Audi Q3 2015 Review

Turn off the skid control system. Tug the automatic gear lever back to Sport. Stand on the brake pedal and then stand on the throttle at the same time.

The engine builds itself up to just beyond 4000rpm, straining on the leash. And then, when you’ve got the piece of road you’re looking for or the flag has dropped, you just take your foot off the brake.

It explodes in a flurry of initial wheelspin from all four tyres, there’s a deep, rich burst of wickedly deep engine noise and a touch of axle tramp, even, as it deals with its horsepower.

And then, in a blink, it’s grabbing second gear and then third and then it’s punching through the 100km/h barrier in just 4.8 seconds.

And then you look around you and some part of you, deep down inside, is utterly shocked to find you sitting inside an Audi Q3.

Sure, it’s the RS version of the Q3, complete with a five-cylinder turbocharged engine sitting across the nose, but it’s still a Q3.

You expect Q3s to be comfortable, quiet, well built, nicely appointed inside and other stuff like that, but you don’t expect them to frighten Porsches or V8s.

As the flagship for the Q3’s first ever facelift, though, the RS Q3 now gets 250kW of power (up to the just-departed TTRS’s figure from its original 228kW) and is around seven-tenths of a second quicker than the original to 100km/h.

What’s more, it’s now EU6-compliant on emissions, uses less fuel, rides on standard 19-inch wheels and tyres and is stopped by monster eight-piston front brake callipers.

That doesn’t mean the seven-speeder is a perfect car, though it will be perfect for a very specific sliver of the new car market that AMG’s GLA 45 is trying to muscle in on.

It’s hampered by being based on Audi’s older architecture, rather than the A3/TT’s new VW Group MQB layout, which means you have to twiddle knobs and push buttons where the TT is just, well, awesome.

It also has Audi’s lowest level of Drive Select, meaning you can’t mask its dead steering no matter how hard you try. You can have a Comfort or Sport mode for the powertrain/skid control/steering weight combination, but you can’t customise it to mix and match the settings.

Still, it’s a competent handler, even if it doesn’t sparkle. It rides well enough on Bavarian roads and its handling leans towards the competent, rather than the brilliant. That’s mostly a product of a steering system that doesn’t lend any feedback whatsoever and is a touch too slow, but it’s also partly to do with the 1655kg weight and roll centre of the SUV layout.

But it’s useful in corners, managing to change direction with a flat stance and an unflustered, unhurried manner, though most sports cars outsprinted by the baby SUV will take time back out of it in the winding bits.

It also benefits from some internal design tweaks, a new nose that links the standard xenon lights with the grille and tail-lights that include the sequential indicator technology from the R8.

As impressive as it is most of the time, the repowered RS Q3 isn’t the only Q3 to have taken a big leap forward at facelift time.

There are three petrol TFSI versions and three turbo-diesels, all of which are based on either 1.4- or 2.0-litre four-cylinder powerplants.

While the externals of the new Q3 mainly focus on the new headlight and grille designs, there is a range of efficiency improvements for the engines, there are some new bits inside (including LED mood lighting) and the addition of a fuel-sipping Ultra version.

Body-coloured plastic panels replace the grey versions on the predecessors, there are knurled metal knobs for the sound system and the MMI controls and a 6.5-inch screen is standard.

Its trouble comes from being late in the cycle, so where the new A3 (and the TT) feel modern and fresh, the Q3 is locked into the cabin features of the old A3 on which it’s based.

The 1.4-litre TFSI turbo-petrol motor hasn’t been in the Q3 before and its cylinder-on-demand tech is a useful addition, providing the lightest Q3 (at 1385kg) if nothing else.

It has 110kW/250Nm and sips just 5.5L/100km, while the most economical of the pair of 2.0-litre turbo fours uses 6.7L/100km on the same NEDC cycle. The difference, though, is that the 2.0-litre has 132kW and 320Nm and takes almost a second less (8.3 seconds) to cover the ground to 100km/h.

The stronger of the 2.0-litre TFSI motors, though, is the 162kW version, with 350Nm arriving at only 1500rpm. It’s the sweet spot in the range, with a sprint to 100km/h in 6.4 seconds and it’s actually more economical (it’s a gearing thing) than the 132kW version, with a 6.6L/100km figure.

It’s also smooth and strong everywhere, willing and active when you want it to be, but quiet and sophisticated when it’s being asked to cruise along. It’s near silent at cruising speeds and comfortably chipper on full throttle, with a transmission that flits through gears with near invisible grace.

It rides with more body control and more sophistication than the RS version, thanks in part to its greater suspension travel (it has 20mm more ride height) and higher-profile 17-inch tyres.
It’s composed in corners, too, and the interior is a nice place to be, with everything you touch feeling like it’s of high quality.

There are three 2.0-litre turbo-diesels, too, though only two of them would be likely for Australia. That’s because the Ultra and stock versions of the 2.0-litre TDI are essentially the same thing, both boasting 110kW of power and 340Nm, though the Ultra is half a litre better (at 4.4L/100km) thanks to things like different aero and low resistance tyres, while the stock version is three tenths quicker to 100km/h (9.3 seconds).

The strongest of the diesels feels like a good place to be, though, with 135kW of power and 380Nm, which it employs rapidly anytime it’s asked to.

It’s an engine that’s ready to go at any time, in any gear, and it’s impossible to find a weak point in its rev range. It makes short work of toting the 4.39-metre Q3 bodyshell around, flying uphill, whipping into city gaps and it can even punch away from the lights with enough zest to reach 100km/h in 8.3 seconds.

It’s a smooth engine, with just enough gruffness to let you know it’s there at idle before it settles down to become so quiet you sometimes have to pinch yourself to remember it’s an oiler.

All in all, though, it’s a mild facelift. It brings better economy, it brings a slightly fresher face and it brings some improvements inside, though the comfort is about where it always was and so is the interior practicality.

Actually, it’s about exactly what you could have predicted Audi would deliver with the facelift and it’s strong enough against its class competitors to keep it in the fight until its successors arrive.

2015 Audi RS Q3 pricing and specifications:
Price: TBA (target 10 per cent less than outgoing model)
Engine: 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 250kW/450Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 8.4L/100km
CO2: 198g/km
Safety rating: Five-star
On sale: 2015