We didn’t get off to a good start with the Audi Q2. For your £37,095, there isn’t a lot of car for the money. In fact, it comes with not much kit at all. Yes, there is cruise control and aircon but it’s not climate controlled though that’s no loss in some ways. It means the controls are dashboard-mounted dials and not on the touch screen. So I’d resigned myself into thinking this was going to be purely an expensive driveway ornament in the fashionable SUV category of car from Audi.
Visually it is quite striking for an SUV in that it doesn’t really look like an SUV. Yes, it is higher than the hatchback it shares its platform with and yet here in Quattro S Line dress with colour coded wheel arch spats, it begins to look more like a large hatchback than a raised hatchback.
It has all that you’d expect from a car of this size. The boot, with its nicely painted boot shuts, is of average size and the rear-seat room is good even when the driver is 6 foot + tall and as is Audi logic, the controls all fall to hand. One that did manage to infuriate me was the wiper system and its delay from column stalk click to sweep. A second and a half delay might not sound a lot in print but in practice it was an annoyance especially when the rain was light and not requiring regular sweeps.
And then we came to the driving experience. Here the Q2 arrived with the now almost unfashionable diesel engine. Looking at the current SMMT figures for new car sales, the diesel has been the hardest hit and I’ll admit that there have been very few diesel engines of late that I have raved about.
Sister group VW diesels have left me cold because the throttle lag has been so unforgiving in putting your inputs into action. A gold star then for this Q2 and its easily accessible 150PS of power. Yes, there is a little lag but it’s not as marked as previously experienced from this engine.
Free Wheel Drive
Even in efficiency mode it still responds reasonably well. In actual fact, this mode made driving even more pleasurable mostly because it had the ability to sort of freewheel when you come off the throttle making it free of jerking with engine braking. In most driving conditions, the gentle amount of engine braking you got from the other settings made this mode more relaxing especially on the daily commute.
And then we get away from the humdrum commute and hit the back roads. Exploiting the other drive modes certainly threw up a night of surprises. Dynamic I dismissed immediately. The extra weight the system adds to the steering made it feel a little cumbersome, forced and lacking in feel. And there is a reason for this gripe that I’ll come to later.
Thankfully the system allowed you to set your own preferences in Individual. Not many settings I’ll grant you. Mostly gearbox and steering. In fact, it was just gearbox and steering. The engine stayed the same regardless of your mode. Only the gearboxes behaviour changed the engines mood.
Data Inputs
The S Tronic gearbox has a mind-boggling array of inputs. Steering wheel pedals, use of the stick itself or knock it to the left for more direct manual inputs as it puts the box into a more spirited mood. Quickly your Individual settings along with the spirited drivetrain bring together a rather joyous package of fun. The lighter steering becomes more informative in its feedback through gripped hands of the wheel making the Q2 change direction and correct itself easier and safer.
Ignore the lack of toys because you’ve suddenly got a car that handles quite unexpected. Switch traction control off and the transformation is complete. Switch on and you can get it a little messy. ESP off and the Quattro system really shows itself pushing from the rear while the front scrabbles away. You don’t get this much fun in the Volvo XC40.
Sexy and Seedy
Like a good wet night in Soho, the inside of the Q2 comes alive when the lights come on with some very nice ambient lighting. Quite a surprise I wasn’t expecting. I’d already agreed with myself that the business pattern trim strip across the dashboard was to my liking so a sense of amazement came when I discovered the Quattro script as well as the side trims of the centre console illuminated. Sadly the niceties don’t stretch to the rear seat passengers who are left in the dark.
Conclusion
At the end of my time with the Audi Q2 I was left in a bit of a quandary. Initially, we didn’t gel and I was left somewhat flat. In some ways I still am, especially when you look at the amount of kit you get. After the spartan Q2, I had a well kitted out A3 in. Price for price (both around £37k), the Audi A3 would have been a hard act for the Q2 to follow. With that in mind, I’d stick with the well-balanced A3 with the toys.
Like
- Fun to drive
- Painted boot shuts
- Interior lighting
Dislike
- Price
- Lack of equipment
- Road noise on some surfaces
The Lowdown
- Car – Audi Q2 Quattro 150PS S Line S Tronic
- Price – £37,095 (as tested)
- MPG – 46 mpg (combined)
- Power – 150PS
- 0-62mph – 8.1 seconds
- Top Speed – 131 mph
- Co2 – 162 (g/km)