Inside, the 2008 Audi TT is wonderful. Highlighted by standard leather seats and real aluminum trim, the interior is well put together, with tight tolerances and sturdy, soft-touch materials. The design is contemporary, simple, and attractive. The gauges are trimmed in silver with black faces, and trip computer information is displayed between them. The dash is black, and models with the Enhanced Interior package get black leather around the gauge cluster.

All of the controls are within arm's reach and they move with precision. Without the optional navigation system, the controls are easy to find and operate. With the navigation system, however, the TT gets a version of Audi's Multi Media Interface (MMI). This system absorbs the audio controls, and adds several steps to simple tasks like changing the radio station. MMI might appeal to techies, but most of us would prefer something less complicated.

Sports cars are notoriously hard to enter and exit. While entering the 2008 TT requires a step down, it's not as much of a crouch as the last model and the flat-bottom steering wheel in most TTs provides a modicum of extra knee room. Once inside, the TT has more room for the driver than most sports cars. A 6-foot, 7-inch friend said he fit well in the TT, but found the Z4 to be cramped. The front seats are comfortable and have nice bolstering to help keep you in place in fast turns. Visibility is good to most angles, but there is a notable blind spot to the right rear in coupes and in roadsters with the top up.

The leather upholstery is attractive, and the Enhanced Interior package makes it even more so, with contrasting stitching and a leather-covered instrument pod. Audi offers numerous interior color options, as well as the Baseball-Optic leather package that features a Madras Brown color and thick stitching inspired by baseball gloves, a TT tradition.

The rear seat in coupes is inhospitable for humans and is best used for holding packages and purses. Small children may fit back there, but they will certainly complain.

The rear seats fold down, however, which creates a flat load floor and plenty of cargo space. Cargo space is even good with the seats up, but with them down it expands from 10.2 to 24.7 cubic feet. That's more than twice the space of a Z4 coupe and is plenty of room for groceries or luggage for two. The roadster is available with a ski pass-through that improves its 9.1 cubic feet of cargo room, and it's nice that the convertible top doesn't intrude on trunk space. Unfortunately, neither the coupe nor the roadster have enough interior storage for small items.