It's been seven years since the first Q3 was introduced, so it's time for a new one, right?
And it's before me here. At first sight, it kind of looks the same,
but it's an entirely new car. Especially if you take a look at the details.
Let's start at the front. The single frame grille has remained, but it's all a tad sharper.
More accordingly to the current design language. The light units are always LED's,
and the headlights are shaped the same as the rear lights. If you were to put them next to each other, they're shaped the same.
If you look at the flanks, you can clearly see the lines across the fenders.
They're wider as well, which is supposed to remind people of the UrQuattro,
according to Audi. If you look at it from the side,
it still has the sloped roof like the first Q3, only in better proportions.
It's ten centimetres longer, it's wider, but because it's lower as well, the proportions are better.
The interior has become more spacious. Like I said, it's ten centimetres longer, so you'll notice on the back seat.
First of all, it all looks very good. Sure, the plastic back here is harder than on the front doors,
but that's the case with a lot of cars. That said, my knees do touch the seat in front of me,
which is set to my preference. I'm 1,90 m and they still touch the seat. I'm alright back here, don't get me wrong,
but it's not like I've got lots of space left. You'll need a bigger car for that.
You can move the rear seat forwards as well, up to fifteen centimetres as you can see here.
You can move this seat on its own, just like the back rests. That way, you're pretty comfortable back here.
There's enough headroom as well, so for an average person, there's enough space available.
Not a whole lot though...
The space didn't only increase on the rear seat, but in the boot as well.
The electronic bootlid is an option by the way...
It can now fit 530 litres of luggage, and if you push the seats forwards, you've got 675 litres.
Still, 530 is very neat. It's almost as much as a Q5.
For people who want a diesel engine, there will be two diesel versions.
Both of which are 2.0-litre TDI's. One with 150 horsepower and in time, one with 190 horsepower.
Also, you can choose between a manual 6-speed gearbox or a 7-speed S-Tronic, which we've got here as well.
There might even be a new RS-version, which has the famous 5-cylinder petrol engine,
but that's uncertain for now. I also don't know if there's going to be a hybrid or mild hybrid version,
like other Audi-models have. That hasn't been mentioned yet with this Q3.
Right now we're driving the 4-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol engine, which is the entry level engine for this car.
Especially for the Netherlands, it's a good machine. In the mountains here, it has to work pretty hard,
and you'll hear it working. Anyway, it's a car with lots of torque,
and 150 horsepower is enough to work with. You don't really need more in the Netherlands,
and the same goes for the 150 horsepower diesel.
It's available with quattro and front-wheel drive. This one has the latter, which is fine for the Netherlands.
You don't really need quattro in a flat country like ours. The steering in this Audi is just like we're used to from Audi's,
not incredibly sporty but not vague in the least.
The steering will appeal to a big part of motorists. It's good, it does what you want, but it's not very communicative.
Especially at lower speeds, it feels pretty light. It's always very precise however, you never have to steer extra...
when you enter a corner, because it will follow your directions.
That's good. This particular car has an adaptive suspension.
With drive select, you can change the way it reacts. The shocks can be set to Comfort-mode, Sport-mode, Dynamic-mode,
or even Automatic-mode. Just what you'd like. Right now I'm driving in Comfort-mode,
but it's still a little sturdy. That could be because of the 18-inch wheels,
but it's still comfortable enough. If you put it in Sport-mode, it becomes even harder,
which enables even sportier driving. But it's just not incredibly sporty or incredibly comfortable,
instead it's just right. That's what the majority of people wants.
If we take a look at the interior, it looks like the interior in every modern Audi from today.
It's all been put together with lots of care and attention, so there's not a lot to complain about.
All versions come with a digital instrument cluster, and if you pay extra,
you'll get the dashboard which this car has: Audi Virtual Cockpit.
You can adjust that to your liking, but it's a conventional digital instrument cluster with a big speedometer,
a rev counter, a fuel gauge and a temperature gauge. You also always get a big screen in the middle.
Depending on how much you're prepared to pay, you get all kinds of gadgets.
Of course, you could use the satnav on your smartphone and Spotify for your music, so paying extra isn't really necessary.
Of course, it has some safety systems aboard. You can get adaptive cruise control for this car as well,
which will be connected to other assists, like traffic jam assist.
That way, this car is partly able to drive autonomously. We just tried it on the motorway,
you're able to get your hands of the wheel and it will remain between the lines. In a traffic jam,
you can let the car do what it needs to do, which is a very nice feature.
This so called driving assist isn't standard, you'll have to pay for that option.
A lot of other systems are standard however. Think of the system which thinks forwards when it comes to an accident...
and is able to perform an emergency stop whenever that's necessary.
So where do we have to place this Audi Q3? It's a premium crossover really,
so we're talking cars like the new Volvo XC40, the Mercedes GLA, the BMW X1,
but also cars like the Lexus UX. We don't know expensive that's going to be,
but it's going to be in this category. The previous Q3 started at €39.000,
but because of the WLTP-ruling, I think the new one is going to be more expensive.
I think they'll be aiming between €40.000 and €50.000 with a few options.
This car is going to have to compete with that, but I think it's going to do well.
It's a nicely finished car with a good drive and a good residual value.
I mean, it isn't spectacular, but it's good in any way.