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Audi Sport - formerly known as Quattro, it’s the bit of Audi responsible for RS-cars such as the RS3 and RS6, as well the R8 and the company’s Formula E, DTM, GT3 and TCR programmes - wants to double sales of its road cars by 2023. And this thing is gonna help it get there. Say hello to the new RS Q3 - the fastest small SUV you can buy, with a near-400bhp five-cylinder engine, a top speed of as much as 174mph and the option of ceramic brakes. Yes, really.
Small performance SUVs are, as we know, very much in vogue right now. In the last couple of years we’ve seen the Cupra Ateca, VW T-Roc R, BMW X2 M35i, Mercedes-AMG GLB35 and Skoda Kodiaq vRS go on sale. And there are plenty more on the horizon. But the RS Q3 has been around for years, having first gone on sale in 2013. There was nothing quite like it back then, and there still isn’t today. Not until Mercedes sees fit to replace the AMG GLA45, anyway.
As standard the RS Q3 rides 10mm lower than a regular Q3, on RS-tuned suspension. Aesthetic changes include new bumpers and skirts, flared wheel arches and big wheels. Oh, and a dual-exit exhaust, in place of the old RSQ3’s single tailpipe. Inside there are some serious seats and a flat-bottomed steering wheel.
Prices start from £52,450, or £53,600 for the RS Q3 ‘Sportback’ and its 45mm lower roof-line. Audi expects the Sportback to be more popular than the regular RS Q3 (sales will be 60 per cent Sportback, 40 per cent standard, says Audi), despite the additional cost and compromised interior. We’ve driven both, but underneath they’re mechanically identical. So of course they feel exactly the same to drive…
DRIVING
Predictably the RS Q3 shares its five-cylinder, turbocharged motor with the RS3 hatchback. It’s true that this 2.5-litre petrol engine has been around for a while, but nowadays it’s cleaner (thanks to a petrol particulate filter), lighter (an aluminium crankcase saves 18kg alone) and more powerful than ever before. You’re looking at 395bhp and 295lb ft, for 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and a top speed pegged at 155mph (or 174mph, if you give Audi another £1,600). And you bet there’s more to come.
Massive props to Audi for not downsizing to a 2.0-litre four-cylinder (which it could easily have done) - the five-cylinder, which has rightly won a load of International Engine of The Year awards, is a defining characteristic of this car, giving fantastically inappropriate pace and brilliantly incongruous noise. It might have lost a degree of sparkle in the last couple of years - emissions rules mean it doesn’t crackle and pop like it used to, for example - but it’s still one of our favourite engines.
It really is crackers fast, this thing. Get it above 2,500rpm and it flies along. From 0-62mph (i.e. speeds you can legally reach in Britain) the RS Q3 doesn’t feel much quicker than a Cupra Ateca or BMW X2 M35i - but from then on it’s in another league entirely. As you’d hope/expect, given it has another 90bhp and costs thousands more to buy. Power is sent to all four wheels (up to 85 per cent to the rear axle, should it be required) via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic that, for the most part, operates seamlessly and smoothly. If you want to go quickly stick it in manual - up-shifts are fast on more than half throttle. Shame it doesn’t always give you the gear on the way down, though.
Less smooth are the optional ceramic front brakes (the rears are conventional steel discs). Of course they provide tremendous stopping power, but there isn’t enough bite at the top of the pedal. And once pad does grab disc they can be tricky to use smoothly. You’d get used to them, but better save your £4,475 and stick with the standard steel discs, which are much more suited to normal road use.
Then spend £995 of it on the adaptive dampers. Without them the RS Q3 is overly firm-riding, jiggling its passengers around its well-appointed cabin unless you’re driving on an improbably smooth road (that said, it doesn’t feel too bad over speed bumps around town). The RS Q3 never stops being firm, but the dampers’ Comfort mode takes the sting out of its tail. Leave the other modes well alone - something that’s mercifully easy to do thanks to the RS Q3’s configurable ‘RS’ modes.
Just as modern BMW M cars have individual modes accessible via shortcut buttons on the wheel, the RS Q3 has an RS button on the steering wheel that lets you access two drive modes you’ve setup yourself, meaning you can avoid Audi’s pre-set modes entirely. We reckon the optimal setup is Dynamic everything, Normal steering and Comfort suspension.
So set, cross-country the RS Q3 is tremendously fast. Especially if the road is a bit greasy, or covered in mud and wet leaves. It just grips, and feels totally and completely secure however idiotically you choose to behave behind the wheel. You sit nice and high, so you can see through bends you can’t in a normal hot hatch, meaning it’s easy to get into a fast flow. Of course the RS Q3 isn’t massively involving - there’s little feedback through the steering - but it’s nonetheless quite beguiling.
Those big wheels might look the part, but they produce a fair amount of road noise. At least the engine keeps itself to itself when all you want to do is just get where you’re going.
ON THE INSIDE
Predictably the RS Q3 shares its five-cylinder, turbocharged motor with the RS3 hatchback. It’s true that this 2.5-litre petrol engine has been around for a while, but nowadays it’s cleaner (thanks to a petrol particulate filter), lighter (an aluminium crankcase saves 18kg alone) and more powerful than ever before. You’re looking at 395bhp and 295lb ft, for 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and a top speed pegged at 155mph (or 174mph, if you give Audi another £1,600). And you bet there’s more to come.
Massive props to Audi for not downsizing to a 2.0-litre four-cylinder (which it could easily have done) - the five-cylinder, which has rightly won a load of International Engine of The Year awards, is a defining characteristic of this car, giving fantastically inappropriate pace and brilliantly incongruous noise. It might have lost a degree of sparkle in the last couple of years - emissions rules mean it doesn’t crackle and pop like it used to, for example - but it’s still one of our favourite engines.
It really is crackers fast, this thing. Get it above 2,500rpm and it flies along. From 0-62mph (i.e. speeds you can legally reach in Britain) the RS Q3 doesn’t feel much quicker than a Cupra Ateca or BMW X2 M35i - but from then on it’s in another league entirely. As you’d hope/expect, given it has another 90bhp and costs thousands more to buy. Power is sent to all four wheels (up to 85 per cent to the rear axle, should it be required) via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic that, for the most part, operates seamlessly and smoothly. If you want to go quickly stick it in manual - up-shifts are fast on more than half throttle. Shame it doesn’t always give you the gear on the way down, though.
Less smooth are the optional ceramic front brakes (the rears are conventional steel discs). Of course they provide tremendous stopping power, but there isn’t enough bite at the top of the pedal. And once pad does grab disc they can be tricky to use smoothly. You’d get used to them, but better save your £4,475 and stick with the standard steel discs, which are much more suited to normal road use.
Then spend £995 of it on the adaptive dampers. Without them the RS Q3 is overly firm-riding, jiggling its passengers around its well-appointed cabin unless you’re driving on an improbably smooth road (that said, it doesn’t feel too bad over speed bumps around town). The RS Q3 never stops being firm, but the dampers’ Comfort mode takes the sting out of its tail. Leave the other modes well alone - something that’s mercifully easy to do thanks to the RS Q3’s configurable ‘RS’ modes.
Just as modern BMW M cars have individual modes accessible via shortcut buttons on the wheel, the RS Q3 has an RS button on the steering wheel that lets you access two drive modes you’ve setup yourself, meaning you can avoid Audi’s pre-set modes entirely. We reckon the optimal setup is Dynamic everything, Normal steering and Comfort suspension.
So set, cross-country the RS Q3 is tremendously fast. Especially if the road is a bit greasy, or covered in mud and wet leaves. It just grips, and feels totally and completely secure however idiotically you choose to behave behind the wheel. You sit nice and high, so you can see through bends you can’t in a normal hot hatch, meaning it’s easy to get into a fast flow. Of course the RS Q3 isn’t massively involving - there’s little feedback through the steering - but it’s nonetheless quite beguiling.
Those big wheels might look the part, but they produce a fair amount of road noise. At least the engine keeps itself to itself when all you want to do is just get where you’re going.
OWNING
The RS Q3 is not a cheap car - but because it exists in a class of one, for now anyway, Audi can basically set its own price. Things kick off at £52,450 for the standard RS Q3. At least it’s generously specced from the get-go, with pretty much everything you could ever want or need. Next comes the ‘Audi Sport Edition’, which costs £56,800 and adds bigger 21-inch wheels (20s are standard), Matrix LED headlights, blacked-out trim and a sports exhaust. At the top of the tree is the Vorsprung - for £60,350 you get all of the above, plus the adaptive dampers (called DCC, or dynamic chassis control, in Audi speak), Bang & Olufsen audio and adaptive cruise control. For the worse-looking, less practical, less cool Sportback you’ll back a £1,150 premium across the board. And Audi expects most people to do just that.
Our suggestion is to stick with the standard car, then cherry-pick the bits you want from the options list. That’ll be the DCC at just under £1,000, plus the Comfort & Sound Pack, which gets you the big stereo, ambient lighting and a reversing camera.
Running costs shouldn’t be too bad. The RS Q3 isn’t as uneconomical as you might think - Audi claim 28.8mpg, but you’ll get 30mpg on a run. 202g/km of CO2 is pretty rich though, meaning your tax bill will be quite high. Insurance could be pricey too.
The order books are open, with first deliveries expected by the end of 2019.
VERDICT
On paper the RS Q3 is a silly, silly car that defies rationalisation. But in reality it’s… quite likeable. Much more so than the GLB35, or indeed any other performance SUV of this size. The question remains: who really needs an Audi Q3 - a family crossover - with almost 400bhp from a five-cylinder engine, ceramic brakes and a top speed of 174mph? Nobody, that’s who. Sensible money buys something else entirely. For this money, probably a Porsche Macan, which is a more complete car. But sensibleness is seldom fun. Avoid the Sportback, unless you really dig the way it looks, and get the DCC. Bit of an oddity, but not without charm.
Audi RS Q3
