The Audi That Hits 60 As Fast As An R8 For Half The Price
Imagine you pull up to a stoplight in your shiny Audi R8 supercar. Then you hear someone rev their engine next to you. Is that a stretched VW Beetle? No, it’s another Audi! The light turns green, the tiny coupe takes off, and the next thing you know, your budget-friendly little brother is neck-and-neck in the race to 60 mph.
Yes, there’s a RennSport-tuned Audi that enthusiasts affectionately call the “Baby R8.” Its MSRP was a fraction of that of Audi’s mid-engine halo car, even though it could tie the R8 in a race to 60 mph. Even though sports car fans now seek out the little-known Audi, it’s still worth less than half of an R8’s value on the used market.
Supercar Sleepers Hiding In Plain Sight
Resale value is rarely tied to the original MSRP. And original MSRPs often weren’t tied to performance numbers. So it’s very possible to get near-supercar performance at a budget-friendly price, if you’re buying used ones and know what to look for.
We’ve previously covered many sports car bargains. Here are a few of our favorites.
You can think of the supercharged Mercedes SLK as a German version of the Honda S2000. And with prices now below $10,000, there’s a lot to love about this roadster. The BMW Z3 doesn’t have a supercharger, just a big, torquey, I6 engine option. And they are often even cheaper than the Merc.
Many James Bond fans have been excitedly watching the used Aston Martin Vantage V8 market depreciate to below $35,000. But some have missed that the comparable, V8-powered Jaguar XK is now sitting around $15,000—with project cars available for around $7,500.
The Corvette is a perennial favorite for budget-friendly performance. The C4 generation is at or just past peak depreciation, with the bottom of the market sitting around $8,000. Meanwhile, the C5 Z06 and C6 Z06 trims are affordable track monsters with rowdy, muscle car manners.
Other future classics that collectors are buying up, include the 986-generation Porsche Boxster, with an average used value of $14,554. The final Mazda RX-8 is even more affordable, with an average value of $12,564.
So what about Audis? You can spend as much as you want on an Audi supercar. But there was once a budget-friendly coupe with an RS trim that is now one of the best performance bargains on the used market.
The Audi R8 Set The Bar
Audi has been building sports cars since the mid-engine Silver Arrows were dominating the Grand Prix races of the 1930s. But the automaker truly threw its hat in the road-going supercar ring with its 2008 R8. The first generation shared a chassis and available V10 engine with the Lamborghini Gallardo. It was also available with a V8 and even a gated manual shift lever.
According to the 0-60specs website, the average tested 0-60 time for a first-gen (Type 42) R8 was 3.83 seconds, with the V8 cars bringing up the back of the pack. The fastest time, as tested by a reputable outlet, was 3.10 seconds for the “Extreme Edition.”
The base 2008 Audi R8 started at $109,000. The V10 dropped for the 2009 model year with an MSRP of $146,000.
The “4S” generation of the R8 debuted for 2016, with a chassis based on the Lamborghini Huracán. It was only available with a V10 engine. Its fastest recorded 0-60 mph test goes to the 2017 V10 Plus Quattro Coupe (2.60 seconds). The 2022 Audi R8 V10 Performance RWD Coupe laid down a 0-60 mph time of 3.20 seconds in a MotorTrend test. Note, that was the 0-60 time for a supercar configuration that would have set you back $188,795.
The Audi TT RS: 400 Horsepower From Five Turbocharged Cylinders
|
Model |
Mk2 TT RS (CEPA) |
Mk3 TT RS (DAZA) |
|---|---|---|
|
Years |
2012-13 |
2018-22 |
|
Horsepower |
360 hp @5,500–6,700 rpm |
400 hp @ 5,850–7,000 rpm |
|
Torque |
343 lb-ft @ 1,650–5,400 rpm |
354 lb-ft @ 1,700–5,850 rpm |
|
Displacement |
2,480 cc |
2,480 cc |
|
Bore x Stroke |
82.5 × 92.8 mm |
82.5 × 92.8 mm |
|
Turbocharger |
BorgWarner K16 |
Continental |
|
Max Boost |
17.4 psi |
19.6 psi |
|
Engine Block |
Cast iron |
Aluminum w/ plasma-coated iron liners |
|
ECU |
Bosch MED 9 |
Bosch MG1 |
|
Redline |
6,800 rpm |
7,000 rpm |
One department at Audi was using Lamborghini technology to build mid-engine supercars that cost $200k and sprinted to 60 mph in three seconds. In another room, engineers asked, “How scary-fast could we make a VW GTI?”
The Audi TT is a FWD/AWD 2+2 coupe built on Volkswagen’s budget-friendly, FWD, “Group A” chassis. It debuted in 1998, named after the “Tourist Trophy” motorcycle race on the Isle of Man. Audi’s RennSport department grabbed a TT Mk2 and, to earn its motorsports-inspired badge, decided to cram just as large an engine as possible into the front-engine, FWD compact. Did they settle for the VW GTI’s 2.0-liter I4? No, they massaged an inline five-cylinder 2.5-liter under the hood. Then they slapped on a turbocharger.
The resulting TT RS (now known as the Mk2 generation and available in 2012 and 2013 only) made 335 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque. It weighed in at 3,300 pounds and was only available with Quattro AWD. But you could get a stick shift.
For the TT’s Mk3 generation, RennSport dialed the TT RS up to 11 (model years 2018-2022). They tuned the five-cylinder turbo engine for 400 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque. It still weighed in at 3,300 pounds and was only available with AWD. The second gen’s only transmission was a seven-speed automatic.
The Quattro TT RS Put Its Power To The Pavement
A 2018 RS Quattro coupe laid down a 3.2-second 0-60 mph time in two separate road tests. That was the car’s fastest time, as tested by both MotorWeek and Car and Driver. In the Car and Driver test, it continued on through the 1/4 mile in 11.6 seconds at 119 mph.
The 2018 Audi TT RS started at $65,875. The same year’s R8 started at $138,700. That’s double the price of a TT RS, and you could easily option it up to $230,000+. And how much more horsepower did you get for the price of three TT RS coupes? Just 140 hp. That’s right, the base 2018 R8 made 540 hp, while the V10 Plus boasted 602 hp.
The mad scientists behind the TT RS may have been targeting the Audi R8 in more ways than one. Because they insisted on a five-cylinder, and because they built that five-cylinder with a 1-2-4-5-3 firing order, it has an unmistakably exotic exhaust note when revved out. Some have even compared it to the sound of the Audi R8’s V10.
2022 Audi TT RS: Costs, Facts, And Figures
Here’s what makes the 2022 TT RS an excellent choice for enthusiasts who want this Audi before it’s gone from the U.S. market.
A Baby R8 At A Budget-Friendly Price
The final U.S. model year for the Audi TT RS was 2022. The Audi R8 followed it to the grave in 2023. So if you’re considering these two sports cars now, you must be browsing the used market. Enthusiasts have certainly latched on to the TT RS. So is it now worth more than the R8? Not quite.
Since 2024, 10 Audi R8s have sold for less than $60,000 on the Cars and Bids website. The mid-engine R8 supercar has depreciated to new Corvette Stingray prices.
The same website loves the Audi TT RS. Since 2024, six first-gen Audi TT RS cars have sold for less than $30,000. That’s right, you can still snap up these cheeky coupes for half the price of a used R8. The cheapest second-gen (Mk3) TT RS sold on the same website went for $36,250. Obviously—just like with the R8—unique trim levels and more recent vehicles sell for more. VIN WUACSAFV6J1902215 is a 2018 that sold on Bring a Trailer in June 2026 with just 1,300 miles on the clock. This pristine Mk3 sold for $73,343.
Sibling Rivalry At Its Best With An Audi RS3 Vs An Audi S8
The YouTube channel, carwow, take these two high-performance saloons to the drag strip for a series of races to see who comes out on top.
A Deal You Can’t Ignore
The Audi TT RS is far from perfect. If you don’t like turbocharged engines, or believe it’s important to drive a RWD so you can hang the back end out around corners, then this isn’t the car for you. And to be blunt, the Audi TT is a compact coupe that somewhat resembles a stretched VW Beetle. These are very small cars. Drive one daily, and you’ll quickly discover which of your friends have an open mind and which ones are waiting for an excuse to roast you. But the people who like a TT RS love it. You can see one owner’s long-term review in the video below:
As enthusiasts catch on, are these cars’ prices changing? Or, as recent model years, are they still depreciating? The answer to both questions is probably no. According to Classic.com, six of them have sold in the past year. The average resale value is $29,917 and lowest is $18,500, with prices remarkably consistent over the past 12 months. Note that these dealership sales don’t reflect the prices for private party sales, such as cars listed on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.
Source: Cars&Bids
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