Audi TT RS vs BMW M2 vs Porsche 718 Cayman S: fast lap shootout 

Jethro you are excellent at communicating how these cars feel, and thank you director and editor for letting the track videos breathe and suck you in without music or editing tricks. Classy, entertaining, informative!

The Cayman sounds horrendous compared to the last gen

I'm not an Audi fan in the slightest but there's something special about the TT, as a seriously fast road car. The engine is a masterpiece. The M2 however.. that is a lovely package for a daily/track day car. Great driving, love it :)

Loving this series so far, Drivetribe. We want more!!

"It's pretty horrendous, actually" - that's a real insult to the TT RS

This is the best car channel currently available, great job drivetribe

RIP to the Cayman's sound

This has been a nice set of videos, not too much all at once, but each one has been very good on it's own. Nice job guys!

Excellent - love the immediate post lap summaries.

I've driven my 718 Cayman on Anglesey too (video on my channel) and I was faster than some Lotuses and Caterhams (and I am a hopeless driver). It's insanely quick.

Please do more 3 part comparisons!!!! These videos are fantastic and informative

Thumbs up for being so direct and honest! Superb review!

Thanks a lot for the video and great driving there Jethro!

Great review 👌 definatly need to make more of these vids in the future.

If you own a 718 Cayman like me it sounds far better in real life. It has a deep throaty sound and yes it's not as nice as the flat 6 but it's not as bad as you hear on video. Oh and it's properly quick, not just in a straight line like the Audi. And just look at it, stunning looking car!

Great job Jethro! Cheers from a Canadian fan.

Great video. The TTRS would really shine in the wet of course but you gotta love the Cayman S. Porsche has and always will be a Sport car company. I think you've also gotta give the best sounding engine to the TTRS though.

biggest must have engineering fad on all 16/17 cars: THOSE ANNOYING ARTIFICIAL UPSHIFT FARTS.

Love these videos

Loved the S1 quatro sound, glad they've brought that 5pot back.

I'm a simple man. I see "Jethro" in the thumbnail, I click like.

This video was too good. You have my attention Jethro.

brilliant feedback from the driver after each run. Like it. He was pushing pretty hard on those runs to.

It'd be cool to get a MPH readout during the laps too! Great stuff as always

Awesome job, well done

such a good video. thanks.

Great video! Would like to hear the cars from the interior though, to get a better feel for the cars

the M2 auto is a lot quicker

Cayman with a PDK would be in a different league round a track

Amazing video, more videos like this please! I thought the TT was going to be better, as it has more power-torque and 4wd, but the balance of the porche is unbeatable

Direct and honest analysis

Very nice video

We are going to see a M2 CS with a detuned S55 engine with 400hp soon, that will be fun.

Damn the Cayman sounds like shit!

Such a beautiful circuit ! I for one have never felt that a comparo between an AWD performance vehicle VS a Rwd one to have too much merit. It's apples and lettuce., but I get it ! it needs to be done and this film was awesome to watch. Thank you for doing it !!! Audi has always had a rigid design&safety belief that Understeer will keep their customers safe from potential harm ,especially with with a car with that much power. One just needs to adjust their driving style and intuition to take advantage of Quattro and the Sport Diff rear. The TT-Rs is geared for the general enthusiast market, a demographic that at best will only drive the RS to 7/10th's of its capability if even that and for the most part mainly floor it when they're going straight on the Expressway. Folks that want a car that looks the business, goes like stink and more importantly stops and scrubs speed better than anything in its class.No one will ever complain about the brakes on an RS car. My RS4 never runs out of brakes, nor did my old RS6. When it comes down to it, the Audi is a beast in any type of weather. I'll take that over a 1+ sec track lap advantage any day...because in the "real" world, that doesn't add up to a whole lot of beans. One also wonders what the times would be if Cup2's were standard instead of the Pirelli Corsa's that come on the TT as well as the new option of reverse stagger which is available on the US bound RS3. Lastly, that 5 pot is one of the most violently delicious sounds coming out of a bonnet in a long time, especially compared to the lawnmower concerto of the Cayman's 4...yuck !

nice, honest review

Wise choice in changing the voice over!

Exelent Content

ESP settings were changed for the fast lap or default?

the rasp on TTRS is nice

Am driving the TT RS these days for my publication. I found the front end on the road to have a better bite than usual for Audi. Maybe it's the Yoko Advan tires, and I also felt the back end reacting nicely at gas pedal release mid corner, something unusual for Audi. If I could disconnect all the stability mgmt completely, I guess you could play with it a lot more. The engine is a real treat and yes, it sounds so much better than the Porsche. After nearly 30 years of waiting for the needle to pass the 5,000 rpm of the boxer aspirated angine and enter a proper world, now all these fking turbo engines are so linear that they lost their character. even on the 991... I was so disappointed on how boring are these new turbo engines

TT Handling tuned for safe road ! So easy to have softer re-tune of front suspension and anti roll bar .. Then Wins all round. ?

wow Jethro is actually telling it like it is. much respect.

Why did you test the TTRS with an open window?!

Dear Drivetribe, Please relocate the mic for recording the engine sounds. All onboards for hot laps you guys currently make sounds like it's distorted. Much appreciated thanks.

I know manufacturers pick oem tires to meet many standards, but I wish for these comparison tests, all cars are equipped with identical tires to remove that variable

I’d just get a TT RS for daily and highway/stoplight dominance and a modified 2018 181hp Miata ND / Abarth 124 Spider for handling thrills on the weekends.

For the entirety of these tests, if the TT RS doesn't come in manual (is it even an option I don't know?) then the BMW and the Porsche should have been equipped with M-DCT and PDK respectively...seems much more fair

What you have here are three great cars. Look at what you need in terms of practicality, see which one you like the design of and bingo. You have made a good choice.

.Great video - love that 'ringside commentary' from the driver straight off the bat...but if you're not a professional driver but are comparing a Mk2 TTRS, a 911 997 and a BMW (M4)?

What tire on each car?

They should get dual clutch edition of cayman and M2 for proper comparison in all tests .

nice video

whats that whoosshy wind ish sound when the m2 revs high??? so confused, i swear thats not part of the inline 6 is it?? or is it because all sounds are recorded super close to exhausts? maybe that explains why my desk literally rumbles during the 718 part...my bass was just going crazy

242 laps on the Ring in my new 718 Boxster S; sound does not matter, when going in big circles.

Where's part 2!?

Thanks for the constantly changing camera views on the fast lap, so we can never see what the car is actually doing.

how much of the difference in handling behavior is just down to the factory alignments?

this is a golden era of cars, every one of these cars are amazing and will be the same price as Toyotas in a couple years

Price aside, this is almost an unfair comparison. The Porsche is a true mid engine sports car. The other two are sport coupes... Porsche wins as it should!

I really hope we get to see a 718 GT4!

M2 every time for me. If it was the 981 it would be a tough choice.

Porsche still #1, very cool and love that Miami Blue.

why didnt you guys go for the dct transmission m2?/

I'm surprised DriveTribe didn't include an Evora 400 in the comparison.

I would have a hard time deciding between the M2 and the Cayman S

Beautiful driving, great tests. But for the love of god porsche! We want your 6 cylinder back

I'll say I'm quite disappointed in the M2 so far... still that TT's engine is a monster! Could it be that Audi have caught up to BMW or is it that BMW and the M division have slowed down or become static over the years? OK trolls my opinion and question as a M car owner. Brilliant honest review I could watch your videos all day any day. Thank you!

The TTRS is the most well rounded. Fastest from a launch. Fastest on the straights. Not quite as practical as the M2 but significantly more than the Cayman. AWD for all weather. Great interior. But I still love the M2 more.

As someone who owns both an Audi and a BMW and worked for Audi I have to say you have to drive the Audi differently. If you drive the Audi like a standard RWD car and follow the racing line for a RWD car it will understeer. You have to drive it like a FWD car but you can get on the power way sooner than most other cars. I think with someone used to driving Audi's you could get the fastest time out of all those cars. Jethro is still a good driver tho, not denying that

comparing an automatic 4wd audi rs with two manual 2wd cars seems not too fair

Did they all have the same tire ... ?

Lovely sound ttrs

You could just see how horrendous the TT's understeer was and the M2 was faster through every part of the track sub that last sector where the Audi made up a deficit of nearly 6/10ths on those two straights.

I had the previous TT and agree they still understeer badly now have an M2 DCT and best car for me by far cannot comment on the 718 probably the best sports car for the price range but the four-cylinder engine lets it down..

Stiil for my the best its audi you can play with suspension camber tire presure etc too make this car mutch more playfull and on wet or snow its Crazy car :)

But where's the next video?

Just listen to that heel-toe.

So far we have seen power figures, a drag race and lap times. We drive performance cars because of how they make us feel, not because of the figures. At least I do. If the fourth video only counts as 1 point out of 4 the winner would actually be the least pleasing car to drive out of the 3. I hope know one buys a TT based on these videos.

Would have loved to see the Alfa 4C included in this vid

If I had to pick one. It'd be the TTRS. The AWD in Seattle is a no brainer.

Great critical Vid!!! Not just silly glorifications!! M2 is too heavy, but comparing the Porsche and the Audi: You give up 1.5s with the Audi on this curvy track but you get a proper boot and an everyday / all year capable AWD. Don't understand why Audi cant handle the front axle.. there are a lot of front engine / FWD cars who are really sharp to drive. Audi should make a more track focused version.

the quattro system relies on power being put down in the corners thats why it under-steers if you dont. try putting 10% power down when cornering and the quattro system will make the steering far more precise.

They are road cars by the way. Which one is best on the road? Nobody ever looks at this.

This has put me off the TTRS. That ploughing is horrendous! I wonder if the driver aides were on ? As Audi/VW driver aides tend are key to getting the thing to turn properly, with XDS+ giving the LSD effect and braking of inside wheels to make it pivot. I understand that track 🚘 ng you typically turn everything off, but as you don't need to worry about traction control cutting in on TTRS due to Quattro, I bet you get less understeer with the XDS+ being allowed to do it's thing.

now imagine the Porsche and BMW with DCT.

Huge outlet, massive backing and budget; can't do an apples to apples comparison of these cars with their auto boxes. With the DCT the M2 would have beaten the considerably more powerful Audi around the track and with the PDK the Porsche would have been in a different stratosphere. That would be a fair reflection of these cars chassis', instead the Audi gets artificially boosted by having a faster box with closer ratios than either of the other two despite those two having that option.

The Porsche looks soooo pretty! I think its easily the best looking car in this trio. I obviously miss the flat 6 but I would still take the Cayman over the M2 or the TT.

So close in performance I wonder if all being on the same rubber would either make or break one of these cars. I hate that these comparisons NEVER list tire sizes and brand/model tires they are run on. My TTS never seems to have the understeer they always complain about. I also replaced the tires with a decent set of 265/30r19

Let’s be honest here: the guy was prepared to dislike the TT RS. The current trend command that good race drivers must praise manual trans and rear wheel drive. Everything else isn’t proper, just tolerated. So, the auto trans and awd weren’t welcome. The driver even say he lost time banging the rev limiter with the paddles because he doesn’t like to leave in auto. Well the way I see it is if you’re shooting for a fast lap you have to adapt to get everything the car can do! That said and being honest, the Cayman has the superior handling , the M2 is fun to drift and the TT RS could do better in the hands of a driver who commit to it. But I loved the video even if I don’t agree completely with the conclusion !

sweet

this guys the gordon ramsay/simon cowell of reviewers holy shit

Automatic Fanboys; *Gasping Intensifies*

Am I the only person tripped out that this video was narrated by Thomas of Throttle House??

Speed is not the only thing

Haha TTRS beats an M car. Imagine if they actually made a rws ttrs. Would eat the cayman as well

like it

This guy can't drive Quattro....Stuck and Röhrl should give him lessons 👍

why the M2 and not the Z4?

Why is the audio of this video is so poor?