Audi Q2 v Lexus LBX 2024 Comparison

There is a cheaper option in the Lexus line-up - actually two.

The new LBX range starts with the $47,550 Luxury while the mid-range Sports Luxury has front-wheel drive for $52,990. The version we’re looking at here gets all-wheel drive which costs another $4000.

Regardless of the variant, each LBX has a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine coupled to a hybrid electric drivetrain.

The Audi, however, has only more expensive alternatives. Here, we’re looking at the entry-level 35 TFSI which has front-wheel drive and a 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol, but if you want all-wheel drive, you’ll have to spend $56,800 for the 40 TFSI Quattro which also has a bigger 2.0-litre engine. Above that, the SQ2 has proper hot-hatch performance for $70,800.

However, things get a little more evenly matched when as-tested options and on-roads are factored in as you’ll see in the equipment section below.

For a similar budget, you could also put a Volkswagen T-Roc on your shopping list in sporty 140TSI R-Line trim or Skoda’s equivalent Kodiaq 140TSI Sportline, while for similar cash, Alfa Romeo’s Tonale is on offer, although the all-wheel drive hybrid is out of reach at nearly $80k.

While both cars are from premium brands, the Lexus is range-topping, including a lot of kit in the price, while the Q2 is the entry point of the range and requires a few optional extras to match the LBX.

The Lexus has just one option - Midnight Sapphire paint - adding another $1750 to the bottom line and with on-road costs added in, the Lexus costs more than $65,000. The Audi that we have here has had a lot more kit thrown at it, such as the Comfort Package which brings heated front seats, auto-dimming mirrors, automatic parking, hill-hold, and a more premium 10-speaker sound system. It also has the Premium Plus Package which adds 19-inch alloy wheels, LED matrix headlights and some extra touches to the exterior.

Together with a panoramic roof, power tailgate, ambient lighting and metallic paint, the Audi’s extras total $9845. Apart from paint, 19-inch wheels and glass-roof, all of the above are included in the Lexus for no extra cash.

That means when everything is totted up, the Q2 costs a little more than $64,000, almost exactly the same price as the LBX as tested, and we have a very comparable pair of vehicles to delve into.

Other standard equipment for the Lexus includes a top-quality Mark Levinson 13-speaker sound system, synthetic suede upholstery, 18-inch alloy wheels, and a wireless device charging pad.

Included in the Audi’s base price is part-leather upholstery, but seat adjustment is done manually unlike the Lexus which gets electric operation for the driver.

Lexus is offering its new full-service lease (FSL) option, allowing customers to not actually own the LBX but make a single monthly payment that covers registration, insurance, and maintenance. The option can also be expanded to cover fuel as well. At the end of the term, the Lexus can simply be handed back, transferred onto a loan, or bought outright.

Service intervals for both models occur every 15,000km and, for the Lexus, cost $595 per scheduled visit for up to five years. Audi offers a similar deal with a five-year servicing plan which costs $2730 or $546 per service if divided equally.

The Q2’s safety rating is another way it shows its age. The model was tested by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) shortly after it was first introduced and scored a full five stars. However, that rating expired in 2023 and, as such, all Q2 variants are classed as unrated.

It’s the opposite problem for the Lexus. At the time of writing the LBX had only been on sale for less than five months and Lexus had not submitted the LBX to the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).

It would be reasonable to assume the Lexus would perform similarly well if tested, given its closely comparable safety systems and features to the Toyota Yaris Cross, with which it shares a lot of technology and structural platform. It scored a five-star rating in 2021.

Both models are well equipped with standard safety systems including blind-spot monitoring (with warning but no assistance), adaptive cruise control down to stop-start traffic speeds, rear-cross traffic alert with braking, lane-keep assistance and departure warning and autonomous emergency braking.

That said, the Audi does not feature speed sign recognition. A previous update was supposed to introduce the feature, but in our test car, it wasn’t working.

In the not-so-distant past, Lexus’s information and entertainment systems were needlessly convoluted with many often-accessed features buried deep in sub-menus, but the LBX has come along leaps and bounds.

The central screen is as sharp as the digital driver’s display with excellent usability and there’s a standard head-up display which introduces a novel feature to the standard HUD in the form of extra controls.

Unlike the Toyota, which only presents relatively standard information on the head-up screen such as speed and navigation directions, the Lexus has interactive control options connected to touch-sensitive steering wheel buttons. This means placing a thumb on one of the buttons brings up options to control information and entertainment systems or display customisation options.

The same can be achieved going through touchscreen and instrument cluster prompts but, even if the method requires one or two steps more than the conventional touchscreen approach, it’s all done without interrupting the driver’s attention on the road which we really liked. In contrast, the Q2 has no head-up display.

One element of the Audi’s tech that does hide its age well is the prolific Virtual Cockpit. Measuring 12.3 inches, it’s still about the largest digital instrument cluster available and its graphics and functionality have lost none of their intuitiveness. We particularly like the switchable view option which allows an almost full-screen navigation map with shrunken dials imposed at either side.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for its central display which is a little on the small size at 8.3 inches and does not have touchscreen functionality, with the rotary wheel the only option to navigate - frustrating for controlling Android Auto. Also, there’s no real home screen that most users would prefer to default to during normal driving.

While other more modern systems offer a page that displays high-level info such as a small nav map, time of day, phone status and entertainment selections all in one display, the closest thing the Q2 has is a menu screen that only shows the various sub-menus but no on-the-go information.

While both cars have smartphone mirroring, only the Lexus can connect Android and Apple devices wirelessly, but both have wireless device charging. There’s a similar modern touch for the Lexus which has USB-C ports everywhere compared with the Audi’s USB A in the front row but USB C for the rear seats only.

Finally, while the Audi’s rear-view camera is best described as adequate, it pales compared with the Lexus’s manoeuvring vision suite which includes a cutting-edge wide-angle camera with excellent resolution and an animated 3D view.

Drivetrains are where this pair of little high-riders differ most. Under the Audi’s bonnet is a four-cylinder petrol engine displacing 1.5 litre with a turbocharger. The performance result is 110kW between 5000 and 6000 rpm, and 250Nm from a low, down 1500 rpm to 3500 rpm.

It sends all that to the front wheels through a dual-clutch automatic transmission that Audi calls S Tronic.

As the Lexus has a hybrid electric powertrain, the figures aren’t quite so straightforward. Working unassisted, the 1.5-litre three-cylinder produces just 67kW and 100Nm thanks to the lack of a turbo or supercharger.

But there’s an asynchronous motor on the rear axle which produces 5kW and 52Nm and a bigger synchronous motor on the front axle with 69kW and 185Nm.

Due to the nature of how electric motors and petrol engines work and, more specifically, where and when they add in their power and torque, it’s not quite a matter of adding up all those figures for a combined output. The long and the short is that the LBX has a peak output of 100kW and 185Nm.

Rear wheel power is handled entirely by the rear motor while the front wheels have a combination of petrol and electric help, both of which are channelled through a CVT automatic transmission.

With its hybrid powertrain, the Lexus trades on its claimed fuel efficiency figure of 3.8 litres per 100km - an impressive achievement if possible. During our time with the LBX we recorded an economy of 5.2L/100km which, although a fair bit above the official number, is still exceptionally frugal.

Coincidentally, the Audi’s claimed economy is what the Lexus delivered in practice - 5.2L/100km - but given the rigours of testing and real-world driving, it returned fuel use of 6.1L/100km - again pretty respectable, especially given the Audi’s optional bigger wheels with sticky wide rubber.

Preconceptions may be foolish going into the drive experience that’s on offer here. As a premium German brand, you might expect the Audi to dominate in the performance and handling stakes and, to an extent, it does but, while the Q2 virtues are somewhat predictable, the Lexus offers a surprisingly good drive and in an entirely different way.

Audi has clearly gone for an aggressive approach with a relatively stiff set-up biased towards dynamics. The result is a reasonably quick little SUV in a straight line and good cornering grip if the surface is in decent condition - but as anyone who has driven in Victoria recently knows, the perfect road is hard to find.

On less desirable surfaces, the Audi tends to crash through imperfections and transmit most of the woes into the cabin in noise and bumps, while encountering the same mid-corner causes the suspension to tramp and lose wheel contact resulting in even more drama sent through to the steering and cabin.

Also, with only two-wheel drive and low-profile performance-focused tyres on big wheels, wet weather traction is frustrating at best and laughable at worst.

Find a decent road in the dry though, and the Q2 is a massive amount of fun and defies its entry-level status. It also highlights just how competent the all-wheel drive Q2 variants are in similar conditions.

Hop into the Lexus, and there’s a much more flexible drive experience to be found. With a softer suspension tune coupled with all-wheel drive and higher-profile tyres, the LBX is kinder to occupants on rough roads while still delivering a rewarding combination of body control and responsiveness. Push it into a corner and the Lexus will lean more but there’s still plenty of steering feedback, confidence from all-wheel traction and mechanical tyre hold.

There’s also less of a performance deficit than we were expecting from the lack of a turbocharger with electric torque filling in any gaps right when you want it most. In a dry-road drag race, the Lexus would be dust, but in more regular conditions it’s not that far behind.

The Lexus also easily offers the most sporty and supportive seats and, while its CVT auto isn’t anywhere as snappy or edgy as the Audi’s seven-speed dual-clutch, it does at least have simulated gear shifts with paddle shifters, which the Q2 does not.

Finally, both the Audi 1.5-turbo four-cylinder and naturally aspirated Lexus three-cylinder have satisfying engine notes. In the case of the Audi, it sounds aggressive and racy, compared with the Lexus’s softer and friendlier report.

Of the two, you’d have to concede that the LBX with its all-wheel drive transmission offers more off-road promise compared with the front-wheel drive Q2. However, neither is really cut out for the path less travelled with big-diameter alloy wheels shod in very much road-focused tyres and no specific all-terrain modes.

The SUV credentials of the pair are more channelled toward maximising interior space and enabling easier loading and unloading of things and children, for example.

There may have been a few challengers over the years, but Audi has a well-earned reputation for offering class-leading cabin quality from the choice of materials, through the execution and ergonomics, to the fit and finish. This still stands in almost all cases but it’s disappointing to see a few crappy quality plastics sneaking into the Q2’s interior.

Generally speaking, the interior is well appointed, but the part-leather upholstery is about entry-level hide, while some parts of the door trims and dash are clad in nasty hard plastic.

Compared with the Lexus however, you’ll find soft-touch plastic or cool fabric adorning everything, while excellent synthetic suede has been selected in favour of anything animal.

Again, denoting the age difference, the Lexus has USB C ports in both rows of seating but the Audi only has the more modern version in the second row and a slightly antiquated USB A in the front. Remember, smartphone mirroring is corded only in the Audi so don’t chuck out those old cables just yet.

Where the Audi claws back favour though, is in the outright cabin space. Neither car is significantly larger on the outside, but the Audi has a more accommodating rear seating arrangement - we’ll take that extra space over material quality and features as a rear passenger any day.

There’s also a bigger boot in the Q2 with 362 litres of cargo volume versus 315L in the Lexus.

Storage options elsewhere in the Audi are not so good compared with the Lexus which has a little more inventive use of available space such as deeper centre pockets and a more accommodating centre console.

We particularly like the electric-latching door handles as standard with the Lexus which require just a nicely intuitive push or a small tab to exit while, on the outside, there are cool solid-state handles with a microswitch seamlessly hidden inside for popping the door from the outside. Before you ask, there’s a mechanical emergency override on the inside.

Audi has announced that it’s exiting the compact SUV segment and, unfortunately, the soon-to-be-discontinued Q2 feels as though it’s been neglected one or two updates as a result. That said, it is ageing incredibly well. The exterior design is still handsome and contemporary, and although its interior tech is showing its years, it all still functions well.

The Q2 is also great fun to drive and surprisingly sporty for an entry-level version if a little too taught at times. However, when viewed in the context of the gleaming and freshly arrived Lexus, the age difference is too easy to spot.

It might not be as outright sporty as the Audi, but the Lexus manages to be a real hoot at the wheel, and while you’re having fun you can smile even wider at the knowledge the Lexus is using about a litre less fuel per 100km in the process.

A continued push to improve Lexus interior design and quality for all models including its littlest, is in stark contrast to Audi’s decision to allow a few low-quality plastics to sneak into the Q2, while the LBX digital display offering is a standout against the Audi and many other brands in the compact class.

Both, however, are pricey propositions and while they do offer something genuinely premium it can be hard to justify the spend for something that barely accommodates five adults or a decent boot-load of stuff.

Ultimately, it’s the Lexus that prevails, with its cutting-edge tech that defies its size, excellent styling and quality throughout and a frugal powertrain that strikes a good balance of performance and economy.

The Q2 may have helped to invent a small premium SUV, but almost a decade later, it’s the Lexus that is picking up the concept and running, while Audi explores a different path.

2024 Audi Q2 35 TFSI at a glance:
Price: $48,600 plus on-road costs
Available: Now
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 110kW/250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 5.2L/100km
Safety rating: Unrated

2024 Lexus LBX Sports Luxury at a glance:
Price: $56,990
Available: Now
Powertrain: 1.5-litre 3-cylinder petrol-electric
Combined Output: 100kW/186Nm
Transmission: CVT
Fuel: 3.8L/100km
CO2: 85g/km
Safety rating: Not tested

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