Audi Q2 Review & Prices

The Q2 is Audi’s smallest SUV, offering similar levels of space inside as the A3 hatchback. It looks stylish, has a lovely, high-quality interior and it’s easy to drive, but it’s quite pricey and it’s getting on compared to the latest bunch of alternatives.

Think of it as an iPod - the original, chunky one. It may be out of touch compared to the new-age streaming platforms, but it’s stylish, well-made and it still feels like a quality product - a bit like the Q2 when parked next to newer options such as the BMW X1, Peugeot 2008 and the new Volkswagen T-Roc.

Yet there’s something charming about the Q2’s looks. Audi may have abandoned the super-angular design language (opting for super-smooth surfaces on the new A5, Q3 and Q6, for example), but the Q2’s crisp lines, pointy details and tidy proportions give it a lot of road presence.

The cabin is an example of Audi’s remarkably handsome previous-gen interiors - and it’s yet another reminder that change isn’t always good. The chrome-lined circular air vents, pop-up infotainment display, steering wheel buttons and physical climate controls are all delightful to use. Audi’s early driver display is still one of the best in the business, too.

It’s a breath of fresh air compared to the screen-tastic dashboards in the latest models, and the Q2 feels solidly put together inside, something that can’t really be said for its younger counterparts.

You won’t struggle to get comfortable up front, as the Q2’s seats are highly adjustable, comfortable and highly supportive. The back seats, meanwhile, are set far too upright and lack the headroom and legroom for tall adults to endure long journeys. The small doors don’t open very wide, a pain for car seats, while the 405-litre boot is smaller than in alternatives.

There are two engine choices in the Q2: a 1.0-litre unit which can be had in petrol or manual guise, and a 1.5-litre, automatic-only with a bit more grunt.

The smaller, three-cylinder lump is perfectly fine around town, which paired with the well-insulated cabin, light controls and solid visibility makes it an easy car to manoeuvre in the city. Audi does position the Q2 as a sporty small SUV, and its stiff suspension isn’t quite as adept at tackling speedbumps and potholes as a Skoda Kamiq or Volkswagen T-Roc.

You’ll want the larger, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder engine if you take regular motorway journeys. The extra power is handy when accelerating up to the national speed limit, and it’s a bit smoother sounding; more cosseting on long drives. Point the Q2 at your favourite country lane and you’ll be pleasantly surprised, as it feels agile and can even put a smile on your face on a twisty road.

Check out the latest Audi Q2 deals on Carwow, as well as Q2 lease offers. There’s a wide range of used Q2s for sale - and other used Audis - available through our trusted dealer network. Carwow can even help you sell your current car when the time comes to switch.

Starting at just over £30,000, the Q2 is pretty well priced compared to other posh, small SUVs. A BMW X1 may be a bit bigger, but it costs £7,000 more - as does a Mercedes GLA. The Peugeot 2008 is more similar in size and also features a posh cabin while priced around £3,000 less than the Q2, but it just can’t match the small Audi for badge pedigree.

Q2s in Sport trim feature 17-inch alloys, gloss-black body cladding, sports seats, a driver’s display and LED headlights. S-Line cars gain a sportier body kit, 18-inch alloy wheels, black headlining inside, an S-Line, flat-bottomed steering wheel and body coloured exterior details.

The Black Edition, meanwhile, features blacked-out trims outside and 19-inch alloys in gloss black with a diamond-cut edge, but otherwise it’s pretty similar to the S-Line.

The Q2 is great fun on twisty roads and one of the most refined small SUVs at high speeds, though it can feel a little firm on crinkled city streets

In town

Audi has designed the Q2 with an eye on the sporty side of the small SUV market. This means it has suspension that’s firmer than many of the cars in this class, such as the Ford Puma or Peugeot 2008. What that means for you is you’ll notice a lot more of the small lumps and bumps on town and city streets, or as you drive on rural roads with lower speed limits.

The Q2 isn’t uncomfortable at slower speeds, but kids in the back seats will certainly notice they are being jiggled around more than they would in some of the others the Audi has to compete with for your money. On the plus side, however, the interior is quieter than most other small SUVs and the raised driving position gives excellent vision to the front and sides. Reversing isn’t difficult either, and rear parking sensors are fitted to every Q2 as standard.

Around town, performance from the 1.0-litre petrol engine in the 30 TFSI model is perfectly adequate. It has 116hp and feels quick off the mark, and the six-speed manual gearbox is light and easy to use. Best of all, this engine is available even in the top-spec Black Edition trim, which means you can have the poshest Q2 with the most frugal engine. Of course, at that point you might want to upgrade to the 35 TFSI. This 1.5-litre turbo petrol comes with the six-speed manual ’box or you can pay more for a seven-speed S-tronic automatic transmission. We’d stick with the manual but have the more powerful engine for its stronger performance.

On the motorway

The Audi Q2 feels like a bigger SUV when it’s on the motorway as it’s stable and not bothered by gusts of wind. This lets you relax on a longer drive and the steering adds to that sense of a solid, weighty car. The suspension also smooths out at higher speeds and makes the Q2 a very capable car on these roads. If you choose the optional adaptive suspension, the ride is even more cosseting.

The smaller 1.0-litre engine in the 30 TFSI Q2 models is happy enough on the motorway, and a fraction more economical, but the more powerful 1.5-litre motor in the 35 TFSI is the better bet on these quicker routes. It has more in reserve and feels less strained when overtaking or tackling a steep hill, and it’s also really smooth and refined. 

On a twisty road

It might be an SUV, but there’s no place for sloppy cornering or body lean when driving the Audi Q2. Instead, it feels agile and fun as you turn into and drive through bends, helped by steering with good feel and quick reactions. It’s not as nifty as a Ford Puma, but you’ll still enjoy driving the Q2 when you get the chance of a quiet stretch of country road.

The firm suspension is not upset by bumps in the middle of corners, and there’s more than enough grip for the Q2 to always feel secure. Audi doesn’t offer its Quattro all-wheel drive on the Q2 — you have to upgrade to the expensive, high-performance SQ2 to get that —  but it doesn’t ever feel like it really needs it.

The Audi Q2 is easy to live with on a daily basis and has a good driving position, but rear seat space is not as good as in a Mini Countryman

There’s a lot to like as you slide into the Audi Q2’s front cabin. For starters, the body of the car sits high enough off the ground that you simply glide into the driver’s seat, rather than falling down into it as you do in some other small SUVs. This also means you get that all-important feeling of sitting a bit higher, which is what many people love about SUVs.

The all-round vision from the driver’s chair is mostly good, which makes the Q2 simple to park, and you also have rear parking sensors in every version to make life even easier, and they definitely help when you’re trying to peer around the big rear roof pillars. Adjusting the seat angle and height is easy with the manual levers that are standard, and you also now get electrically adjusted lumbar movement, so you can avoid any lower back aches on longer drives. With a steering wheel that moves for height and how close it’s positioned to you, the Q2 fits drivers of all shapes and sizes.

When it comes to stashing phones, bottles and sunglasses in the Q2, it’s okay but not as good as a Mini Countryman. Large door bins easily swallow bigger water bottles and glass cases, while the centre console has a tray in front of the gear lever with USB chargers and cupholders. There’s another cubby behind the gear stick that is perfect for keeping a phone away from nosey passers-by. This isn’t a big storage bin, but you can have it with the optional Audi Phone Box that helps boost the signal to your phone and comes with wireless charging.

Space in the back seats

Sit in either of the two outer rear seats in the Q2 and you will find it more than good enough for this size and type of car. There’s a decent amount of space for adults’ knees and heads, so long as anyone in the front isn’t taller than six feet. Shoulder room is a bit cramped by the doors, and the doors themselves don’t offer the biggest entry, which is more of a hassle when trying to load babies and toddlers into their seats. At least Audi provides very easy to use ISOFIX mounts on both outer rear chairs.

Anyone sat in the middle seat of the Q2 is going to find it pretty uncomfortable. The raised seat base means there’s very little headroom and your feet end up being squashed by the front seat runners. Not ideal. Audi compensates to a small degree with large door bins.

Boot space

With the rear seats in their usual raised position, the Q2 offers 405 litres of load space, which is less than some other small SUVs, with the BMW X2 boasting 540 litres, and the Mini Countryman getting 450 litres. The boot is well shaped, though, so fitting in a couple of large suitcases or a pram is simple. The load floor sits flush with the bumper to make sliding in heavy boxes easy, and there’s some hidden storage under the boot floor.

As standard, the Q2 comes with a 60-40 split rear seats for folding, though you do have to raise the headrests so the seats fold flat and make the most of the space. Do this and you can liberate up to 1,050 litres of cargo room. Again, not the biggest but the shape makes use of every inch. There are also several tie-down hooks in the boot, but no 12-volt power supply.

An electrically powered tailgate is standard across the Q2 range. However, three separate folding rear seats cost extra and, if you choose this, it means no drop-down armrest for rear seat passengers.

Audi mixes practicality with clear, stylish design inside the Q2, but the touchscreen is quite small by current standards

There’s a great mix of the practical and high tech inside the Q2. An example of this is the very simple rotary controls that manage the heating and ventilation. It makes it easy to adjust the temperature or fan speed of the air conditioning, and you don’t have to look away from the road or fiddle with the infotainment screen to do it.

As for the high tech, Audi fits every Q2 with its brilliant Virtual Cockpit dash. This allows you to choose what sort of information you see in the dash screen and how it’s displayed. Best of all, you can have a large sat nav map on show, so you only need to glance down to know where you’re heading. With steering wheel controls to work this, it’s another area where the Q2 is a step ahead of many others in this class of car.

Now, while the dash might look a little too sensible and similar to the A3 Sportback hatch’s compared to, say, a Mini Countryman or Honda HR-V, Audi has updated the Q2 recently to give it a new 8.8-inch touchscreen, which replaces the old MMI system.

This means that the old click-wheel controller for the system has now been done away with — which is a shame, as that made it much easier to access functions when driving — but the upside is that the screen does get some new tricks, such as handwriting recognition when you’re entering sat-nav destinations.

Equally, all models now get the 12.3-inch ‘Virtual Cockpit’ digital instrument panel, on which you can pick which info you want to read, and which layout you want to look at. It used to be an option on all but the most expensive Q2s, so it’s good to see that it’s now standard-fit.

There’s also the Audi Drive Select system, which lets you pick from Comfort, Auto, Dynamic and Individual settings for how the engine, air conditioning and cruise control affect the way the car drives or its efficiency. It also changes how the automatic gearbox, if fitted, responds.

If that’s not enough tech for you, Audi offers an integrated dash cam as an option to record what’s going on around the car as you drive. 

There are two engine and transmission options with the Audi Q2. The first is the 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine that has 110hp and is used in the 30 TFSI models. It is only offered with a six-speed manual gearbox. It can manage the 0-60mph sprint in 11.2 seconds, which is at the more sluggish end of the scale in this class. However, in town it feels perfectly nippy. This engine is also the most economical of the Q2 line-up, delivering a best of 49.6mpg with CO2 emissions of up to 131g/km.

A better all-round bet is the 35 TFSI model with its 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine making 150hp. It covers off 0-60mph in a much brisker 8.6 seconds whether you stick with the six-speed manual gearbox or choose the optional seven-speed S tronic auto ’box. With the manual transmission, you’ll see a best average fuel consumption of 47.1mpg and up to 146g/km of CO2, while the auto offers 47.9mpg and 143g/km.

Those emissions figures mean that whichever model you choose, you won't have to pay too much in first-year road tax, though the lack of a hybrid version or a fully electric model — as offered by the likes of the Countryman, the X1, and the GLA — makes the Q2 less appealing for company car buyers.

Audi covers all of the essential bases with the Q2 when it comes to safety. You get six airbags in every model, as well as ISOFIX mounting points on the two outer rear seats and the front passenger chair. There’s also cruise control with speed limiter, autonomous emergency braking, and reverse parking sensors for every version.

In Euro NCAP crash tests, the Q2 scored a very respectable 93% for adult occupant safety and 86% for child safety. Pedestrian safety worked out at 70%, which is on a par with other small SUVs. However, a 60% result for safety systems is due to Audi charging extra for the optional lane keep assist function for the Q2 when it’s standard on cars from many other manufacturers such as Volvo and Volkswagen. Equally, that Euro NCAP test was last carried out in 2016, so technically the rating has expired and the Q2 would likely not perform as well were it re-tested using the tougher new safety criteria.

The Audi Q2 comes with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty as standard when you buy new. This can be extended to five years and 90,000 miles for an additional fee, and this warranty passes on to the next owner when you sell the car.

Audi’s reputation for reliability is bolstered by the Q2, which is less likely to have problems than others in this class, such as the Mini Countryman or Volkswagen T-Roc. This makes the Q2 a sound bet for a hassle-free experience.

There have been five safety recalls for the Audi Q2, covering incorrect electrical connections, faulty head restraints, problems with the electric parking brake, and faulty rear wheel hubs.

The Q2 didn’t appear in the Top 50 cars according to the latest Driver Power owner satisfaction survey results, and Audi as a brand finished poorly in the most reliable charts, coming in 27th, only just ahead of Renault and behind Vauxhall.