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5,000 km & 6 months with my Audi Q3: 5 likes & 4 dislikes

31st July 2024, 13:11 by Ananth Iyer

The suspension setup is excellent; it makes journeys so much more comfortable.

BHPian sh3lby recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I’m of the view that luxury is relative to what you’ve experienced in the past. For us, coming for the Innova Crysta (which was a well-rounded car in its own right), the Q3 Sportback is definitely an upgrade in most ways. However for someone coming from say, a Tiguan, there won’t be much of a difference.

As we've settled in with our new ride, put it through different situations and actually started living with it on a daily basis, we've gotten to know the car much better.

So, about 6 months and 5k km into the ownership experience, here’s what I have to say about the Q3 SB thusfar:

Likes:

Drivetrain: (Turbo-Petrol Engine+ 7speed DSG gearbox combo) is best in class as I’ve said before
Comfort: Suspension setup smoothens out almost everything
Build Quality: Fit & Finish is top-notch, feels premium
Design and Styling - Looks great from all angles
Quattro AWD: Useful, albeit not the Torsen AWD equipped in the Q5 and above

Dislikes:

Same state of tune (190 HP, 320 NM) as the Tiguan/Kodiaq despite the international variant being offered with a higher tune
Lack of features that’re abundant in cars from a segment below (eg – Venitlated/heated Seats, Seat Memory)
No Bang & Olufsen sound system offered even on the top variant (offered on the A4 though)
Safety Features like Blind-spot assist, a 360-deg camera isn’t offered

For the first 2 months we were quite overprotective of the car, even giving our car-washing guy special microfiber cloths to clean our car. Slowly that obsession settled a bit as the car established itself as a member of our family, but the love’s still there. We’ve been on an 800 km roadtrip, we’ve taken her for long drives on the Dwarka & Delhi-Mumbai expressway, and as the months go by this chapter with the Q3 sportback is just beginning. So after 6 months and 5k km into the ownership journey here’s what I’d like to share about her, in more detail:

The suspension setup is excellent; it makes journeys so much more comfortable. As I said earlier, it’s relative to what you’ve experienced earlier, but compared to the Innova with its BoF setup, the Q3 smoothens out potholes, speedbreakers and almost everything you throw at it. Lateral movement is still felt though, so you may find yourself bobbing from side-to-side on a rough patch. I've only heard the distinctive 'thud' sound once or twice when there was a particularly bad pothole. That aside, no drama.

We’ve taken the car on an 800 km roadtrip (Gurgaon-Kanatal-Tehri-Rishikesh) and at the end of each day we were still less fatigued than we were in the Innova despite its larger cabin, most likely due to the better ride quality.

This leaves me wondering, if entry-level luxury offers this level of comfort, how good would the flagship products with air-suspension, adaptive damping and whatnot be?

At higher speeds, the car feels well-planted and doesn’t have feel floaty at all. 80 feels like 60, 100 feels like 80 and so on. To be honest, despite gleaming new highways (the issues that plague them are a whole another thread), we just haven’t found it safe to ‘cruise’ at 120 at any of them. Although in the instance that we need to floor it, the car drops 2 gears and gains speed effortlessly.

Where she was truly in her element were the emptier mountain roads leading to our resort in Kanatal, where not only the person driving but rather everyone had a good time, windows and sunroof open accompanied by the Zindagi na Milegi Dubara album.

Handling is stable, no body roll, but otherwise nothing to write home about, it just isn’t her department to shine. Obviously, if you want a better handling car at this price, go for the top-end A4. Sadly, (new) Bimmers are too expensive for this segment, so for pure petrolheads you'll feel the need to stretch.

Insulation is up to the mark and outside noise is masked pretty well, however tire noise is certainly audible, at speeds of 100 kph and above – at least more than I expected. Does it have something to do with the heavier, Hankook EV tires fitted on her? This is a concern and I want to see what others have to say about this.

The engine is responsive and the acceleration is noticeable but not exhilarating. Naturally, she responds best when she's in her ideal torque-band and there's enough boost built up. Apologies if I'm messing up these technical terms while trying to describe it.

The Q3 is offered with a 230 HP/370 NM state of tune abroad but dumped with a lower state of tune here :( . Not happy about this honestly.

Gearshifts are basically indiscernible as I’ve mentioned before, and the 7-speed DSG transmission does its job well, the only times I felt it was a bit ‘confused’ or hesitant was when we were climbing in the hills. Power was more than adequate but it seemed like the gearbox was in the wrong gear sometimes resulting in a modicum of drama on the engine’s part.

Also, a correction – in the initial ownership review I’d mentioned this about the ‘base’ Q3:

The gearbox is a 7-speed DCT but I’ll tell you my experience. We went on test drives with the A4 Technology (top), Q3 Premium (base) and Q3 SB. While the shifts in the SB and A4 (best in the A4) were smooth, they were discernable in the Q3 base model. It’s like a split-second hesitation in shifting to higher gears at speed, which I haven’t felt in the SB till now. It could very well be placebo but anecdotally we felt it.

Go ahead and ignore this because that behavior was most likely due to the car being in comfort mode at the time, a naïve omission on my part.

Apart from that, driving modes are actually more beneficial than expected, best being Dynamic or Efficiency for their respective objectives. We haven’t come across an instant where I think ‘Offroad’ mode would’ve been exceptionally useful (yet) , and in other cases we just set in auto and go about our day.

The Interior is well-designed, feels luxurious and is a near-perfect blend of modernism and physical buttons for the A/C, climate control, driving modes etc. 30 color ambient lighting is a nice ‘feel-good’ aspect of the interior at night, although it’s not as intense as that in a Merc. That said, you don't get an overwhelming sense of opulence or "damn that's nice". The design is just well-integrated and intuitive.

The ambient lighting fades in automatically as darkness is detected, and speaking of that, I have a concern I want to ask other Q3 owners. Although we have the 30-color package, the cupholder area is always lit white. Initially I didn't think much of it, but once I googled 'Q3 interior at night' I realized it should be the same color as the rest of the lighting, which it's not. It's not too big of a deal, but it is stuck in my head now that I know about it and was wondering if I can get it fixed in any way.

how it should be vs how it is, or is this normal?

The touchscreen is sharp and responsive, as it should be. Initially I was miffed about the Apple CarPlay/Android Auto not being wireless but then learnt that all VAG products have it as a wired option only (citing safety), even Bentleys! Ah well I guess…

Coming to the driver’s info, Audi’s Virtual display is described perfectly by BHPian sawnilrules in his A6 review:

Audi Virtual Display, it's among the best virtual displays out there and it is fabulous to look at whether day or night

Front seats are electrically adjustable but I the lack of memory seats when there’s so many different combinations possible is disappointing.

Rear seats are comfortable too, although the possibility for slightly more recline should’ve been available. The sloping roof doesn’t compromise headroom much (we all are of average height, if your family is taller do not go for the sportback, obviously) but it does mean you can’t lean your head on the window and gaze out due to the C-pillar. It’s not a true coupe in the sense that a GLE or X4 from multiple segments above are, but it still adds to the sportier look.

The 180 W, in-house sound system is adequate, although at this point B&O’s specialized sound system should’ve been equipped. Yes, it’s leagues above the Crysta’s sound system, and there’re no complaints as such, but I expected even better.

Now maybe I’m iterating this too much, but the build quality is impeccable. The doors are heavy, close with a satisfying thud and even as you step into the car and take your seat you can feel that it’s a segment above due to the quality of materials used. Not sure if this is true just because it’s an Audi or because most VAG products are like that (haven’t experienced them much).

I’ve already talked about how some features like heated/ventilated seats, 360-deg camera and blind-spot assist are missing. If you’re in it only for the features, avoid. If you want a well packaged product with some aspirational value sprinkled in, go for it. Still, doesn’t excuse their absence at such a pricepoint.

That aside, features like keyless entry/exit, automatic windows (all 4), etc are easy to get used to and are truly missed when you use another vehicle. Auto start/stop (equipped) and ADAS (not equipped) are both useless to me in India, with the AC cutting out in the heat and Indian roads, respectively.

Visibility from the driver’s seat is good and the bonnet is almost entirely visible. That, combined with the sensors on the front & rear make it easy to manage in the city but the proximity warning gets annoying in bumper-to-bumper traffic so we tend to turn it off.

Another thing I’d like to add: Graphene ceramic paint-protection does seem to work. Even after multiple ventures into dirty terrain, rain and washes, she’s gleaming and looks brand new, once you clean up the grime. I don’t think the Innova looked this fresh after 6 months when it was new, but this may be recency bias.

Here are some photos of the car I took near the Tehri Reservoir:

(I was about to write a travelogue but BHPian LegenDARY’s travelogue had an almost identical itinerary as our trip so I decided not to)