Audi Q3 2020 review: Sportback 40 TFSI off-road test

This is a nice-looking muscular compact SUV – with all of its hard edges and softer lines right where they should be. It’s long and low and so looks dynamic and suitably sporty. But don’t take my word for it, have a look at the accompanying photos.

This is a nice-looking muscular compact SUV.

There are also nice extra touches like Sport (S) branding all over the place (including S embossing on each front seat’s backrest), contrast stitching, and pedals and footrest in stainless steel. 

The Q3 Sportback is 4500mm long (with a 2680mm-long wheelbase), 1557mm high, and 1843mm wide. Those dimensions, according to Audi, make it 16mm longer, 29mm flatter, and 6mm thinner than the Q3. 

It feels snug and well-appointed inside without ever seeming cloying and pretentious and there feels like space enough for driver and passengers and everyday gear. Unless, of course, you're gigantic and you pack a lot.

The front seats are comfy and supportive, if a little too firm.

Controls are all easy to locate and operate. The multimedia system is very user-friendly and getting your phone hooked up and running via the smartphone interface is a simple task, even for a grumpy ol’ barstool like me.

Storage spaces include the glovebox, a sunglass pocket, two cupholders – and a narrow receptacle for bits and pieces – between the front seats, a centre storage bin, and bottle holder/pockets in all doors. There is also a wireless smartphone-charging spot in front of the shifter, which I instead used to house keys, wallet and pocket rubbish.

The front seats are comfy and supportive, if a little too firm.

The rear seats are pleasant enough, in terms of comfort, with plenty of knee and legroom but with somewhat compromised head room, especially if you’re north of 170cm tall. The rear seat has a flip-down centre arm-rest with cupholders, and top tether and ISOFIX anchorage points on the outer seats.

In terms of comfort, the rear seats are pleasant enough.

The row can be split 40:20:40, and it slides fore/aft within a 130mm range. 

Cargo space is listed as 530 litres (with all seats in use) and 1400 litres with the rear seats folded flat.

There is a USB-A and a USB-C charging point in the front of the centre console and two USB-C ports at the rear of it. There is a 12V outlet each for those in the front and in the rear.

The rear cargo area has four tie-down points: two flip-up points towards the front of that area and one fixed point at each rear corner.

It’s a lively, fun drive – it’s a fiesty 1695kg goer – but there are a few minor trade-offs.

Steering – with a variable steering ratio based on the steering angle – is generally spot-on although tending towards too light at times, however, it does maintain a precise feel throughout most phases.

The 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic are a formidable pairing, yielding if not overwhelming power and torque then at least more than adequate measures of both for zippy driving around town and on open roads.

This is a low-slung beast and loves being pushed hard along straight stretches and through corners. All the while, its AWD system provides consistent even-handed grippiness on the road. Wheel-selective torque control adds to that sustained and positive handling flavour.

There are different drive modes – including efficiency, comfort, auto, dynamic, off-road – and each tweaks throttle, transmission and driver-assist systems to suit.

Dynamic is the most fun, allowing the Sportback off its leash a little more than, say, efficiency. There's not a huge difference to the more subdued settings, but it's fun nonetheless.

The suspension set-up – MacPherson strut front and four-link rear – is all-round quite firm, and, as a result, the Sportback’s ride can be a bit jarring over irregular surfaces. And the 20-inch alloys on slim-profile Hankook Ventus S1 Evo2 SUV 255/40 tyres don’t help either.

The 40 TFSI quattro S line also gets 20-inch alloy wheels.

Driver visibility out of the side windows, but especially back through the rear, is quite pinched. Lucky then, that this Audi’s 360-degree camera system – offering a virtual top view, reversing-camera view, front and rear panorama view, and a kerb-side view – is an effective tool in compensating somewhat for that reduced visibility.

The 40 TFSI S Line’s fuel consumption is listed as 8.3L/100km on a combined cycle, but I recorded 10.3L/100km after more than 300km of driving, with the majority of that on blacktop but a smattering of travel on mostly well-maintained gravel roads and dirt tracks.

It has a 60-litre fuel tank.

It has a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, and that includes three years of roadside assistance.

Service intervals are recommended for every 12 months/15,000km, and capped-price servicing plans – $1610 for three years or $2630 for five – are available.