New 2013 Audi Q3 S review, test drive

Out on the road, the Q3 S drives pretty well despite the car's lower 140bhp (the Quattro comes with 174bhp). Press down on the light clutch, engage first gear and you’ll discover a smooth clutch action. The engine makes a healthy 32.6kgm from as low as 1750rpm and torque stays healthy till 2500rpm, so performance feels pretty effortless.

 

The Audi Q3 S is also quite enjoyable to drive – the gearbox is slick, light and positive, and you often find yourself shifting gears just to revel in the shift action. This Q3, despite its lower power output, never feels slow. This is partly due to the fact that this car, at 1445kg, weighs a considerable 140kg less than its all-wheel-drive sibling.

 

That means this two-wheel-drive Q3 gets to 100kph in 9.9 seconds as against the Quattro’s 8.3sec – not too bad a disadvantage – and in the real world, has more than enough performance. Compare it to rivals like the BMW X1 and the Mercedes-Benz B-class, and you’ll see that it is pretty much par for the course. Continued..