The Audi Q3 Sportback was a part of the MotorBeam fleet for a month and when I drove this car for the first time, I was heading out in peak Mumbai traffic and the very first thing I noticed was that the vehicle didn’t have an auto-hold function! That was surprising because even mass segment cars come with this feature now.
In this bright blue colour, the Audi Q3 Sportback drew a lot of attention from people on the road because not only did the colour stand out but also the coupe-SUV styling of the body looked unique. That aside, I quickly got accustomed to the size and ergonomics of this car and felt right at home very quickly.
I’m a fan of the 2.0 TFSI engine on the Q3. It’s not something new to me. I’ve experienced it multiple times in the past on various VAG cars including my previous long termer, the Škoda Kodiaq. In the Q3, it felt really peppy and this compact car really felt powerful with this unit which makes 190 PS. So much power also has a downside because in the city I could extract a maximum of 6-7 km/l while highway fuel efficiency numbers were more reasonable at 12-13 km/l.
I found the front seats to be very comfortable but the Q3 doesn’t get ventilated seats which is a bummer at this price point. The driving position is quite nice though and I found the AC’s performance also to be really good. The touchscreen’s UI feels easy to use and the sound quality from the stock speakers is also above average.
On a couple of occasions, I took the Q3 for late night drives just to stretch her legs and those drives on Mumbai’s new coastal road were damn fun. The compact foot print and the responsive engine made things very entertaining. The Q3 being a compact SUV may not have the dynamics of a low slung sedan but I found the body control to be quite good. The steering is very light though and I’d have preferred some heft at higher speeds.
For a weekend, I also had the Audi RS Q8 facelift and this Q3 together and while the RS Q8 is another level of fun with its mad V8 engine and sharper dynamics, it is also a much bigger car and you have to be very careful with it. In comparison, when I drove the Q3 again after handing over the Q8 to Audi, I actually appreciated its size even more.
The Audi Q3 Sportback has the right amount of sexiness but for someone who needs a little more headroom at the back, the regular Q3 should be good enough. It has the perfect ingredients to be your first luxury car and while it faces good competition from the BMW X1 and Mercedes GLA, the X1 petrol is underpowered while the GLA is compact and the petrol isn’t as good as the TFSI engine here but both those cars come with diesel engines.
I wish I didn’t have to handover the Q3 back to Audi India so soon. I would have loved to drive this car even more, probably some day soon.
