Audi Q3 Review & Prices

The Audi Q3 is a posh small SUV. Now in its third generation, it’s matured into a good-to-drive and comfortable car that has plenty of practicality for family use - but in places it doesn’t feel quite as premium as you’d hope for the price.

The Q3 is the natural alternative to other small SUVs from posh German brands - so the BMW X1 and Mercedes GLA. But you could also consider it next to the Volvo XC40, Cupra Formentor or Range Rover Evoque, or less posh but larger SUVs such as the VW Tiguan.

Among all this competition, the Q3 plays it straight down the middle - it doesn’t focus on being the biggest, or the most fun to drive, or the most practical, but instead strikes a nice balance between all of those qualities. If it’s anything, then it’s the most techy of all the alternatives - so it’s a bit like Goldilocks has gone out and bought herself the latest iPhone and VR headset.

The Q3’s new look is very much Q5-in-miniature, and follows on from all the latest Audi models. At the front you get a wide, hexagonal grille with either small diamond shapes or large oval ones filling it in, depending on your trim level. It’s flanked by slim daytime running lights, while the main headlight units sit lower and are hidden in the air intakes.

The sides have pronounced wheel arches and a distinct styling line that runs right from the headlights to the taillights, while round the rear you’ll find a slim light bar and illuminated Audi badge. It’s all playing it quite safe, but overall it looks quite smart, especially in one of the more interesting exterior colours such as Sage green or Navarra blue.

When you get inside, though, things are rather more interesting. The interior is dominated by a pair of displays set under one seamless sheet of glass - common to all new Audi models and replacing most of the physical buttons around the cabin.

Behind the wheel, where you might expect to find traditional column stalks, you get a wraparound panel with stubby, blocky controls on the end and an array of buttons and scroll wheels for your lights and wiper controls. You’ll also find the drive selector here. It looks wild, but doesn’t take too long to get used to.

Further back, there’s decent space for rear passengers and an impressively big boot - 488 litres normally, but with a sliding rear seat this can be increased to 575 litres. This is reduced on the otherwise fantastic plug-in hybrid model, though.

Speaking of the plug-in hybrid, it’s just one of a wide range of engines. There’s a 150hp petrol as well as a 150hp diesel - ideal for penny-pinchers who want maximum economy on a long drive. There are two more 2.0-litre petrols, with 204hp or 265hp plus Quattro all-wheel drive, while the PHEV version gets a seriously impressive 74-mile electric range for rock-bottom company car costs.

To drive, there's little to commend the Q3, but it won't disappoint either. It's impressively neutral, handling bumps about as well as its main alternatives. It's not as much fun to chuck about the corners as a BMW X1, nor is it as comfortable on a long journey as an XC40. But flip the script and it all averages out.

So while the new Audi Q3 isn’t likely to excite you, it’s a very accomplished posh SUV that’s well worth shortlisting.

You can see our best Audi Q3 deals here, or find a great deal on a previous-generation Q3 by buying used. You can also search for other new or used Audis for sale, and remember that Carwow can even help you to sell your old car when the time comes.

The Q3 range starts at just over £38,000, which is about £2,000 more than the entry-level BMW X1 or Mercedes GLA. You definitely feel the extra versus the Mercedes, but the X1 is a harder sell, being well-equipped, powerful, and with a fantastic interior.

Standard equipment is generous, though. A reversing camera, ambient lighting, keyless entry, an electric tailgate, adaptive cruise control, all-round LED lights and heated front seats all come as standard on the entry-level ‘Sport’ trim.

The S Line model adds a sportier bodykit, posher headlights, the illuminated badge at the rear, sports seats and privacy glass, while the Edition 1 gets a black styling pack, sophisticated Matrix LED headlights, sport suspension and the so-called ‘progressive steering’. Alloy wheel sizes are 18, 19 and 20 inches respectively.

It feels a bit stingy, though, that things like a head-up display, premium sound system or electric seats remain on the options list even for the top-spec car.

A wide range of engines means performance ranges from brisk to rapid - but even the fastest models aren’t really much fun to drive

In town

All versions of the Q3 get an automatic gearbox, all-round parking sensors and a reversing camera - all things that make driving in town easier. What also helps is that there’s good all-round visibility and that the suspension copes pretty well with the potholes and speedbumps that litter many a British road - though models on the largest 20-inch alloy wheels do feel a bit more brittle than those on smaller wheels with fatter tyres.

On the motorway

The Q3 is pretty hard to fault on the motorway. All the engines have just about enough power, though the 150hp petrol and diesel models do take a bit of work to get up to speed. The more powerful petrol or the plug-in hybrid feel much more sprightly.

Once you’re up to speed, the Q3 is quiet and comfortable, though perhaps not quite as cossetting as a Volvo XC40. Nevertheless, excellent seats with lots of adjustment mean you should be able to get super-comfy for a long journey.

Audi’s assistance systems such as the adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping aids all work really well, helping to take the sting out of a long trip. Top-spec models with the Matrix LED headlights have a further trick up their sleeve too - at night, they can light up with lane-departure warnings, blindspot warnings and even width markers, projecting them onto the road in front of you. It’s a bit of a gimmick, but a cool one.

On a twisty road

The BMW X1 and the Cupra Formentor are both more enjoyable than the Q3 is to drive down a twisting country road. That’s not to say that the Audi handles corners poorly or is uncomfortable in the bends - just that it doesn’t encourage you to drive quickly, with safety aids that cut in a bit aggressively and steering that doesn’t really feed back what the road is doing.

Even the fastest model - the 265hp petrol with Quattro all-wheel drive - doesn’t feel particularly rapid, and as yet there’s no ‘performance’ model to go up against the Mercedes-AMG GLA 35, the BMW X1 M35i xDrive or the Cupra Formentor VZ.

Decent back seats and a big boot, though hybrid models lose some space

The Audi Q3’s front seats ought to suit drivers of all shapes and sizes - they’re supportive without being restrictive, and they go back a long way for very tall people.

Storage space is okay without being amazing. The door bins are quite small but should take a bottle or two of water, and there are two large cupholders in the middle. The wireless phone charging pad is hidden under a cheap-feeling sliding cover, and the glovebox is a good size.

Space in the back seats

Rear legroom and headroom is pretty good for what’s actually quite a small SUV - it’s better than in the Mercedes GLA but a BMW X1 or Volvo XC40 feel more spacious still. It’s also best suited to two, as the middle pew feels quite hard and perched and there’s a very large lump in the floor.

Rear passengers do get a great view out thanks to big windows, though. The doors open wide which makes installing a child seat easy, and there’s even ISOFIX on the front passenger seat as well as both outer rear seats.

Boot space

Audi Q3 boot space starts from 488 litres in the petrol models. That’s with the seats all the way back - you can actually slide them forwards, at the detriment of rear legroom - but doing so liberates a capacious 575 litres. The seats fold 40:20:40 for extra versatility, too.

Alternatives are also impressively practical, though, with the BMW X1 boasting 540 litres of space and the Mercedes GLA 485 litres.

Space is reduced further in the plug-in hybrid model, which gets just 375 litres of space - a little less than a VW Golf hatchback. Neither the X1 or the GLA plug-in hybrids lose that much space, though in fairness neither of them have quite such a large battery capacity either.

Trick new control layout is really easy to get used to, but there are a few areas of the cabin that don’t live up to the premium image

The Q3’s interior is immediately familiar if you’ve been inside a recent Audi product, but there are some differences too. The most interesting is the new control layout that’s replaced traditional steering column stalks.

The steering wheel now protrudes out of a wide, flat panel. On the right-hand end of this panel you’ll find a drive selector, while on the other there’s a multifunction control for indicators, lights and wipers. While it looks pretty wild, it’s actually quite easy to use - it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it, and in fact the indicators just operate like you’re used to in other cars - albeit with a different-shaped stalk.

Behind this sits a pair of displays. There’s a big 12.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system and an 11.9-inch display for the driver, both set under one sheet of glass for a seamless look. However, the driver display is actually very wide and thin - which means when you view it from certain angles, there’s a simply vast amount of wasted space above it which looks really cheap and nasty.

The display itself doesn’t feel too slick either - the virtual dials aren’t very good-looking or legible, and it feels like a half-hearted effort on Audi’s part. That’s a shame considering Audi basically invented the modern driver display with the ‘Virtual Cockpit’.

The infotainment screen is much better being bright, clear and responsive, though it’s responsible for so many functions that it’s not always easy to find the one you’re looking for. And it’s a real shame that Audi has ditched the physical climate controls you got on the old Q3, as they were much easier to use on the move than touchscreen buttons.

Build quality is good - much better than the decidedly creaky Mercedes GLA - and you only really find cheap, scratchy plastics when you look low down in the cabin. The exception is the hideaway cover for the wireless smartphone charging pad, which feels a bit rickety.

The fuel economy you get from your Audi Q3 very much depends on which engine you go for. The range kicks off with the 1.5-litre TFSI with 150hp, which returns a claimed 46.3mpg. The 150hp 2.0-litre TDI diesel ups this to 52.3mpg claimed. We’d say both of those figures should be relatively achievable, but the diesel is likely to perform even better than claimed on a long motorway run.

Both 2.0-litre petrol models - 204hp and 265hp - will return around 30mpg in the real world, or less if you’re hustling them. But neither is particularly dynamic to drive, so you won’t be tempted to keep your foot glued to the floor like you might in a BMW X1 M35i.

All of the pure-combustion models have relatively unimpressive CO2 figures and won’t make great company cars, but the 150hp petrol is the best of the bunch.

The real draw for company car users is the 272hp e-Hybrid. This pairs a 1.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor and a chunky battery pack, endowing it with a really impressive 74-mile electric range. Combined with CO2 emissions of just 43g/km, this puts the Q3 in the 6% band for company car tax - lower than the the equivalent X1 or GLA, which both sit in the 9% band.

Fuel economy in this model will depend very much on your charging behaviour, but with that much range - even though it’s closer to 60 miles in the real world - you can really treat the Q3 like an electric car during the week. That's made even easier by the presence of 50kW fast charging, so you can use proper public chargers.

Sadly, only the basic petrol model in Sport trim dips under the £40,000 threshold for the expensive car supplement in years two through six of ownership. All other models are liable for the charge, including all the PHEVs.

The latest Q3 hasn’t yet been tested by Euro NCAP, but we’d be very surprised if it didn’t score a full five stars - every Audi model tested in the last decade has, and the latest A5, Q5 and Q6 models returned really impressive scores.

All versions do come with ample safety equipment - adaptive cruise control is standard, as is the usual glut of lane-departure warnings, speed limit recognition, autonomous emergency braking and the like. You do need an expensive options pack if you want 360-degree cameras or Audi’s ‘proactive occupant protection’, though.

The previous Q3 wasn’t a desperately reliable car, with software faults and electronic failures commonly reported among owners. That may have helped Audi with its relatively low 19th place out of 31 manufacturers in the 2025 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, behind BMW in 8th and Mercedes in 2nd.

Audi’s warranty is three years or 60,000 miles, which is about par for the course - but Mercedes offers unlimited mileage cover in the same timeframe, while opting for a left-field choice like the Lexus UX could net you up to a decade of cover.