# Nardo Grey TTRS Introduction.. + catch up on my old TT/TTRS!



## daveye-150 (Sep 16, 2011)

Hi fellow TT owners,

Haven't posted on the forum for a good few years now (nearly 6 years to be exact), although I have been in an Audi TT for almost a decade now! Now currently own a Mk3 2.5 TTRS - Previously Mk2 2.5 TTRS + Mk2 2.0 TFSI

Introduction of the MK3 beast I collected last June (2019)... (full write up to follow)

*Introduction - 8S TTRS (2019 - Present) - Progress write up in thread*


















*Previous TT's*
+ *8J 2.0 TFSI (2011 - 2017)*

A little bit of back story then to catch up with lost time... my journey started in 2011 with my first Audi TT, a 2008 (57) TT 2.0 TFSI Coupe Mk2/8J Manual in Brilliant Black. I did a few OEM modifications in my ownership of this car, main ones being fitting the 'TTS' front bumper, the 'S-Line' rear bumper and side skirts and changing the wheels to the 19" anthracite RS4 style wheels to replicate the Black Edition, also fitting a red leather interior for that extra bit of 'special-ness' (can do a separate thread on progress if anyone is interested?).

*November 2011 (stock form at collection)*









*April 2017 (after a few touches had been added 8) )*










I owned the 2.0l for 6 years and put plenty of miles on its with no hassle, it really was a great car! By the 5/6 years of ownership there was the dilemma of thinking about a replacement for it as I had owned for a while and was considering the options at this point.... knowing I was looking for more power and similar build quality, I turned my attention to none other then the flagship of the Mk2 range&#8230; the 5 cylinder TTRS!!

+ *8J TTRS (2017 - 2019)*

So I decided to part ways in 2017 my first TT and picked up my second TT, a 2009 (09) TTRS Coupe Mk2/8J Manual in Phantom Black - GL09 CCU *(now famous if you have seen the PistonHeads 25 years of the Audi TT video!!)* [smiley=book2.gif]

*Link to PistonHeads Youtube video below:*






_(and story of how it came into PistonHeads hands in the next chapter)._

*April 2017 (stock form at collection)*



















*June 2019 (after a few touches had been added 8) )*



















Was super chuffed when I collected it as I've always wanted the 5 pot variant of the TT ever since it was released. Driving it away back to back from owning the 2.0 tfsi, there was a huge difference in how it drove! Although going from one Black TT to another, to the untrained eye exterior wise, it looked like I could have just added the TTRS styling and changed the wheels on my 2.0' tsfi... but the way the 2.5 TTRS drove in comparison was worlds apart. The power from the engine instantly felt strong and purposeful.. the steering was tighter and heavier making the car feel much more planted and that's without mentioning the sensation of the quattro all-wheel drive system, which up to that point I had never experienced. The grip from the quattro system on the RS is amazing and gives huge amounts of confidence when piling on the speeds when exiting corners... and the manual box in this compared the 2.0 was a lot more tuned and felt very mechanical in comparison, giving it a nice sporty opertation.

Again I did a few minor tweaks to this car in my ownership - first being refurbishing the silver wheels which were kerbed, to the diamond cut and grey finish to match the OEM option wheels. (this was my plan before I picked up the car although part of me still liked the all silver wheels) they had to be refurbished anyway so I took the opportunity to change the colour. Other small mods was fitting the 'MK3' style LED rear lights which featured the famous Audi indicator sweep... and took it Dub customs to wrap the rear valance with a satin silver strip, similar to the Aluminium pack RS and a carbon effect wrap on the front diffuser with a small satin silver piece to the lower front bumper bar (wasn't too much of a fan of the aluminim pack front bumper)

*Current TTRS*
+ *8S TTRS (2019 - Present*

..... and at present currently owning a 2018 TTRS Coupe Mk3/8S.

So last June 2019, after owning the Mk2 TTRS coupe for just over 2 years I decided to take a venture to owning something a bit more modern and was seeking a liitle bit more performance (although I was quite happy with the stock power of the Mk2 TTRS), and if anyone has owned a Mk2 TTRS, they might know considering ownership options afterwards is difficult as value wise you are more the likely to compromise on performance or practicality etc. going elsewhere... unless you upgrade to the newer model TTRS , which is exactly what happened here!

I always had my heart set on a Nardo Grey example and after attending a local car meet which featured some impressive super cars and of course a very nice Mk3 TTRS in Nardo grey (also pretty much the spec exterior wise I was after), I set the ball rolling on a hunt to find the Mk2 TTRS replacement.

After scouring through autotrader and pistonheads for the next following weeks, on my commute home from work I came across the perfect example Mk3 TTRS which was almost too good to be true.. not only was it the ultimate spec I was looking for - Nardo Grey, Sports Exhaust, Carbon interior, Red stitch diamond quilted seats, Adaptive suspension, Privacy glass, Black exterior optics etc.. it was also located at my local Audi dealership, which was the icing on the cake!

The next day I enquired about the car and asked for a video etc.. as I was working in London and would not have time to view it during working hours (at this point there where no photos of the car on the Audi website as it had just landed). I also enquired to place a deposit on it over the phone, again not having viewed it yet due to commitments to work and I was told that although it wasn't normal practice to do a deposit on the phone without viewing the car, I did have the option to, but decided against it as it wasn't something the normally do - this was a near fatal mistake where I nearly lost the car to another potential buyer!! All was good in the end luckily and picked up the new Nardo RS in June last year..










.. to be continued


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## langlord (Mar 21, 2010)

Nice story and a lovely car I jumped back a forth over a high spec MK3 and a MK3.5.

In the end I have just jumped into a base spec 3.5 RS (only options being 20 inch wheels and fully electric seats) and I am in the process of bringing it in line with the sport edition. Full black badges, stain black wheels, carbon mirrors which were all finished today and then the performance exhaust, which gets fitted next weekend. I also had smart phone and traffic sign monitoring coded in. Absolutely loving the car.

Do you have any plans to change this one?


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## daveye-150 (Sep 16, 2011)

langlord said:


> Nice story and a lovely car I jumped back a forth over a high spec MK3 and a MK3.5.
> 
> In the end I have just jumped into a base spec 3.5 RS (only options being 20 inch wheels and fully electric seats) and I am in the process of bringing it in line with the sport edition. Full black badges, stain black wheels, carbon mirrors which were all finished today and then the performance exhaust, which gets fitted next weekend. I also had smart phone and traffic sign monitoring coded in. Absolutely loving the car.
> 
> Do you have any plans to change this one?


Thanks. Yes the MK3 RS really is an incredible car, the powertrain is something else.

Very nice! I always thought all the 3.5's came with the spec of the Audi sport? So including the sports exhaust, black exterior optics etc.

Black badges are a must, quite expensive from Audi but worth it! Does yours have the sports exhaust as standard? Or is that the Audi performance parts exhaust you are getting fitted? I bet it will sound epic 8), you'll have to post an update.

How does the traffic sign monitor work? Sounds interesting.

Yes I have done a few bits already - black badges, gloss black spoiler (wrap) and also front end PPF and it's also ceramic coated but will go into more detail in the next update!

Absolutely loving the car also.


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## langlord (Mar 21, 2010)

So there are now three models in the line up.

- base spec.
- sport edition - as per base but with 20 inch wheels, black pack and sports exhaust.
- vorsprung - as per sport but with mag ride, electric seats, assist, matrix lights and different wheels.

The base spec did add a number of extras on from the 3.0 - wireless charging, smart phone (although that only got added for 2020) and park assist although no camera which is poor on a £50k plus car.

My car also came with full electric seats as standard which was apparently done on the first run of cars but now is only available of the vorsprung.

In terms of the exhaust its only the RS performance exhaust that I am getting fitted next Thursday not the audi sport one which is just stupidly expensive at circa £8,000.

As for the road sign recognition it just works of the front camera in the windscreen and simply shows the speed signs. Its a bit of a gimmick really but it only cost £20 to add when I got smart phone coded in so I thought why not.


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

If you haven't seen it yet check out the bits n bytes thread, if you have VCDS/OBD11 there are many features and options you can tweak. Eg you can turn on traffic sign recognition with a couple of mouse clicks and other cost options such as high-beam assist.

I've played with loads of options and have tweaked the DRLs, rear brake light, seatbelt warnings, screen wash jets, stop/start, alarm, turn signals and many more things as well as the above.


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## MClaine55 (Feb 16, 2018)

Is it possible to use OBD11 to turn off the rear lights that run as DRLs?
Thanks


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## daveye-150 (Sep 16, 2011)

&#8230; so update is a little later then planned but its finally here !

*Collection from Maidstone Audi*

Parked up following main dealership prep a few days before pick up (although I had my own plans for detailing and protection for the RS in the near future).










Pictures on collection day, perfect weather for it too and the drive back in a new car is always fun 





































*Detailing + PPF Installation + Ceramic Coating*

So after a few of weeks of ownership I got I booked in at AWC detailing in Southend Essex for:

- Stage 1 paint correction

- Front end PPF installation

- CarPro ceramic coating (Full car + wheels)





































Results were spectacular and the presentation of the vehicle and customer service from AWC was brilliant. The RS was in better than new condition and thanks to the ceramic coating maintenance is much easier going forward. The Nardo Grey gloss was phenomenal 8)

...
The next stage was to get it booked in at Dub Customs for a few minor visual upgrades including black exterior badges, purchased from Audi parts, the rear spoiler wrapped in gloss black and a small Nardo Grey pin stripe applied to the rear diffuser... update to follow.


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## CA57WAY (Apr 7, 2021)

Looks gorgeous buddy.

That should keep the stone chips to a minimum. 8)


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## daveye-150 (Sep 16, 2011)

CA57WAY said:


> Looks gorgeous buddy.
> 
> That should keep the stone chips to a minimum. 8)


Thanks 8)

Certainly does protect the front end well, well worth the money to preseve front if the paints in good condition as this area is most likely to take the brunt of it and prevents the swirls from general routine washing too


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## DPG (Dec 7, 2005)

Lovely and good to see you didn't go for a hat trick of blacks.


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## daveye-150 (Sep 16, 2011)

DPG said:


> Lovely and good to see you didn't go for a hat trick of blacks.


I was tempted to get another but had my fair share of maintaining black paintwork.. plus the MK3 TTRS looks best in Nardo Grey :wink: (no bias over here)


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## newguy (Mar 8, 2021)

Really nice that, congrats.

Best thing about PPF apart from no stone chips is how easy the bugs come off it lol.

Mines in for PPF now, being black I didn't want it obliterated with stone chips after my first drive out with friends. My last car the PPF was destoryed and had to be pealed off when the dealer purchased it off me, holes and everything, but once pealed of, not once stone chip, it did its job.


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## daveye-150 (Sep 16, 2011)

newguy said:


> Really nice that, congrats.
> 
> Best thing about PPF apart from no stone chips is how easy the bugs come off it lol.
> 
> Mines in for PPF now, being black I didn't want it obliterated with stone chips after my first drive out with friends. My last car the PPF was destoryed and had to be pealed off when the dealer purchased it off me, holes and everything, but once pealed of, not once stone chip, it did its job.


Thanks buddy,

Thats great to hear the PPF did its job on your previous car and smart move getting it down before any spirited driving!

Well worth getting it installed to preserve good paintwork, plus its peace of mind when it comes to general wear and tear and washing.

What PPF installation areas did you go for? Bet it looks great with the deep reflections too 8)


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