The Audi Q2 is a small SUV with a smart interior and a raised driving position, but its back seats aren’t particularly comfy and high-spec models are quite pricey.
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RRP
£25,580 - £36,780
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Posh, small SUVs such as the Audi Q2 are a bit like a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. They say: I like good looking things that make me feel great. Head off-road in them, however, and it’s probably not going to end terribly well.
A desirable badge and seriously boxy styling gets the Audi Q2 off to a good start, and sets it apart from fellow on-road SUVs such as the BMW X2 and Mercedes GLA.
Step inside, and it’s Audi business as usual – you get a simple dashboard layout, lots of posh-feeling buttons and switches and a pretty intuitive infotainment system. It’s a shame that this isn’t quite as easy to use as the system in a BMW X2, but you can pay extra to replace the standard dials with a swish digital display that looks fantastic.
You can spruce the rest of the Audi Q2’s cabin up a bit with some colourful trims in high-spec cars, but whichever model you choose you’ll get a set of supportive front seats with plenty of adjustment.
Sadly, the back seats aren’t anywhere near as comfy thanks to their upright design that makes it difficult for tall passengers to relax on long trips. There isn’t quite enough room for three adults to sit side-by-side either, and the narrow rear door openings make it a bit of a pain to lift in a large child seat.
Thankfully, filling the Audi Q2’s boot isn’t a great hassle, but you can pack more luggage into a MINI Countryman’s boot.
The Audi Q2’s designed to give you the feel-good factor of an Audi A3, but with a higher driving position and the extra feeling of security that comes with it
So, the Audi Q2 isn’t the largest small SUV by any stretch, but this does make it feel right at home in town. There are a few large blind spots to contend with, but the Q2’s light steering helps you manoeuvre through tight spaces and the fairly soft suspension keeps things comfy over potholes. You’ll be having more fun on a twisty road in a BMW X2, but the Audi Q2 makes a relaxing, quiet motorway cruiser.
If that sounds like your sort of driving, pick an Audi Q2 with a diesel engine. Or, if you spend more time in town, go for one of the petrol engines. The standard manual gearbox is a doddle to use, but you’ll want to try out the optional automatic if you spend a lot of time in traffic.
You can get the more powerful Audi Q2s with four-wheel drive, but it’s not worth the drop in fuel economy or increase in price because a good set of winter tyres will be just as helpful when the roads get slippery.
So then, the Audi Q2 is more than just a pretty face. It might not be great off-road, but it makes a good choice if you’re looking for a desirable, stylish SUV with a posh cabin that’s easy to live with.
The Audi Q2 has a RRP range of £25,580 to £36,780. However, on carwow prices for a new Audi Q2 start at £24,151 if paying cash or £307 if paying monthly - saving on average £922. The price of a used Audi Q2 on carwow starts at £14,000.
The Audi Q2 has loads of room up front and a practical, square-shaped boot but the back seats are tight for six-footers.
Dimensions
Boot (seats up)
355 - 405 litres
Boot (seats down)
1,000 - 1,050 litres
Passenger space
The Audi Q2’s front seats both come with manual height adjustment as standard and there’s room for six-footers to get comfortable behind the wheel. Four-way lumbar support – to help prevent backache on long journeys – is an option on all models, however.
Space in the back seats is a little less generous. The tall rear doors make it fairly easy to jump if you’re tall in but their openings are quite narrow. If you’re more than six-foot-tall you’ll find knee and headroom a little tight, too, and the rather upright seatbacks can make long journeys quite uncomfortable.
A large lump in the floor and a raised central seat makes it tricky to squeeze in three abreast and there’s less shoulder room than you’ll find in a Mini Countryman. The back seats aren’t as supportive as those in a Volvo XC40, either.
Both outside rear seats have Isofix anchor points, but the rather narrow rear doors make fitting a child seat trickier than in the roomier Mini. Thankfully, the Audi Q2’s raised ride height means you won’t have to stoop down low to fit the seat base if you’re tall.
Storage space
The Audi Q2 has a fair number of handy cubby spaces, but they aren’t particularly large. The glovebox is just about big enough to hold two small bottles and the door bins can comfortably carry a 1.5-litre bottle each, but the central storage bin under the armrest will only just swallow a large smartphone.
For extra you can have it with a handy wireless phone charging pad – worth going for if you’re always charging your phone on the move.
The rear door bins are almost as large as those in the front but rear cupholders are only available as part of the optional three-way split-folding rear seats.
Boot space
The Audi Q2 has 405 litres of boot space with the rear seats and parcel shelf in place. That’s enough room for a baby stroller and a few soft bags but quite a bit less than the 450-litre Mini Countryman can carry.
If you need to carry larger items, the Audi Q2’s rear seats fold flat in a 60:40 split as standard but a 40:20:40 split is offered as an optional extra should you need to carry long items poking through from the boot between two rear passengers. With all the rear seats folded down and out of the way you can carry 1,050 litres of luggage – still less than the 1,390-litre Countryman but large enough to carry a bike with its wheels attached.
There’s no boot lip to lift heavy items over and the completely flat floor makes it easy to slide large boxes right up behind the front seats. The Audi Q2’s rear bumper does stick out beyond the bootlid some distance so you’ll have to be careful not to scratch the paintwork when you load bulky items.
Pick a model without a spare wheel and there’s a large underfloor storage area but it isn’t quite big enough to store the parcel shelf. There’s no 12V socket in the boot either, but four tethering points and a pair of shopping hooks will help stop smaller items from rolling around in the back.
The Q2’s easy to drive and – if you choose the optional adaptive suspension – pretty comfortable, too. You’ll have to watch out for the big rear blind spots, however
Performance and Economy
You can get the Audi Q2 with three petrol and two diesel engines that drive either the front or all four wheels through a manual or automatic gearbox.
Pick a 1.5-litre 35 petrol model if you spend most of your time pottering around town. This 150hp engine’s significantly more powerful than the rather weedy 116hp 1.0-litre 30, so it doesn’t need to work quite so hard to keep up with traffic. It’s relatively quiet, very smooth and will return around 45mpg if you go easy on the accelerator.
The 1.6-litre 30 TDI diesel will be a better bet if motorway miles are more your thing. Audi claims it’ll return 61.4mpg but expect to see a figure in the low fifties. It grumbles more than the petrol when you accelerate hard but it settles into a quiet, relaxed cruise at motorway speeds.
You can also get the Audi Q2 with a pair of 2.0-litre petrol (40 TFSI) and diesel (35 TDI) engines with 190hp and 150hp respectively. Both come fitted with Audi’s quattro four-wheel-drive system as standard for a little extra grip in slippery conditions but they’ll use a little more fuel in day-to-day driving as a result.
Besides the high-spec 2.0-litre models, all Audi Q2s come with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard. The optional seven-speed twin-clutch automatic will set you back a hefty £1,550, but it’ll make light work of long journeys and heavy traffic. It’s slightly jerky at slow speeds, however, which can make parallel parking a little tricky until you get used to it.
Driving
The Audi Q2’s raised ride height and boxy body make it easier to see out of than the A3 on which it’s based. The front door pillars don’t produce any particularly large blind spots and the side windows offer good visibility, too.
You’ll find the small rear windscreen and thick rear window frames produce larger blind spots than those in a Mini Countryman, however, so parking in tight spaces is more difficult as a result. All Audi Q2 models come with much-needed rear parking sensors as standard, and a reversing camera is an option across the range, however.
Light steering helps make the Audi Q2 easy to drive around town and it’s reasonably quiet on country roads and at motorway speeds. There isn’t too much roar from the tyres and wind noise is fairly muted, too. Cruise control comes as standard on all models to help take the stress out of long motorway journeys.
The standard suspension deals with potholes and bumps well, but pick the Sports set up (an optional extra on Sport models and a no-cost option on S line and above) and you may find it a little too firm – especially over poorly maintained roads. The optional adaptive suspension system strikes the best balance between comfort and sporty handling.
The optional Driver Assistance pack boosts safety but is only available on cars fitted with an automatic gearbox. It adds kit such as auto-dipping headlights and lets the car accelerate, brake and steer itself, even in traffic jams, so long as you keep your hands on the steering wheel.
What's it like inside?
From its squidgy high-quality plastics to its pretty trims and crisp infotainment screens – the Audi Q2 feels like a pint-sized luxury SUV. But, it’s not cheap.
*Please contact the dealer for a personalised quote, including terms and conditions. Quote is subject to dealer requirements, including status and availability. Illustrations are based on personal contract hire, 9 month upfront fee, 48 month term and 8000 miles annually, VAT included.