Audi RS Q3 Performance 2016 Review

Audi RS Q3 performance
Australian Launch Review
Bright, Victoria

Now available in Australia exclusively in hotter 'performance' form, the updated Audi RS Q3 throws down a challenge to all comers with more mumbo than ever before. Audi's unique five-cylinder turbo engine belts out 270kW and 465Nm. It's fast, scorching to 100km/h in just 4.4 seconds and, priced from $84,216, is one of the few Audi RS vehicles under $100K. It's capable and practical too, but even with the upgrades, is it worthy of the RS badge – and should the Mercedes-AMG GLA 45 be worried?

I've never really understood the Audi RS Q3. Is it a wannabe rally car? A jacked-up high-performance road car? Or just a maxxed-out luxury Q3 that happens to have one of the company's most-celebrated engines shoe-horned into its engine bay?

Audi sells around 100 of these go-fast SUVs every year in Australia and although it's a small number of vehicles, it's an important halo model in the Q3 range, bathing its siblings in its luminescence.

The high-riding hottie isn't the most photogenic Renn Sport model ever built (read: it's an ugly duckling) but it's nothing if not capable.

On the winding, twisting roads around Mount Beauty in Victoria's alpine region, the RS Q3's recent power and torque boost – up 20kW and 15Nm to 270kW and 465Nm – is felt. It gives the car a newfound sense of urgency.

Open the throttle and the resultant acceleration is compelling; the RS Q3 devours sports cars for breakfast from standstill. And roll-on thrust? Likewise extraordinary, with every overtake threatening to turn self-control into wild abandon.

When the RS Q3 first launched in 2013 it had 228kW, then it rose to 250kW in 2015 and now it generates 270kW. The resulting 0-100km/h benchmark acceleration times (with a little help from launch control) have likewise improved from 5.2 to 4.8 and now an astonishing 4.4 seconds! That's about as quick as Porsche's latest 911 Carrera...

Fast? You better believe it. Top speed is rated at 270km/h and I've no reason to doubt this claim. Thrust levels get serious early in the rev-range and are maintained right to the 7000rpm rev limit. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, dubbed S tronic, snaps through the gears like a Muay-Thai boxer unleashing a flurry of kicks, but at the same time it's an easy-going vehicle if you want to just potter around.

You can leave the gearbox to its own devices and in most scenarios it is a clever, smooth-shifting unit. But if you're looking for pace, employing the steering paddle shifters is the way to go. They provide more control over the 2480cc engine, which in turn makes it faster point to point, enabling you really manipulate the engine's formidable top-end performance.

It'll bounce off the rev-limiter until you tell it otherwise too, allowing you to wring every last drop of the five-pot's potential.

We know how evocative this engine can sound, its uneven cylinder firing order (1,2,4,5,3) making the Audi RS 3 one of the most gravelly, angry, awesome-sounding powerplants this side of a GT3 race car.

But the RS Q3's voice has been quelled, the fireworks neutered for reasons unknown. Granted, it crackles on the overrun and sometimes between gearshifts, but it doesn't have half the character of the RS 3.

Claimed fuel consumption is 8.8L/100km, CO2 output is 206g/km and there's an engine idle-stop system to cut fuel use when stopped in traffic.

The only problem with having a highly-strung engine like this is that it has a taste for the fine food – in this case 98 RON high octane petrol.

Sitting 20mm lower than the regular Q3 vehicles, riding on big 20-inch alloy wheels and showing off a more aggressive body kit with aero-inspired front and rear bumpers, the RS Q3 may not be pretty but it communicates its performance potential adeptly.

In treacherous conditions – torrential rain, flooded roads and the like – the RS Q3 felt confident. The quattro all-wheel drive system is essentially a front-drive system that channels torque to the rear wheels (via an electronic controlled multi-plate clutch) but the real heroes are the linear power delivery and brilliant wet-weather Continental tyres.

The RS Q3's sure-footedness on slippery roads allows for surprising pace on rain-soaked roads. Its extra ride height also comes in handy navigating partially flooded roads. It loves muddy puddles.

For a performance vehicle, the RS Q3 has a fairly high centre of gravity and this manifests itself in body roll, the car leaning and tilting in tight corners more than any other RS model. Of course, it sits flatter than most other SUVs, and naturally it's better equipped to deal with rutted dirt roads and the snow-covered alpine roads.

You go stiffer with the RS sports suspension 'plus' for $2490, which also adds two-stage adaptive dampers.

Massive 365mm front brake discs are hooked up to gargantuan eight-piston callipers, providing reassuring stopping power. The rear brakes are 310mm discs with single-pot callipers. Oh, and the stability control works well. It was put to the test in during the downpour and came up trumps, not too intrusive but effective enough to keep the car on the road when punching out of tight hairpins, for instance.

The steering is more direct and quicker than regular Q3 models and the chunky RS wheel has a primo feel, as does much of the interior. The Nappa leather upholstered sports seats are equal parts dynamic and luxurious, electrically adjustable in every which way and heated too.

But the rest of the interior feels dated. The temperature control dials feel a decade old, the infotainment screen's about as big as your thumbnail and where's the 3D virtual cockpit? The head-up display?

Sure, it's comfortable and sporty but the cabin of the Volkswagen Tiguan-based Q3 feels relatively unchanged since it was introduced early in the decade. Along with the A1, the Q3 is the oldest vehicle in Audi's fleet.

Electrically adjustable seats, a reversing camera and parking sensors plus Bluetooth connectivity and 20GB hard drive for storing music will all be regularly used, as will the power operated tailgate.

It's jam packed with features but some of things it doesn't have are just as telling. There's no spare tyre or USB port. You'll have to buy a special connector cable for the latter and if you pop a tyre there's an inflation kit in the back for the former. If you rip a tyre you're cactus.

The car comes with a three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty with AudiCare 24-hour roadside assistance for three years.

Like all RS vehicles, you also get a free Audi Sport racetrack session too. But does all this make the RS Q3 worthy of the hallowed Renn Sport (race sport) badge?

Not really. It's fast and furious but -- like AMG's recent dilution of its brand with its '43' models -- this car doesn't make you feel special like an RS vehicle should.  It could have easily been badged the SQ3 and fitted with a high-output 2.0-litre turbo and it probably would've sold just as well.

There are better alternatives too, including the Mercedes-AMG GLA 45. The Audi SQ5 has more practicality and costs a few thousand bucks more. And really, why would you buy an RS Q3 over an RS 3?

How about an RS 3 allroad instead? Now we're talking!

2016 Audi RS Q3 pricing and specifications:
Price: $84,216 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 270kW/465Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 8.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 206g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star ANCAP

Also consider:
>> Audi RS 3 (from $78,616 plus ORCs)
>> Mercedes-AMG GLA 45 (from $83,900 plus ORCs)