One of my absolute favourite places to go in South Africa is Limpopo’s small town of Hoedspruit and I got to take the all new Audi Q3 on my recent trip there. Now, I am not sure if you have noticed but I love and live for road trips, they make me happy. The fun that comes with stopping to see South Africa’s beautiful landscapes, trying out different kinds of food and coffee, and listening to seasoned music, that’s just my heart in a nutshell.
This second generation Audi Q3 was launched in our shores a little over two months back. When I got assigned the compact German beauty it was not disappointing news at all. I have not been a Q3 fan with the previous model or anything, I had honestly not paid much attention to this model, I mean it’s not a Q8? So I was happy to get properly acquainted with the younger sibling.
The route ahead was long; 421km to be exact from Pretoria, that’s almost five hours of driving, with the many stops we made (because there is so much to see) maybe even more. Sounds tedious doesn’t it? Well it was surprisingly not so. The Audi Q3 was the right man for job in this case, comfortable and spacious, enough legroom and headroom for everyone. Hauling two adults and a toddler, of course this was a bad idea because children generally don’t like anything that takes too long.
Our test model Q3 35 TFSI, with a 1.4-litre petrol engine front wheel drive, which is the only version available in South Africa for now, produces 110kW and 250Nm of torque. I wouldn’t exactly call this sufficient power for overtaking all those annoying chrome trucks on the N4, but we got by. I am forgiving of this because the bumpy road towards Dullstroom was not that exhausting at all, thanks to the comfortable chassis that was not fazed by the bumps. It should also be noted that the Q3’s fuel efficiency was quite impressive, traveling with any car in this economy can be taxing but in this case we hardly felt it.
Now to the important part, did we look cool? Yes, although I think we would have looked a lot cooler with the bright blue colour but the steel grey made us look sophisticated. The new Q3 looks much sportier than its predecessor, the single frame grille makes it look aggressive, and we got a lot of Kwids running away from the fast lane so we can tick the tshaba re fete box. The Q3 maneuvered through the spectacular Abel Erasmus pass like a pro, handling the sharp curves effortlessly.
There is nothing I appreciate more than easy user friendly connectivity in a car. I will be honest, I am not the sharpest tool when it comes to techno stuff so I prefer the simple things. My Figo has a CD player so we are good to go, I have plenty of CD’s! Connecting to the Q3 was no hustle at all, the 8.8 inch touch screen which the driver can operate using the multifunction steering wheel shows clear picture for parking needs, while also displaying your music and the navigation info.
The overall drive to Hoedspruit was laid back, comfortable, and safe, the Q3 is not bad road trip companion at all. I would say it’s a cool mom compact SUV, I don’t know if dad would enjoy it, I am not sure it has that cool dad factor. For everyday use in the city, absolutely! The Alcantara surfaces on the instrument panel and the door armrests in orange? No! But overall a sweet ride..
Model Range & Pricing:
- Audi Q3 35 TFSI S tronic R565, 000
- Audi Q3 35 TFSI S tronic Advanced R585, 000
- Audi Q3 35 TFSI S tronic S line R599, 000
