PRICE RANGE: $30,500 to $34,000

ENGINE: 1.8- liter, 180- horsepower turbo I4 Front Engine/ Front Drive

FUEL ECONOMY: 22 mpg city/31 mpg highway

SAFETY FEATURES: Driver and passenger side airbags and ABS anti-lock brakes are standard.

Dripping Springs, Texas -- Sometimes it is hard to be late in the market, and after BMW, then Mercedes, then Porsche introduced their reasonably priced sports cars, some didn't give Audi much of a chance. They are the weak sister of the group, and haven't ever sold a sports car here. Still, with eye-catching styling and road-gripping Quattro AWD on the way, they have all the weapons to fight this battle.

Our gang spends lots of time roaming good roads in great new cars, and the TT easily spanned the time and culture warp between the young professionals in urban Austin and the oil and ranch roughnecks in the hills. We heard more than one 'squashed Beetle' comment, but there was a note of approval among the jibes, and lots of time was spent perusing the appointments -- especially the interior.

While the TT coupe may pay homage to Germany's heritage, it does so by applying modern ideas and technology to the questions the Bauhaus disciples asked more than 60 years ago. J. Mays-led the design team that developed the shape prior to his departure to Ford, and Audi design director Peter Schreyer shaped the Bauhaus influence on the interior, showing that the 75-year-old design school looked forward in their designs. Their influence on the deco movement is obvious and you can almost see the TT showing up in a future episode of the Hercule Poirot mysteries.