Audi Q3 2.0 TDI quattro

 

What‘s it? Audi’s new baby soft-roader, this is actually the new Audi Q3 2.0 TDI quattro. It’s on sale now, heading into production this autumn, scheduled for first UK deliveries in November, and available given by a starting price of lower than £25, 000. But many importantly, this new compact premium 4x4 is a genuine shot over the bows for British 4x4 specialist Land Rover, upon the cusp from the launch of Gaydon’s own junior upmarket SUV, baby Range Rover the Evoque. Why so? Because, while it hasn’t been lavished with a similar hype like the Evoque, nor could it quite claim a similar instant showroom appeal or aristocratic brand cache, the Q3 may alright be, for many the reasons you’re close to read, Audi’s best SUV yet. What’s it like? Compact. Measuring lower than 4. 4 metres from nose to tail, it’s almost 250mm shorter when compared to a Q5 ; takes up even less room in the kerb when compared to a Ford Kuga. So it’s no certainly people-carrier or load-lugging specialist. There will be five doors and reasonably comfortable accommodation for four adults, provided those inside the rear cabin aren’t particularly long of leg. However the boot’s no bigger than that of a really average Golf-sized estate car.

The Audi Q3 2.0 TDI does produce other virtues typical of a bigger 4x4, however. Its raised driving position makes for easy entry straight into the car and exit from it, along with for any relaxing elevated view of an open road ahead ; once and for all visibility to the edges and from the rear from the car for instance, too. And that’s to not mention the Quattro four-wheel drive that each one versions except the entry-level model get. Powering the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI Quattro is really a selection of 2. 0-litre turbocharged petrol and diesel engines, the foremost modest of which is really a 138bhp TDi mated to some six-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive, which emits just 138g / km of CO2. We tested the slightly more costly 175bhp 2. 0-litre turbodiesel version, however ; it has not just Quattro but additionally a seven-speed ‘Stronic’ twin clutch gearbox as standard, and it is expected to account for 35 per cent of Q3 sales inside the UK. And it’s good. This Q3 brings top-quality mechanical refinement, laudable build quality, rich and impressive cabin materials and proper premium brand desirability to the marketplace for small 4x4s, in a manner that the BMW X1 has singularly failed to carry out. It’s also cheap to own in accordance with its rivals, and perhaps most surprisingly, loads more pleasing to drive than you may expect.

The Q3 can be built outside of Germany, at Seat’s Martorell factory near Barcelona – but when you’re expecting to discover any evidence of the inside the fit-and-finish from the car, you’ll look long and hard, and ultimately in vain. Our test car was appointed having a mixture of soft and tactile brown and beige leathers and plastics, dark brown larch wood inlays and glossy black and satin silver trims. It had an expensive-feeling cabin ambience which you wouldn’t expect inside an SUV in the marketplace for lower than £30k, and were finished very consistently indeed. The Q3 communicates premium feel in other ways too. Upon the move, that torquey four-cylinder diesel engine seems very thoroughly insulated. Working hard it’s audible, but its vibrations are kept coming from the cabin very effectively ; a lot of the time it sounds hushed and distant. But performance-wise it propels the Q3 with authority and pace. Specify your Q3 on standard SE springs with Audi’s adaptive dampers, as our test car was, and you’ll even see it supple and compliant over rougher surfaces – provided you select the ideal Drive Select mode. As the ‘Dynamic’ setting adds weight towards the car’s steering and dials in welcome body control and stability for very testing roads, Audi’s ‘Comfort’ preset is that the one you’ll default to. It enables for any ride smooth sufficient to bear comparison with the foremost refined cars inside the class, can easily handle urban road scars without disturbing the calm from the Q3’s cabin, and doesn’t sacrifice an excessive amount handling or steering precision at higher speeds. Additionally place the Q3’s Stronic gearbox into your smoother operating setting during which it may perform wafting part-throttle getaways without any one of the unseemly rushing or shoving that twin clutch transmissions sometimes suffer with. Should I buy one? So long as it’s big enough for you personally. That’s quite a big caveat. If you’re buying the Q3 like a second car and also have something larger to make use of when you‘ll need it, the Audi’s relative insufficient cargo space probably won’t bother you. But when you’ve got grown children or many family paraphernalia to carry around, it might not quite meet your requirements.