it meant I had to be onto a good thing. Nothing however prepared me for the brilliance of this gearbox and now I wonder how I ever managed to drive a car before. This is not an auto but actually a dual clutch unit which Audi pioneered with the first version of the TT. It blips the throttle and downshifts automatically during braking while delivering seamless shifts between gears. As I say a superb piece of engineering and one I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to by a car from the Volkswagen group. However other manufacturers are fast catching up and I predict this will become the standard gearbox once the novelty has worn off.

So having fun keeping my work life balance in check!