My C7 Comes With Magnetic Shocks
My C7 Corvette Grand Sport is having some minor electrical problems and unfortunately my Chevy dealership experiences have not been too great in going about solving them. I also find having some of these electrical problems to be unacceptable in a car that is one year old. So I was thinking going with luxury car maker in the future since the Chevy dealerships around me are a little lulzworthy, and so far Audi is the brand that I most have my eye on. I decided to rent a 2018 TTRS as it is a car that looks more unique and sporty than your typical luxury sedan/coupe but at the same time is a bit more practical than the C7 Corvette. The areas I will focus on are: Power, Handling, Practicality, Style, Build Quality, and Overall Driving Experience. So this is kind of an interesting metric to look at between these two cars.
The Audi TTRS has a 2.5L 400HP 350lb/ft torque turbo charged 5cylinder engine mated to an AWD 7 speed DCT transmission. My C7 Grand Sport has a 6.2L NA V8 producing 460HP 460lb/ft torque and is mated to a torque converter 8 speed automatic. The Audi feels similar to other low displacement turbo charged cars that I have driven. It has some initial go from the engine and then once the turbo spools up a big wave of torque and power carries it up to speed. I wouldn't say the system is "laggy" but you do gain a few thousand RPM's before you really feel the turbo kick in. Whereas the Audi probably would beat the C7 Grandsport to 60 in the real world, I would describe it as "quick" whereas the Corvette just feels powerful almost everywhere in the RPM band. This power difference is really noticeable when driving the cars back to back. I often criticize the Grand Sport for being too balanced of a car and too tame but compared to the TTRS it is much more visceral.
The TTRS in a lot of ways is just as fast, but you kind of get to speed without feeling much effort, or excitement. So the TTRS brings you get up to speed in a rather unremarkable blur, whereas in the Grandsport you feel like you're attached to a rocket by comparison. On the highway the Corvette is the better car to have. The extra horsepower and torque really begins to shine after 60mph, and on the highway the Corvette just puts you in any position you want to be in with all of the torque and power it has. A lot of reviewers praised the TTRS for having a really unique sound full of personality and a great exhaust mated to it. Though the car does sound nice and is definitely the most exciting sounding German car I've driven thus far (which isn't saying much) The C7 Corvette's V8 is just so much more present and pleasant to listen to. Now obviously, comparing a 6.2L V8 to 5 cylinders is kind of unfair. But I would also say that the 4cylinder Alfa Romeo 4C has an engine with more character to it as does the Ford Focus RS.
The TTRS does sound about as good as the 4.2L V8 in the Audi R8 though and better than the anemic 997 Porsche 911 Turbo that I drove. The TTRS got blasted in a lot of track focused reviews because it has a 60/40 front weight bias. The AWD system on it is also a claimed to be a little wonky as it likes to predominately send power to the front wheels, only sending them to the rear wheels when needed. Because of this, the car was claimed to be a little difficult to drive at the limit and a lot of people complained of understeer and poor turn in. The C7 Grandsport by comparison is objectively one of the best handling cars on the market period and features the Corvette's tried and true double wish-bone, leaf spring, magnetic shock, RWD suspension setup. In terms of steering feel, both cars are great. The TTRS feels very quick yet still connected to the road with how it steers. I believe it has an electric steering rack, but it very much feels like a hydraulic rack with how it is weighted.