VAG’s decisions on who would be able to shift their own gears have always been a bit confusing, but the period of the 3.2 VR6 is really where this came to a head for U.S. customers. In 2004, Volkswagen brought their hottest Golf (finally!) to our market, featuring the singing VR6 in 6-speed manual only form with the R32. Great, but Audi offered the same platform in slinkier TT 3.2 Quattro form. However, fans of manual shifting were overlooked as Audi opted to bring the top TT here only with DSG.
On its way out of production, Audi threw the kitchen sink of options at the top-spec TTs; you could get Celebration 18″ alloy wheels, baseball optic leather upholstery, navigation, Bose sound, and a bunch of other special equipment. Additionally, the 3.2s came standard with most of the lower-range optional equipment, such as xenon headlights and a power-operated top – and the 3.2’s got a neat vented front bumper cover that was also shared with some special European-only models like the Clubsport. Today, they’re harder to find than most TTs, but that doesn’t always mean they’re super expensive:
