Sunday, 20 November 2011

Audi Q3 2.0 TDI SE review

Audi Q3 2.0 TDI 177 SE quattro

Test date 11 November 2011 Price as tested £28,460

For Well-crafted interior l Accomplished powertrain l Typically refined

Against Comatose steering l Imperfect ride l Lack of rear headroom

Background

The Range Rover Evoque may be this year’s most wanted premium SUV, but given the production delays that have hit it recently, one or two deposit holders could be forgiven for sizing up the alternatives. And now’s our chance to assess the chief among them: Audi’s new compact 4x4, the Q3.
The Q3 has a few questions to answer. Can Audi successfully imbue a relatively small, cheap SUV with the substance and luxuriousness that characterise the Q5 and Q7? Does a Q3 offer a meaningful improvement in practicality or capability over a lower, more conventional family option? And will its outsourced production make it any less convincing as a premium-brand German model?
In effect, fellow VW Group brand Seat has been making Audis since the A4-derived Exeo was launched in 2008. But the Exeo is a Seat. The Q3, on the other hand, wears Audi badging – but, like the Exeo, it’s made at Seat’s Martorell factory near Barcelona.
In today’s truly global car industry, that should be no reason for anyone to raise a dismissive eyebrow, but German luxury car fans just might.

Design

More crossover than traditional SUV, the Q3 is a chip off the Q7’s old block as far as styling is concerned. It’s fairly squat at the kerb – for a 4x4, at any rate. And although the Q3 still has plenty of visual presence, the added heft of this family 4x4 is disguised by the understated Teutonic lines of Audi’s current design lexicon. So the car appears unexpectedly small. It lacks a little impact next to a certain new Range Rover but, in reality, it’s intended for an entirely different customer, one who’ll appreciate its quietly handsome aesthetic because it’s so smart and discreet.

The Q3’s gently sloping D-pillars and tailgate are among its most interesting visual features and will appeal to those repelled by the idea of a boxy 4x4. Like Audi’s bigger SUVs, the car’s hatch is a wraparound closure with wide, undivided tail-lamps that – provided you go for S-line trim or tick the right option box on your SE-spec car – are lit by LEDs.

In its mechanical layout, however, the Q3 has more in common with a regular five-door hatchback. There’s no six-cylinder longways engine or Torsen-based quattro four-wheel drive system here. Instead, a four-cylinder engine is mounted transversely, with gearbox in line and the latest Haldex front-biased four-wheel drive system attached. Entry-level front-drive models will be available in the UK from December.
Suspension is via MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link set-up at the rear. Both are attached to the Q3’s body-in-white by subframes, rigidly mounted at the front and rubber bushed at the rear. Although its off-road capabilities are limited (there’s 170mm of ground clearance, or just 150mm if you have S-line sports suspension), the Q3 seems optimised for everyday use on the road.
A three-level crash structure at the front includes a lower tier of deformable metal designed to match the crumple zone of a lower vehicle and therefore prevent overriding in a head-on crash. The car also has the lowest coefficient of aerodynamic drag in its class, at just 0.32.

On the road

Four-cylinder diesel engines may have become the workhorses in most mainstream model ranges, but there’s nothing workmanlike about the way the best of the breed function. This 174bhp 2.0-litre unit can count itself among that company. With 280lb ft of torque on tap from 1750rpm, the motor is content to punt along in the low rev range that its economy-tuned standard dual-clutch transmission deems applicable to most situations. Gear ratios often come and go imperceptibly, and while there’s a voluble rattle at re-ignition from the automatic stop-start, the engine generally fades into the well-refined background.

Demand considerably more pace from it and the powerplant responds with quick-fire bursts of convincing thrust. Its maximum output is exhausted by 4200rpm, but with a free-revving character and seven ratios to get through, energetic headway is not difficult to access. The automatic gearbox can be slotted back into its accustomed ‘S’ mode for such moments or you can opt to shift for yourself via the wheel-mounted paddles. The dual-clutch ’box has a habit of holding on to gears a little more belligerently than is often required, but its performance bias is useful at roundabouts, where the standard ‘D’ mode has a tendency to leave the car in too high a gear for the usual positioning cut and thrust.

That’s a minor quibble. A more substantial one can be levelled at the new Efficiency mode, which, when selected, disengages the clutch each time the driver lifts off the throttle to preserve fuel by allowing the car to coast unencumbered by engine braking. It’s a good idea, and in practice others, including Volkswagen, have made it work well enough, but Audi has failed to perfect the system in the Q3. Because it’s not an automatic feature (that’s a clue to its failings), it only occurs to you to select it on the motorway, but as the revs fall away so, promptly, does the speed, meaning that power must quickly be reapplied – not so easy when the clutch takes several seconds to re-engage. That process makes for an ugly cadence to an otherwise seamless powertrain and, unsurprisingly, makes the Efficiency setting largely redundant.

The Q3 drives more like a conventional hatchback than a mud-plugging SUV. Excellent body control and rigidity ensure that the penalty for the car’s high-sided nature is minimal, and it responds with obliging agility to most demands made of it.

For customers coming to the Q3 from smaller, lighter cars – a significant proportion, according to Audi – the resemblance will likely be welcome. Anyone expecting a capability to venture far from the road will be less happy. However, the Haldex four-wheel drive should be sufficient to help you through any gentle winter flurries and over the occasional grassy slope.

Arguably more important than the ‘quattro’ badge are Audi’s optional Drive Select system and the adaptive dampers, which should be thought of as must-have items. Drive Select allows the driver to choose between Auto, Comfort, Dynamic and Efficiency modes, which adjust the throttle response, transmission, steering and suspension settings. In its default Auto mode, the Q3 will surf its firm set-up in reasonably contented fashion, but most UK buyers will want to invest in the system (and uprated dampers) to access Comfort, which further dulls the sharp edges of abrasive local roads.

Even so equipped, the car is not class-leading in its ride quality. While it refuses to crash over suspect surfacing, the Q3 can struggle to completely settle without gently relaying every foible its tyres find to the driver. It’s a distraction the driver could do without as he or she is likely to be busy negotiating the fog of uncertainty that characterises the car’s steering.

Misjudged inputs and unintelligible feedback are unwanted repercussions of the brisk progress that the Q3 is otherwise quite capable of.

Living

Fit and finish have long been Audi strengths, but the firm has added an impressively fine-tuned sense of aesthetics to its interiors in recent years. The Q3 typifies its effort to meld function and premium feel in a clean-cut, purposeful environment.

The dashboard is set high and bulges indulgently towards the occupants. Soft-touch trim and brushed buttons feature throughout much of the handsome matt black centre console. In daylight, it’s all pleasantly appealing, but at night the peerless use of subdued LED spotlighting bathes the cabin in a mesmerising glow.
There are missteps – the clickable climate controls are not gratifying to use, for example – but most are so immaterial that they serve only to highlight what a first-rate effort the overall effect is.

You sit high, with a traditional SUV vantage point, and the car feels sufficiently compact to pass as an overgrown A1 rather than A3. Nevertheless, up front, the overall impression is one of satisfyingly snug surroundings rather than an unnecessarily cramped cabin.

That perception alters in the rear. Moderate-sized adults should be able to fold themselves into the allotted space adequately enough, but tall passengers might feel short-changed by both the legroom and the lack of headroom caused by an even-lower-than-it-looks rear roofline.

However, young, affluent families are a natural target and parents may conclude that, with good access, there’s an appropriate amount of room for little ones. They’re likely to be content with 460 litres of boot space, too. Tip the rear seats forward and there’s 1365 litres – 250 more than in an A3 Sportback.

An entry point on the right side of £25k makes the Q3 seem like excellent value. But it’s less well priced when you look at what BMW asks for an X1, which can be landed with four driven wheels and a diesel engine for less than £26k, compared with this Q3’s £28,460. The Q3 is also a slightly less capable and appealing vehicle if you can’t afford the right options. You don’t even get cruise control as standard equipment, for instance.

Fuel efficiency proved good, if not quite class-leading; 45.7mpg is a good result for any SUV on our touring economy test, but not as good as the 52mpg we recorded in an X1.

Verdict

The compact SUV market seems ready-made for Audi’s covetable brand. The trend-conscious customer base is likely to prove highly receptive to the super-slick product positioning that has become a cornerstone of Audi’s success.
The well-honed Q3 effortlessly perpetuates a seamless experience of attainable upmarket packaging. But, separated from its aspirational starch, the new model is commendably competent rather than seriously impressive. Objectively, it earns few significant demerits, but there is a familiar sterility to the way the Q3 drives and that denies it a more generous score.
That it refuses to sparkle under a dynamic spotlight will hardly matter to most of its intended buyers, though. For better or for worse, desirability now comes vacuum-packed as standard with the LED lights, business-class interior and four-ringed badge.

How much ?

Price as tested £28,460
Price as tested £28,460

How fast

0-30mph 3 sec
0-60mph 8.3 sec
0-100mph 25.5 sec
0-150mph no data
0-200mph no data
30-70mph no data
0-400m no data
0-1000m no data
30-50mph in 3rd/4th 3.1 / 4.4
40-60mph in 4th/5th 4.4 / 5.8 sec
50-70mph in 5th 6.1 sec
60-0mph no data
Top speed 132 mph
Noise at 70mph 72 dbA

How thirsty?

Test average 33.2 mpg
Test best/worst 45.7 / 17.7

Government figures

Combined/urban 47.9 / 40.4 mpg
CO₂ emissions 156 g/km

How big?

Length 4385 mm
Width 2019 mm
Height 1608 mm
Wheelbase no data
Weight 1585 kg
Fuel tank 64.0 litres

Engine

Layout 4 cyls , 1968 cc
Max power 175 bhp at 4200 rpm
Max torque 280 ft at 1750 rpm
Specific output no data
Power to weight no data
Installation no data
Bore/stoke no data
Compression ratio no data
Valve gear no data
Ignition and fuel no data, Diesel

Gearbox

Type 7-speed Automatic
1st 3.56 / 4.8
2nd 2.53 / 8.1
3rd 1.59 / 13
4th 0.94 / 18.3
5th 0.72 / 23.7
6th 0.69 / 29.9
Final drive 4.73

Suspension

Front no data
Rear no data

Steering

Type no data
Lock to lock no data

Brakes

Front no data
Rear no data

Wheel & tyres

Size front no data
Size rear no data
Made of no data
Tyres front no data
Tyres rear no data

Picture Gallery Audi Q3 2.0 TDI SE

Citroën C3 1.4 HDi Exclusive Review

The Citroen C3 aims to continue a long Gallic tradition of fun small cars and must charm buyers away from a string of very new, very capable rivals.
To beat them, Citroen has tried to do something different again; the tall, rounded lines of the Lumiere concept were an accurate preview of how the production C3 would turn out.
But fresh styling is unlikely to be enough. Its rivals may look more serious, but they are equally serious about cost, practicality, quality and dynamics. The C3 will need to be as able as its styling is original if it is to succeed.

Design

The 70bhp, 1398cc C3 HDi tested here produces peak power at 4000rpm and peak torque of 110lb ft at 2000rpm.
The C3 is the first car to use PSA’s new PF1 small car platform which will also underpin the C2 city car due next year. Its suspension remains conventional, with MacPherson struts at the front, a cheap, compact torsion beam at the rear and anti-roll bars at both ends.
Braking is by disc at the front and drums at the rear; ABS with brakeforce distribution and brake assist is standard on the Exclusive trim level tested here and the SX below but not the basic LX.
The steering is more radical with fully electrical variable assistance claimed to cut mass and fuel consumption; at 1022kgs the C3’s kerb weight is low for a diesel of this class, despite being one of the widest and the tallest by some margin at 1520mm.

On The Road

The C3 takes 13.0sec to hit 60mph, fine for a car of this class and power but you can have more pace for the same money; both the Seat Ibiza and the Skoda Fabia can shave two seconds from the 0-60mph time and might well make a better choice if you spend most of your time on motorways and A-roads, though neither will match the C3 for economy.
But accept the C3 for what it is and you won’t be seriously put out by its lack of pace; single-carriageway overtaking is plainly off the menu but the C3 is capable of adequate motorway progress up to the speed limit.
The C3 is comfortable, but its charm diminishes if you try to hustle it. The ride is soft; together with the refined powertrain and low levels of tyre and wind noise this leaves the C3’s cabin surprisingly calm and quiet for a diesel supermini. And body movement is quite tightly controlled, improving passenger comfort.
But it’s the steering that lets the side down; with 3.2 turns form lock to lock it’s too long-winded and imprecise at pace. It’s admirably light at parking speeds but the electric assistance adds weight too early and in clearly noticeable steps; even at low speeds you find yourself having to add more muscle mid-manouevre.

Get into the C3 and you’ll be pleased to note that the awkward French driving position of old is absent; instead you get firm seats with a full range of adjustment and a steering column which can be tailored for both rake and reach.
The visibility is as good as the car’s height suggests, though the instrumentation leaves more to be desired. The main display looks a bit toy-like; a big digital speedo over which arches a thin digital rev counter which is hard to read.
Rear leg room is surprisingly cramped. The C3 won’t fit two six-footers line astern, but all its major new rivals will. Our top-spec Exclusive car comes with a standard kit list capable of matching anything else in the class.
The Citroen is only denied the title of Britain’s most economical conventionally-powered car by the bizarre coincidence that three models claim the same extraordinary combined consumption figure of 67.3mpg. But we haven’t yet road tested the Yaris D4D or the Renault Clio dCi80, so the C3 gets to verify its claim first. On our touring route we returned a sensational 64.9mpg giving 675 miles between refills. And it has a staggering CO2 rating of just 110g/km.

Verdict
The C3’s ride and ridiculous economy give you two clear reasons to pick it over any of its rivals, many of which fail to excel in a single area. It makes a strong case on refinement, standard equipment and safety too but if performance, handling or space in the rear are important to you we’d direct you elsewhere. It isn’t the best small French car we’ve driven, but it does France’s reputation for them no harm at all.