Brad Willis

<br>I just got off of the phone with an AofA contact. I'm told that the 180hp TT production is ahead of schedule, and that there is a good possibility of March delivery, and no later than April. Also, the "feeling" is that the base TT will be at $32,000. I tried to dig further to find out if that was just a guess, or if they knew but couldn't say, but I couldn't get a further answer. There is no new information on the 225 hp/Quattro version.

Alfonso Gutierrez

Like I said before....<br>32k is too much for the base model, take the NM edition as a reference....<br>You can not add Xenon lights ,17" wheels and tires, leather,heated seats,computer,8 speaker bose system, CD changer and a car cover for less than 3K...<p>I stick to my dealer prediction of 29.900 for the base and 20% more for the 225HP and another 20% more for the convertible.<br>

Brad Willis

<br>Maybe, but my earlier $32,000 post was my opinion. Today's post of a $32,000 estimate was from an Audi of America rep. Again, I don't know if he knows something, or if he is guessing too. I still think that $30,000 is too low.

John Rutledge

I think pricing of the TT will be determined in large part by the price of the BMW Z3,which is the nearest competition for the TT. Last week I saw a new 1998 Z3 on the dealer's lot for $30,900. If the TT comes in at much over this, I'd strongly consider the Z3 instead. With a bolt-on hard top available for about $1,900 you could have both convertible and hard-top.<p>For a side-by-side comparison of the BMW Z3 coupe(é) 2.8 and the TT quattro, see:<br>www.autojournal.de/test/audibmw.htm. <br>This is old news, but the BMW is said to be more comfortable, while the TT feels more solid. Differences were very small and mainly subjective.<p>Audi is offering a fantastic look that competes with BMW's more accessible dealerships (because there are more of them) and BMW's reputation for quality, chicness.<p>While I'd like to hope that the TT base price will be $29-something, I'm afraid that a base in the mid-$30K range is more likely. One can hope that Audi will try to capture more of the market by setting the price low, but I doubt that that will be their strategy.<p>Maybe I'll have to wait for the new Nissan Z car,<br>still a concept at this point, but bound to be cheaper. And also cooool.<p><br>