Craig's Cars: Audi Q3

The Q3 is a practical small SUV, an entry point to Audi’s Q range. With 5 seats and a 420-litre boot, there’s certainly room for the family. Outside, the almost coupé-like styling makes the prospect of owning an SUV less daunting, making it more similar to the familiar hatchback.

Standard equipment is very generous, with 17-inch alloys, Bluetooth®, DAB, 8 speakers and a 6.5-inch colour screen which can be manually folded away. You get electric windows in the front and rear as standard along with a front centre armrest, dual-zone climate control, semi-electric front seats and ISOFIX for the front passenger and rear outermost seats. On entry-level SE models, you even get automatic headlights and wipers and rear parking sensors!

Step up to S line for another £2,550 for 18-inch alloys, part-leather seats, a power-operated bootlid, LED headlights and tail lights and S line bodystyling.

Add another £2,350 to get the top-of-the-range S line Plus. Along with 19-inch alloy wheels you get rear privacy glass and Alcantara and leather interior trimming and upholstery.

Prices start at £25,340 and can exceed £35k. The engines available are a 150 PS 1.4-litre TFSI (petrol) with cylinder-on-demand technology, a 180 PS 2.0-litre TFSI (petrol) quattro®, a 150 PS 2.0-litre TDI (diesel) with or without quattro® and a 184 PS 2.0-litre TDI (diesel) quattro®. Power is driven through a 6-speed manual ‘box or a 6- or 7-speed S tronic automatic transmission. At a claimed 61.4 mpg, the 2.0-litre TDI fitted with 17-inch alloys is the most economical. It also emits the lowest amount of CO2 (119 g/km) making it free to tax in the first year and £30 thereafter. The most expensive to tax is the £180 161 g/km 2.0-litre TFSI quattro(R).

It’s important not to forget the existence of the £45k Audi RS Q3 too! The 5-cylinder 2.5-litre TFSI quattro® provides its power through a 7-speed S tronic ‘box and gets it from 0-62 mph in 4.8 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph. Fuel consumption is said to be 32.8 mpg, emitting 203 g/km of CO2 making it an expensive car to tax at £635 in year 1 and £285 onwards.

With such impressive standard kit for an entry-level SUV, you wouldn’t think there would be many options. Well let me tell you, there are! The technology package is a £1,495 option that includes an HDD-based MMI Satellite Navigation Plus, 7-inch colour display, 3D mapping, 20GB of music storage and other minor upgrades. If you’ve remained with the SE model but want LED headlights and tail lights, the price is £1,150. There are 3 comfort packages, each building on the one below them. They range from £670 to £1,750. The Audi exclusive off-road styling package not only adds some rugged styling but some practical armour too, for £1,795. For £690 you can have a 14-speaker 5.1 surround sound Bose system. As you’d expect, the panoramic glass sunroof is an expensive option – it’ll set you back £1,125. Some more tech are the £385 power-operated tailgate and £425 keyless entry and start. There’s plenty of active and passive safety equipment on the options list too, including the option to add even more airbags.