Audi Q3 review

Typical Audi fare: a nice place to be, with plush materials in all the right places. Even if fabric is winning out over leather, much of it digging into recycled resources. Which means welcome bragging rights to your younger-generation passengers, if nothing else.

Screens dominate, of course. Directly ahead of the driver is a slim digital display that fits neatly into the upper aperture of the steering wheel as you drive. Just a shame there’s little pizzazz to its display; Audi basically pioneered digital instruments with the Virtual Cockpit of the gen3 TT, but the design here rests far too comfortably on those laurels. More inspiring displays than its meagre rev counter would be nice.

The central touchsreen is far more impressive, however, operating swiftly and being a safe and easy stretch from the wheel to avoid your hands wandering too long. Good job, as the climate controls reside there, albeit fixed in place. Plenty of its more irritating rivals should take note.

Any other high points?

The dashboard forms a neat resting ‘shelf’ to anchor your hand upon while you operate the touchscreen. It’s not immediately obvious in the swooping dash design, and we needed a fellow automotive journalist in the passenger seat to point out what our hand was doing. All of which feels like the hallmark of some intelligent design – you use it on instinct alone.

Indeed there’s plenty of good old-fashioned sense in here. There are well-placed cup holders, a proper physical volume dial, and a starter button (no longer a given in a post-Tesla world), ensuring tech and screens don’t completely dominate. While it looks nothing like that minimalist Concept C interior, there are small glimmers of the same pragmatic thinking. Even if they’ve reinvented the indicators and wipers during the gear selector’s move upstairs. It’s a broadly successful switch, mind; your fingers soon get used to the new regime and the switches operate with a satisfying ‘click’. Good old Audi.

How big is it?

Adults can fit easily in the rear, even in the Sportback with its 29mm-lower roofline and ‘faster silhouette’ (to quote the marketing bumf). There’s less headroom, of course, but not disastrously so.

The boot offers 488 litres of volume with pure petrol or diesel Q3s, regardless of body style, or 375 litres in the e-hybrid, though both figures can be eked out by sliding the rear seats forward. Flip the back seats down and the SUV wins out: you’ll get 1,386 litres of volume there (1,293 e-hybrid) and 1,289 litres (1,196 e-hybrid) in the Sportback.