The TT with the single-turbo, 180-horsepower engine, and the Tiptronic automatic, seems designed for drivers who want a sharp sports car with sporty handling and performance, but aren't interested in exploring the limits of a sports car on a regular basis. The 1.8-liter engine doesn't have a lot of power at low engine speeds, so you have to work at it to get responsive acceleration. It revs quickly from 4000 to 6000 rpm, but when you hammer it below about 3500 rpm it makes you wait for the power. Over 4000 rpm it's very smooth, and doesn't feel like the engine is revving. Just tooling around, accelerating gently, you can hear a light whistle from the turbo which sounds cool. Audi says the TT 1.8 T coupe can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 7.9 seconds, which is neither lethargic nor particularly quick. The ride quality in the standard model is quite comfortable, not at all stiff, no harshness anywhere.

The twin-turbo 1.8 T delivers 225 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque, allowing the TT to accelerate from 0 to 60 in 6.7 seconds. Even with that torque, it doesn't feel like there's much under your foot below 3000 rpm. The engine redlines at 6500 and likes to hang out at 5000. The six-speed manual transmission is the right match for this engine; the automatic doesn't work as well with the 1.8 T.

The new TT 3.2 features an innovative narrow-angle V6, provided by Volkswagen. The angle between the cylinder banks, usually 60 or 90 degrees for a V6 engine, is only 15 degrees, so it's no wider than a four-cylinder turbo, but it's shorter so it will fit in the TT's small engine compartment. It makes 250 horsepower at 6300 rpm, with 235 pound-feet of peak torque available between 2800 and 3200 rpm; the power comes on earlier, smoother and stronger than it does in the turbo engines. With the 3.2, you just pick a gear and mash the pedal, and the extra two cylinders and 1.4 liters of displacement go right to work. Audi says the 3.2 version will go from 0 to 60 in 6.4 seconds. Its low-rpm torque gives it much better response at lower engine speeds, when just tooling around for example.

Regardless of model, the TT offers excellent handling, benefits of its low ride height, low center of gravity, short wheelbase and narrow track. Almost all cars like to be driven smoothly and cornered progressively, but the TT is especially rewarding if you treat it like that. And it's easy to do, making you look like a smooth driver. Aggressive movements of the steering wheel won't get you what you want from this car.

The 3.2 uses beefier anti-roll bars and stiffer shocks to increase lateral grip, and you can feel it. Still, the suspension is surprisingly comfortable over the rough patches, while maintaining that stability in the fast bumpy sweepers. Our bright yellow test TT 3.2 also had optional 18-inch wheels and tires. It was a joy to drive along the Columbia River, playing with the gearbox and feeling the chassis handle like a kart as it turned into corners with authority.

Audi's quattro all-wheel drive is fully computer-controlled, no buttons, no switches, no low range, and its computers start managing torque and brakes when some outside force tries to make the balance stray from 50/50 front/rear drive. Quattro is superb for driving in the rain and for winter driving, but even on dry pavement it gives the car a more secure feeling.

The big vented disc brakes have awesome stopping capability and are confidence-inspiring. We did our usual 70-mph panic stop to test the ABS, and the stop was dead true and totally effortless with no squealing. A minor nit: We found heel-and-toe braking and downshifting difficult in the 225-horsepower 1.8 T with the six-speed due to the pedal position.

Audi has raised the bar with the six-speed DSG transmission that comes on the new TT 3.2. This transmission lives in a near-perfect world between automatic and manual, and uses the best of both worlds. Mechanically, it's not like the current automatics with a manual mode, and it's not like the few manual transmissions with automatic engagement, as in the BMW M3, Z4, Toyota MR2 Spyder and a couple Ferraris. Audi seems to believe it's more automatic than manual, although with your eyes closed it feels and sounds more like a manual, including programmed throttle blips for downshifts, which you can bang without thought and expect them to come out perfect every time.

The engineering is ingenious and innovative, using two separate clutches to perfect its shifts, although there is no clutch pedal. No less than 12 electronic sensors measure all sorts of things to determine how and when it shifts, and it can and does shift better than any human being we know. Flawless smooth upshifts at full power, and downshifts that perfectly match engine to gearbox revs, so there's no jerk or snatch. You can use the lever to shift, or the two thumb paddles on the steering wheel. The paddles are a perfect idea, as long as they're perfectly placed; we found them to miss our finger location by too much, so we stuck to the lever.

The lever notches forward to upshift and backward to downshift, which is opposite from many such shifters. Some drivers feel strongly that you should pull back to upshift, others think it should be like the TT's. We think you should pull back to upshift and push forward to downshift because that momentum flows with the direction of the g-force on your body. You're forced back in the seat when accelerating, forward in the seat when braking and downshifting. Other automotive journalists disagree with this view. So maybe it's personal preference.

Like an automatic in manual mode, the DSG will shift itself at redline, which is 6500 rpm; and unfortunately it will downshift itself when you floor it, which was disappointing at least once, when we floored it in fourth at a decent speed, going downhill in a corner, and it downshifted. We didn't want it to downshift, the engine didn't need it, and the downshift upset the smoothness of the corner. You can also put the gearbox in D and drive it like an automatic. It will shift casually in that mode, usually short-shifting, or upshifting at low rpm (good), which is exactly what most automatic manuals won't allow the driver to do in the manual mode (bad).