That Eiffel Tower remake might look more like a Vodafone mast; the "next" Marilyn Monroe will have whiskers like a hairy builder caught cross-dressing.
It's a gamble with iconic cars, too.
Consensus tells that the New MINI was a hit yet there are those who suggest the Beetle was a retrograde step.
All of which means that the first significant re-engineering of Audi's TT sports car - arguably the motoring design classic of the 90s and noughties - is one that the Teutonic clutchpencil twiddlers wanted to get right. Speaking as a (adopts deep voice) real man, they got it right.
The original TT was, well, a bit of a girls' car.
Win-win
This one is as red-blooded as the old one was metrosexual. That has largely been achieved by sculpting the gentle, Beetle-like curves into more brutal slopes. It's a win-win situation: fast women will like it just as much, fast men will love it more.
On the inside, I loved the flat-bottomed steering wheel.
Everything else is as you'd expect: cosseting sports-oriented seats, ergonomic switches and the trademark red neon.
New TT comes with a choice of two updated engines: a 3.2litre quattro (Audi's famous four-wheel drive system) and a 2.0 litre TFSI.
You can tell the cars apart by the twin tailpipe configuration - one pipe each side on quattro, two on the left on the TFSI.
Transmission is either 6-speed manual; quick-switch manual (an optional extra); or the seamless S tronic semi-utomatic.
Don't let thoughts of old Steve McQueen movies tempt you towards the manual - S tronic quattro is the fastest of the bunch, hitting 62mph in 5.7 seconds against the manual's 5.9.
But then the "slowest" new TT is the manual 2.0litre TFSI, which hits 62mph in 6.6 seconds.
Awesome
Fitted as standard is an awesome, petro-chemical sound system - it builds like a banshee before peaking in a jet-power roar.
That said, a discernible power lag when my foot was depressed at moderate speeds was disappointing.
The car's low and lean stance helps in the curves, with the quattro sticking like glue to twisty-turny carriageways.
While it might be a bit of a give away, I love the way the spoiler deploys at a speed-limit bashing 76mph.
I didn't get the opportunity to drive the front wheel drive only 2.0FSI, but I'm told that it too felt sure-footed.
The big question now is whether it's worth an extra five grand for one second of performance and a better badge. Ultimately, the image change is still in keeping with the sleek modern luxury of the original TT: more of a Madonna than a Maradonna.
It isn't rugged and raucous like the 350Z, or clinical and focussed like the BMW M4 Coupe.
But the design team behind the new TT have managed to make it fresh, exciting{hellip} and even more refined than the original.
View comments (1 comment 20/09/2006 at 12:24)
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