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The droptop TTS proves quick and stylish, but watch out for fast-moving traffic! BY MIKE SUTTON In the past, it was more than a stretch for us to call Audi’s TT a sports car. Fun? Yes. Stylish? Absolutely. But it wasn’t until our recent experiences with the 2009 TTS that we began to consider the little coupe/roadster a willing partner for back-road shenanigans. Our tests have shown the TTS coupe capable of hitting 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, covering the quarter-mile in 13.5 at 104 mph, and clawing around the skidpad at 0.95 g. The droptop TTS flexed its sporting mettle in our recent $50K roadster comparison test , finishing a very close third behind the more expensive and more powerful Porsche Boxster S and BMW Z4 sDrive35i. (A distant fourth went to the Chevrolet Corvette convertible.) Noted in that test were the TTS roadster’s unflappable composure and excellent ride-and-handling balance, but the little Audi was way,waaaay short of the other competitors in a straight line. Sixty mph came in 5.6 seconds and the quarter-mile took 14.2 seconds at 99 mph; the next slowest car in the comparo, the Z4, hit 60 in 4.8 seconds and ran the quarter in 13.5 @ 106. You’ll notice the TTS’s numbers also seriously lag behind its fixed-roof sibling. A coupe outperforming its convertible variant is not unusual, but we thought the comparo TTS might have been a little lame, and so we scheduled a retest on our home turf. Keep Reading: 2009 Audi TTS Roadster – Short Take Road Test