Audi Q3 review

Prices start at £39,045, which is around 20 per cent higher than where the previous-gen Q3 kicked off at launch. Probably not far off where inflation might have taken things anyway and with the range peaking at £52,095 for an Edition 1 e-hybrid, Q3 prices finish just £65 shy of where Audi Q5 prices pick up. It’s almost like these things are planned…

The 1.5-litre petrol is your starting point; the diesel starts at £40,050, the 2.0-litre Quattro kicks off at £42,750 and the e-hybrid from £46,545, though its low CO2 rating and decent e-range yield a nine per cent BIK rate, which will likely make it the runaway winner for any business buyers. 

The Sportback body (swoopier rear end) adds £1,500 to them all and offers negligible benefit if you aren’t fussed on its design differences. But as we mentioned on the overview, we weren’t completely sold on the slightly awkward looking rear end. Audi reckons at least 40 per cent of folk will be, though.

What about equipment?

You’ve three trim levels to choose from. Sport brings 18in alloys, LED headlights, a powered tailgate, heated front seats (wrapped in cloth), the big screen displays (and a three-year subscription to their connected gubbins), adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree parking system and loads of active safety bits.

S Line is a £2,800 upgrade that adds 19in alloys, exterior styling upgrades, leather (or artificial leather) seats, ambient lighting, a sportier steering wheel and an illuminated Audi badge on the boot lid. Twit-twoo. Around half of UK buyers will head here.

Edition 1 trim is a further £3,550 and gives you those refinement-hobbling 20in wheels, trick digital matrix LEDs, further active safety systems, progressive steering (sharper turn-in, basically) and sportier suspension. You can probably do without it.

Instead, you can spend your money on all manner of options packs. A £1,300 option (though standard on the Q3 e-hybrid) is the Sound & Vision Pack, which includes a head-up display, fancy SONOS stereo and faster USB charge ports. 

Sound & Vision Pro costs £4,550 (or £3,550 in the hybrid) and brings a whole host of extras we’d fill the rest of this page listing – its key headlines are adaptive damping and a ‘trained parking’ system that remembers your most frequent manoeuvres and executes them for you, like a well-behaved butler.

What’s the best spec?

We reckon you’re best off in one of the 2.0-litre Quattro models – the 201bhp version is probably fine for most folk but this being TG we’d say the more powerful 261bhp iteration if your budget can stretch that far.  

Opt for the former and quite frankly we don’t think you need to look beyond Sport trim (the smaller wheels will offer a better ride for one), but if it’s the latter you’ve got your eye on you’re forced into S-Line. Don’t go beyond.