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So what is the Audi Q3?
Well actually it's kinda nice.
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compared to the Mercedes Benz GLA for example it's extremely quite.
You get a bit of engine noise coming through the 2 liter but.
Not a whole lot of road and wind noise, this is a very well insulated vehicle.
And the ride is very comfortable, where the Mercedes is a bit stiffly sprung and bumpy over city streets.
The upright and vertical seats Seating position takes a little bit of getting used to.
For me, it feels a bit weird, almost like I'm sitting on top of an Audi A3 as opposed to inside of a Q3.
But a tall seating position and a commanding view of the road are sort of the point of this class.
And so it's very easy to get used to and appreciate, like a better view of the road around you and ahead of you.
[INAUDIBLE] Then of course we've got Audi technology which is a bit of a mixed bag at this price point for Audi.
You've got a bunch of really nice things like their very powerful MMI dashboard technology.
That's gonna pack a whole lot of ver crisp graphics and snappy performance into a very neat and well organized package.
The Audi A3 comes with a dashboard controller as opposed to the console controller that you'll find on some of Audi's higher-end sedans.
Things are a little bit more spread out and it's all just a bit funky.
Also it sort of seems like you have to rotate the knob the wrong direction to scroll through lists.
It's just very counterintuitive the way they've got things set up there.
And then of course in the center console we've got the proprietary Audi MMI connection which is a pain in the **** because Audi keeps sending it to us but the 30-pin dot connector as opposed to a lightening or USB connector.
That's a minor annoyance for a reviewer like me but in a household that has multiple phones that use different connections, I think a lot of drivers are going to prefer just a straight up USB port.
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What it is not is the most powerful car in this class.
Under the hood you have got a two litre turbo charged four cylinder engine.
It is basically the same engine that you will find in the Volkswagen Gulf GTI but slightly Tuned.
Here we've got 200 horse power, 207 pound feet of torque.
But this is a significantly heavier vehicle than the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
Around 3,700 pounds.
This is about 700 pounds heavier than the small hatchback.
So far it feels a little like numble, a little more hesitant, and even with our support packages it's still particularly [UNKNOWN].
Nimble.
And we've got a nice drag select button here to let us toggle between sports, comfort and automatic program.
But generally they all feel more or less the same and that is a bit sluggish.
We've also got title shifters and a sport program on the automatic transmission, which again, don't really feel like they do much for the overall [UNKNOWN] of driving.
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Now if you're expecting driving dynamic from the Q3 well you're probably better off spending your around 35,000 dollars on a fully loaded Volkswagen golf r.
You're going to have a lot more fun with that vehicle and there's really now denying the math that more weight equals a whole lot less fun.
Course if you're looking for a comfortable small crossover to drive around the city, that's got some nice creature comforts and a nice tall seating division, well in my opinion the Audi Q3 is a better buy then, for example, the Mercedes Benz GLA, at least until the BMW X1 gets here later this year to challenge it.
The 2016 Audi Q3 is gonna start at around $33,700 for the front wheel drive Premium Plus model.
But this fully loaded Prestige all wheel drive with its [UNKNOWN] black metallic paint and sport package is gonna roll off the lot at around 41,825 bucks.
