The Audi Q3 facelift has landed in India from the Q3’s hometown Spain for testing purposes. Launch not in sight yet but is expected by mid-2015.
Luxury carmakers are quickly moving to bring more affordable and value for money products in India. BMW started this very move by launching the quite successful X1 while Audi quickly followed and brought in the Q3. The Audi Q3 has been raking in high volumes for the company ever since its launch. The current generation Audi Q3 has been in our market for more than three years now and duly deserves an update taking into fact that the competition in the entry level luxury segment is as hot as it can get at the moment.
Just recently, one unit of the Audi Q3 facelift has been imported to India from Martorell, Spain, which is the European home for the Q3 SUV. The imported Q3 is the top diesel variant which features a 2.0-litre TDI engine which uses a Variable Geometry Turbocharger and churns out 177 BHP of power at 4200 RPM and 380 NM of torque between 1750 – 2500 RPM. The engine is mated to a 7-speed S-Tronic DSG gearbox which is one of the best dual clutch gearboxes currently in the market and the Q3 can hit a top speed of 212 km/hr. The reason stated for the import has been mentioned as testing purposes. We can guess that the launch of the Q3 facelift is not somewhere around the corner, but isn’t that far away either, the car is expected to be launched in May.
The Audi Q3 can hit 100 km/hr from standstill in just 8.2 seconds. One might judge that the Audi will return single digit mileage figures, but that assumption will be incorrect. You can expect a mileage of around 12 km/l in the city (little less when driven around like a maniac) and about 16 km/l on the highway. This particular variant comes with safety features such as six airbags, ABS, EBD, ESP and the likes. The interiors offer comfortable front seats with a nice infotainment system. Rear seats are best suited for two passengers and does feel a little cramped due to the transmission hump.
Changes in the interior department on the facelift will see an updated centre console design along with a sporty three-spoke steering wheel. The exteriors will carry the similar design language forward but will feature mild updates on the front and rear to make it look young and sporty at the same time.
Source – Zauba.com