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The party piece of the TT-RS (both gens) is that I5 motor, particularly the sound. The half-a-V10 tone is super unique and cool.
At the end of the day, it's the fanciest of all Golfs - it's a fwd based platform with awd added on. So it's understeer biased and nose heavy. Great for going quickly on unfamiliar roads with minimal fear of things going pear shaped, as the fronts give up first in most situations. Not as great if you enjoy the finer points of a balanced chassis at the limit. Different strokes and all that.
GTI / A3 / TT are closely related
Golf R / S3 / TTS are closely related
RS3 / TT-RS are closely related, there's no I5 VW equivalent
The TT variants are the sportiest; lightest weight, smallest, with the most aluminum bits in the suspension. The Audi sedans are bigger / heavier, and the VWs are the practical ones with some of the luxury removed.
With a decent set of snow tires it would crush winter until the ground clearance runs out. But the same applies to most things awd, ultimate power means nothing when you can only put 40hp max to the ground. At least it's not going to try to turn around on you like a 911, heavy ends like to go first.
Personally, I think the 1st gen TT-RS is pretty blue chip value wise as it's a manual. The recently departed one is a slightly better car, and still plenty rare, but DCT only. If you're just going to commute and drive it into the ground, I'd save the cash and downgrade to the TTS/S3/Golf R, whichever one fits your lifestyle and taste best.
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